Fitted wardrobe inspiration

[Sturmundcalm]

We have fitted wardrobes in 3 bedrooms and I think in 2 of them we will be trying to just improve what we've got. In our bedroom though I think I'd like to replace as the scale of what we don't like about existing ones is too much to fix straightforwardly.

So do any of you have fitted wardrobe recommendations? Companies to fit or overall look or must-have interior sections or ways to improve existing ones?

For info, current wardrobes look like they are all the original ones (60s bungalow) and have dark wood insides which is one of the things I'd definitely want to fix.

Any pics would be an added bonus ;-)

It depends on what style you are going for. Companies like Sharps or Hammonds have decent ranges, but they are likely to prove expensive. (Others may have experience of getting quotes from them and negotiating.)

Personally I have always designed my own and had them built by a carpenter. This means I get exactly what I want. I like a Shaker style door as this goes with most styles, and my current ones are painted the same colour as the walls, so it just looks like a panelled wall. I'm less bothered about the internal fittings than some may be, however - I just have hanging rails and shelves.

For my new place, the wardrobes are being done by the building firm I'm using, as they have their own joinery team. The doors will have mirror panels to open up the space. I estimate that it will work out about 50% cheaper than what I'd pay Sharps or similar.

If you do decide you want to use a fitted wardrobes supplier, I'd suggest looking for a smaller / local firm, as it may work out cheaper and better than using one of the larger companies.

I'm not opposed to somebody like Sharps but while the cost is probably more than we'd really want to pay what really puts me off is the sales technique - so your comment that "Others may have experience of getting quotes from them and negotiating" just fills me with horror... We did have a similar company 20+ years ago do a ridiculously hard sell on us once they were in the house.

I hadn't thought about painting the same colour as the walls - that's an interesting approach and does appeal cause I found myself last night looking at white vs cream and wondering what would work best overall. I think we're probably going to avoid wood as we have oak chests of drawers and we're contemplating a wooden floor so I think it would just be a bit much to then have a wooden wardrobe as well. Thanks :-)

our current house we had it done by sharps
our previous house we had done by B&Q and was really good. I would have gone back to B&Q for our current house if it wasn’t a friend of mine.

We’ve got some by Sharps and some Neville Johnson. Overall the Neville Johnson ones are much nicer, better workmanship and the whole customer experience was just better. However there is little wrong with the Sharps ones.

thanks again - have asked for a brochure from Neville Johnson. and i had no idea B&Q did fitted wardrobes but they look a bit like IKEA where we'd need a joiner to "do something" with them (there is a complication where the current wardrobes actually go into the next bedroom!).

we've arranged for someone local to come out next week so will see how that goes...