Is this reasonable for fitted wardrobes (esp if we sell in a couple of years)?

[Kodiaka]

We've been quoted £8500 by a local builder and just under £8000 by one of the big chains for fitted wardrobes in our master bedroom. Do these prices seem reasonable? We're in north London, so not expecting it to be cheap, but also a bit hesitant to spend so much.

I'm also keen to sell in a year or two, so part of me just wants to put the money towards a new deposit for a house in the area I really want to be living in.

But our current storage / wardrobe arrangement is a real mess and very mismatched as it's mostly old stuff from years of renting. It would do us no favours showing the room as it is.

Thoughts / ideas appreciated.

We've got a 4 and a 3 door wardrobes, with mirrors on the 3 from Hammonds. All fitted with drawers and hanging rails cost £6k last year. I doubt that they have added value to the house sale price but would make it more attractive to potential purchasers.

We paid less than half that last year for three sets of fitted wardrobes, including some drawers. That was done by a local company that specialised in them and built to a better quality than Sharps and Hammonds which we'd looked at in store. It might be worth looking at Fittingly as they seem cheaper too.

We fitted Ikea Pax ourselves and it's brilliant. Less than half the price that Sharps quoted us. If you over order anything, you have about a year to return unwanted items to Ikea.

I’m STUNNED at some of these prices!!!

We did the IKEA Pax thing after an astronomical quote from Hammonds. A bit of batten to fill in the gaps and they look fitted.
Remember if they are almost as tall as your ceiling height you need to assemble then upright, otherwise you won't be able to tilt them up.

We paid £3k using a carpenter and MDF for the carcasses with doors from Howdens, they look great and were made exactly to our spec

We bought a house fitted bedroom two years old cost them 10k. It was okay but crazy money.

My friend has had a carpenter make her fitted unit in the hall, bedrooms. Was quoted 40k for a kitchen diner and walk in pantry. Was nearly half that for the most beautiful units created by a carpenter.

Find a good carpenter.

This surely depends on value of your property. If it’s £millions then that’s very different to a tiny ex council flat. I would find cheaper. I’d never have the curtain idea in an otherwise smart house. Cheap solution and looks it.

Thanks, everyone. We'll definitely look into alternatives. I can try some local carpenters but in my part of London, I think it's always going to be pretty pricey. We're in a nice terraced Victorian but multi million ££ homes are all over the place here.

Need to look into the IKEA idea and whether there's anyone local who could do that 'fitted' look.

A few people mentioned fittingly, which I didn't know of, so will check that out too.

Thank you!

im in south london/Surrey borders and got a local carpenter to fit our loft 2 wardrobes, one huge chest of drawers/dresser(all bespoke so he could fit in it the slope) and two childrens bedrooms (2 double wardrobes plus shelves for one and one double wardrobe for the other) and then painted to fit the colour schemes of the rooms plus the fireplaces for 6.5k.

find a good carpenter

I got a £9k quote to turn a cupboard into a walk 2.5x1.5m (ish) in wardrobe. BIG LOL. £200 on IKEA pax, £100 on a local bloke to fit it.

Have you seen these guys? Based in London and they include prices for all the past projects in their gallery - high end finish but prices seemed very reasonable https://urbanwardrobes.co.uk/

£100 to a bloke in London, even if you can find one, would be laughed at. People with skills are not working for minimum wage. Let’s at least recognise fitting decent wardrobes is a skill. If it wasn’t, everyone would DIy.

If you are in London there's a carpenter on Instagram who I think is called ikeahackman.

Could I ask which company you got the quote from?
We're in the NE and getting quotes at the moment.

Take a look at Howdens not fabulous but if you’re moving!
local carpenters etc
that quote is bonkers tbh

@JamieNotJames Have DM'd you 😊

That's really nice and looks like it will hold everything, which is what you need.

Anyone care to guess why a row of wardrobes is about as expensive as a fitted kitchen (without white goods, plumbing and electrics)?

I cannot get over the prices some are quoting. What is so specialised about wardrobes!

Kidology

I've got 3 runs of Pax and it was £5,000 for the lot (each run is 3 double wardrobes)

Placemarking with interest

They can be made to measure and big doors are not easy to fit.

In our case I would say we have more wardrobes - 4 doubles 1 triple, ser it out how we wanted (2 are half with drawers for DH and DS) DD has two double wardrobes one rail up and down, one full length rail but shelves and my triple 2 hanging one shelves ) then the kids have space at the top plus a massive bespoke dresser with cupboards and drawers. It is more than in in the kitchen and all bespoke and all painted to order. Well worth the 6.5k. And looks so much better than the freestanding wardrobes we have before

Skills and labour time.

I had some built in bookshelves constructed last year for £2800 including painting. That was the cheapest quote by far, lovely guy, but if they had been in wood they would have been 10k+.