Custom wardrobe or sliding-door wardrobe: Our comparison
When you’re considering purchasing a new wardrobe and you are trying to work out where to start and what type of doors you would like on your wardrobe it can be overwhelming! There are quite a few options available, whether its a sliding door wardrobe or a hinged door wardrobe you need to consider all your options! If you want it customised to your needs (extra shoe storage please!) then having a custom wardrobe is for you. If you need the kids to hide their floor-robe when you’re having people over then a standard sliding door robe it is!
Custom wardrobe or sliding-door wardrobe, where to start?
Top things to consider:
- Size of the room
- Access into the wardrobe
- Finish of the doors and handle types
- Your needs, preferences & style
- Your budget
Size of the room
While you may like the style and look of a hinged door robe unfortunately depending on the space available it isn’t always practical. A smaller bedroom may not allow the doors to swing open fully, which really defeats the purpose of having hinged doors! A sliding door wardrobe will likely be better suited to smaller spaces as it allows the doors to slide behind the other doors, the only downside is having to move the doors around to fully see your wardrobe. Sliding door wardrobes have become incredibly popular over time as houses are getting smaller and units are increasingly being built.
With a custom designed hinged door wardrobe you get to choose the style, the materials, and the features can be customised to suit your needs. The wardrobe cabinetry is solid construction cabinets which means there is more material used and more creation time involved as each wardrobe is different. You can have your wardrobe going to the ceiling with storage above if you wish. Due to the wardrobe being hinged doors it does take up more space in the room.
Where as with a sliding door wardrobe the internals are more of a modular construction. They have standard shelf towers, standard drawer towers and the length of the wardrobe is then taken up by either long hanging or double hanging. There is not as much material used for construction and you see the floor, the back wall and ceiling. Your sliding door wardrobe can go to the ceiling, however the storage is limited compared to your custom wardrobe.
Access into the wardrobe
Hinged Door Wardrobes are great for access. If you have the space, and just want to see it all – you can fling those doors open wide! You can literally see everything inside the wardrobe and you can get access to all areas of the robe at the same time. Sliding door wardrobes on the other hand won’t provide you with the same access and viewing pleasure but are so good for saving space! They leave room in your bedroom to be able to move around, which depending on the size and access can be a real bonus!
Finish of the doors and handles
Sliding Door Robes can be made from a range of glass like mirror, white glass, grey mirror and coloured glass (they come in a frame for safety). Hinged Door Wardrobe doors can’t be made from glass, however they can have a mirror insert. Both door styles can be made from our favourite door finishes like Polyurethane, laminated MDF from Polytec or even left raw for painting or the addition of wallpaper. (Read more). There’s multiple door style options including shaker, flat panel and v-groove.
Sliding door wardrobes can only have recessed fingerpull handles, this is so that the doors can slide past each other. Hinged door wardrobes on the other hand can have a whole variety of handles such as knobs, lip pull, brass, copper, timber, black tones, even blingy handles! We love Kethy for all things handles, you can check them out at Kethy . You can find an amazing range of handles out there, or reuse some you might want to repurpose.
Your needs, preferences and style
Everyone has a different preference in style, and we all have different wants and needs when it comes to our wardrobes and what they provide. For some its a investment in their home, the sheer satisfaction of having a custom robe that caters to your every storage need is AMAZING! For others it may be the spare room robe, something not long term or a rented investment property, it may not make sense to invest in a custom robe for these spaces. Even the tiniest bedroom needs a wardrobe, sliding doors it is. Its important to note that sliding doors can look FABULOUS, a shaker style polyurethane door looks stylish and elegant. Yes please! If you choose a shaker, flat panel or v-groove style door you can pick any colour you want when you choose to get them painted in polyurethane.
Your budget
Its no surprise that hinged door wardrobes are more expensive than sliding door wardrobes when comparing like for like door finishes. The reason for this is that hinged door wardrobes take much longer to install, the installers need to spend time adjusting and fitting the doors. Also the maximum width width for a hinged door is 600mm, whereas sliding door wardrobes can have a maximum door width of 1200mm. This means that you generally need double the quantity of doors. If you choose to have a custom designed interior over the standard sized towers and shelving you can also expect an increase in cost.
Our conclusion
There are pros and cons for buying both a custom wardrobe or sliding-door wardrobe. There are a lot more internal options when choosing a hinged door wardrobe. You might even go a little crazy and get a hinged door wardrobe in the master bedroom and sliders in the kids/spare rooms! They both have there place in the world but you just need to decide what suits you best! Fox Wardrobes sales designer team will support you on design, budget, and your needs which will help you make the right decision that works for you!