Cheap but decent wardrobes that will do ‘for now?’

[WardrobeWoes]

We have just moved into our first home and have very little furniture.

We desperately need wardrobes to store our clothes and the original plan was (and still is, really) to have fitted wardrobes installed either side of the chimney breast in two bedrooms.

Unfortunately, the house has needed £10k of unexpected remedial/safety work (that didn’t show up on the survey! ) and we simply can’t afford/justify getting a joiner in at this stage.

But we need somewhere to store our clothes!

I’ve tried charity shops and free cycle etc but there’s nothing going. Facebook marketplace is full of fake adverts.

Where can we find something cheap but not decent (not liable to fall apart in days!)?

We just use clothes rails. Then boxes under the bed for shoes / winter clothes etc

If you have a chimney breast u would fit a rail between there and the wall

B&Q do some called Colorail, you just need two brackets and the rail

Rails and a curtain is probably your cheapest option until you get your permanent solution. If not IKEA

You could furnish a whole house from IKEA for £500*

*I exaggerate but they do have some cheap stuff that's not bad quality.

Just go for second hand via Facebook marketplace or similar. So many people offload their furniture for peanuts. If you hire/borrow a van and time it right you can probably furnish the whole house. The pain is that most people expect you to disassemble or shift things yourself, so you do need a big enough vehicle for things that are already built.

EBay and Facebook Marketplace have lots of very cheap wardrobes - do a search for ones near you. Also local Facebook groups. Good luck!

We have a local "freebay" Facebook group that is very active and always has wardrobes, chest of drawers etc available. There are also furniture specific charity shops as well that would have stock.

If you really can't find anything suitable via those routes then get a standing clothes rail with a cover. Argos do them, ikea do them for v cheap.

Probably depends on what your definition of "cheap" is. My IKEA wardrobe was just under £200 and I love it.

Google local auction houses that deal with house clearance stuff - I've not used, but friends have said they have picked up bargains.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Would love to get one off Facebook marketplace but it is full of fake adverts. You click on one and it’s actually a trader selling new wardrobes and saying “DM for real price”

Our local auction rooms has cheap wardrobes. Period dark woods are so out of fashion right now they go for a song.

Have you tried GumtreeUK?

Ikea pax wardrobes are relatively cheap pretty sturdy and easy to put together. We actually used them unseats of the pricier fitted option

We have several charity shops locally that sell furniture and a couple of shops run by people who do house clearances, have you anything similar?

Try local Facebook selling groups rather than the market place. I have had best results for cheap furniture on eBay second hand stuff. You can use shiply to deliver.

FB Selling Groups, Ikea or a rail and a curtain. The Ikea kids wardrobes are a good cheap stopgap option as well.

A cheap clothes rail (Argos have them from £8) and a decorative screen or room divider. The screen/divider can then be reused elsewhere in your house when your wardrobes are finally built or installed.

I have 5 almost brand new IKEA PAX wardrobes which have been disassembled, and are sitting in my storage unit. I have 3 2 door wardrobes and 1 4 door sliding wardrobe. In total they cost me about £1,400 when purchased.

When I move into my new house end of this month/beginning of next month, I will have to dump them, because 4 of them are too tall at 236cm (the other is 201cm).

I was planning to put them on Freecycle and Facebook just to get rid of them, so if you are anywhere near West London and have got a means of collecting and transporting them, you are welcome to have them.

I sold a good wardrobe recently on gumtree and there were several other second hand ones on sale at the time. But if none available, I'd try putting a 'wanted' advert on Nextdoor. It's amazing how often people ask if anyone is getting rid of something (e.g. bookcase, bedframe, fridge...) and they get several offers.

But as PPs have said, if it's only for a short time, get a clothes rail or fit rail to wall. You can get covers for clothes rails to protect clothes from dust (useful if you've a lot of building work going on).

FB marketplace, you can filter the results, if you choose Used rather than New you wont get the dodgy sellers.
I have found two Pax wardrobes recently on FB, I just had to arrange collection but they were being given away for free (urgent house moves).

I would also suggest a decent clothes rail is better than cheap wardrobes. I speak from experience!

Freecycle or Trash Nothing. Just keep looking. Our local ones seem to be awash with wardrobes. You can also put on a request for items. Failing that, then your local auction house. They usually have a "man with a van" who will deliver.

Clothes rail! Fitted wardrobes are expensive, you want to spend as little money as possible on your make-do solution.

FACEBOOK MARKETPLACE had become a nightmare with traders , when u are on it click on furniture, then at the side of the page click on to condition click used, that way all the traders stuff disappears. Also try Gumtree . I bought pine furniture and rubbed it all down and put on new handles looks great. Got wardrobes for £20 each.

Sorry don’t have a photo of the wardrobe, this is a flat that rented out, but the bedrooms looked great with the pine furniture painted, also my ds rubbed pine down and just wax it, this also looks great

We got ours from JYSK, some really good cheap deals and it’s not bad quality at all! It was £280 but big enough for both mine and dh clothes .. we’ve had it 2 years and still as new x