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Wardrobe size and dimensions for your wall
Width comes from your wall and height from your ceiling. Example: an 8 ft wall takes 4 doors. Each door is about 2 ft wide. The wardrobe is 7 ft 6 in tall and about 2 ft deep. A loft about 2 ft 6 in tall can sit on top if your ceiling allows it.
Wardrobe sizes for six common walls
A wardrobe is built as cabinets: boxes with one or two doors each. The cabinets share your wall equally, and a thin gap strip (filler) closes the small gap at each end. Example: our planner aims for doors about 1 ft 6 in to 2 ft (450–600 mm) wide.
Example: 9 ft and 12 ft walls take whole standard cabinets. Each standard cabinet is about 2 ft 11 in (900 mm) wide, with two doors. A 6 ft wall is not a whole number of standard cabinets. Two double-door cabinets there would leave doors under our planner's aim of about 1 ft 6 in (450 mm). So a 6 ft wall takes 3 single-door cabinets.
Your wall is rarely a whole number of feet. Give your maker the exact width in mm.
For your carpenter: the six walls in mm
Height 2286 mm, hinged doors, no loft. Gap strips on these walls are 20–29 mm.
Door widths are cut sizes. Each door is a few mm narrower than its share of the cabinet, so doors never touch.
We convert with 1 ft = 304.8 mm and round to the nearest mm. All sizes are estimates; a maker confirms them before cutting.
| Wall | Cabinets (units) | Gap strips (fillers) | Doors | Door width, about |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1829 mm (≈6 ft) | 597 mm, 596 mm and 596 mm | 20 mm and 20 mm | 3 doors | 594 mm |
| 2134 mm (≈7 ft) | 2 × 1047 mm | 20 mm and 20 mm | 4 doors | 521 mm |
| 2438 mm (≈8 ft) | 2 × 1199 mm | 20 mm and 20 mm | 4 doors | 597 mm |
| 2743 mm (≈9 ft) | 3 × 900 mm | 21 mm and 22 mm | 6 doors | 447 mm |
| 3048 mm (10 ft) | 1003 mm, 1003 mm and 1002 mm | 20 mm and 20 mm | 6 doors | 499 mm |
| 3658 mm (≈12 ft) | 4 × 900 mm | 29 mm and 29 mm | 8 doors | 447 mm |
Typical wardrobe sizes
There is no single standard size for a wardrobe or built-in cupboard. These ranges are common practice in published makers' guides, each from two sources listed below.
Your wall, your ceiling and your longest clothes decide your own size. Our planner's limits follow in the next sections.
Common practice, not a standard
- Height, without a loft
- about 6 ft 11 in to 7 ft 10 in (2100–2400 mm)
- The low end lines up with the top of a room door; the high end reaches many ceilings.
- Depth with hinged doors, doors included
- about 1 ft 11 in to 2 ft 2 in (580–650 mm)
- Measured from the wall to the front of the doors.
- Depth with sliding doors, track included
- about 2 ft 2 in to 2 ft 4 in (650–700 mm)
- The track and the overlapping doors add depth in front of the box.
- Inside depth for a hanging rail, at least
- about 1 ft 10 in to 2 ft (550–600 mm)
- Shallower than this, hangers on a rail across the cabinet do not fit.
- Hinged door width
- about 1 ft 6 in to 2 ft (450–600 mm)
- Wider doors overload the hinges, so the top of this range is a maximum, not a target.
- Clear drop for coats and long dresses
- about 5 ft 3 in to 6 ft 2 in (1600–1880 mm)
- Measured from the rail down; the rail itself sits higher.
- Loft height (India)
- about 1 ft 6 in to 2 ft 6 in (450–750 mm)
- A top cupboard for things you reach rarely; your ceiling sets the top.
Wardrobe height, with and without a loft
Height runs from the floor to the top, plinth (the base) included. Our planner allows about 6 ft 11 in (2100 mm) to about 7 ft 10 in (2400 mm).
Without a loft, you get one row of tall doors. With a loft, short cupboards sit on top, and the total must stay under your lowest ceiling.
For your carpenter: door and loft heights in mm
Door height is the wardrobe height less the plinth and a small gap. Wardrobe plus loft can total 2400–3300 mm across the full ranges.
| Wardrobe height | Door height | Top with a 750 mm loft | Loft door height |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2100 mm (≈6 ft 11 in) | 2022 mm | 2850 mm (≈9 ft 4 in) | 747 mm |
| 2286 mm (7 ft 6 in) | 2208 mm | 3036 mm (≈10 ft) | 747 mm |
| 2400 mm (≈7 ft 10 in) | 2322 mm | 3150 mm (≈10 ft 4 in) | 747 mm |
Loft height and your ceiling
In our planner, a loft can be about 1 ft (300 mm) to about 2 ft 11 in (900 mm) tall. Example: our default loft is about 2 ft 6 in (750 mm) tall.
Ceiling height minus wardrobe height is the most loft you can have. Ask your maker how much gap they leave above it.
Most loft that fits: five example ceilings
| 6 ft 11 in wardrobe (2100 mm) | 7 ft 6 in wardrobe (2286 mm) | 7 ft 10 in wardrobe (2400 mm) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 ft ceiling (2438 mm) | about 1 ft 1 in (338 mm) | No loft fits | No loft fits |
| 9 ft ceiling (2743 mm) | about 2 ft 1 in (643 mm) | about 1 ft 6 in (457 mm) | about 1 ft 2 in (343 mm) |
| 10 ft ceiling (3048 mm) | about 2 ft 11 in (900 mm), the top limit | 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) | about 2 ft 2 in (648 mm) |
| 11 ft ceiling (3353 mm) | about 2 ft 11 in (900 mm), the top limit | about 2 ft 11 in (900 mm), the top limit | about 2 ft 11 in (900 mm), the top limit |
| 12 ft ceiling (3658 mm) | about 2 ft 11 in (900 mm), the top limit | about 2 ft 11 in (900 mm), the top limit | about 2 ft 11 in (900 mm), the top limit |
Wardrobe depth and door swing
Depth runs from the wall to the front of the box; the doors sit in front of it. Example: our planner's default depth is about 2 ft (600 mm). Our planner allows about 1 ft 2 in (350 mm) to about 2 ft 4 in (700 mm).
A hinged door swings out about its own width. On the 8 ft example, keep about 2 ft (597 mm) of floor clear. Sliding doors run in a track instead, which adds a little depth.
Smallest and biggest sizes
In our planner, a cabinet up to about 2 ft (600 mm) wide takes one door, and a wider one takes two. When a wall needs it, our planner allows doors about 1 ft (300 mm) to about 2 ft 2 in (650 mm) wide.
All planner limits
- Width of one straight wardrobe
- 900–4800 mm
- Door width our planner accepts
- 300–650 mm
- Wardrobe height, floor to top
- 2100–2400 mm
- Depth, wall to box front
- 350–700 mm
- Loft height
- 300–900 mm
- Width of one cabinet
- 300–1500 mm
- Door width we aim for
- 450–600 mm
Measure your wall
Use a steel tape. Write each number down before you start the next one.
- Measure the width near the floor, at waist height and near the ceiling. Use the smallest number.
- Measure the ceiling height at both ends of the wall. Use the lower number.
- Note what is on the wall: switches, sockets, beams, door frames and the skirting.
- Check the floor in front of the wall. Hinged doors need about their own width of clear floor.
- Write every size in mm. Then enter it in the wardrobe size calculator.
For wardrobe makers
These walls, heights and loft sizes follow our planner: doors aimed at 450–600 mm, accepted at 300–650 mm.
Sources
- WoodAge — Standard wardrobe dimensions in India (2026)www.woodage.in
- FCI London — How deep should built-in wardrobes be?www.fcilondon.co.uk
- Sultan's Wardrobes — Wardrobe dimensionswww.sultanswardrobes.com.au
- Houzz Australia — An insider's guide to walk-in wardrobe measurementswww.houzz.com.au
- Interior Company — Wardrobe with loftswww.interiorcompany.com
- NIST — U.S. Survey Foot (the international foot is exactly 0.3048 m)www.nist.gov
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