How I saved money on built-in wardrobes

When I moved into my house, there was no storage. While pulling clothes out of a pile on the floor each morning was a fun return to childhood, eventually I needed wardrobes.

There is high diversity in house design, so custom built-in wardrobes are one option when moving in. But there is an alternative: IKEA. Apart from price, which favours IKEA, other differences may not be as big as you think: let’s break them down.

1. Price

• Custom: I sought out quotes from 2 companies, for built-in wardrobes across a number of rooms (4 wardrobes total). Quotes generally came in around $12,000 for the full job.

• Ikea: By contrast, custom building the 4 wardrobes on the IKEA website came in at around $2,400 – a massive saving.

  
  

2. Fit

• Custom: Fit is a reason custom wardrobes cost more, they can be designed to fit your exact space.

• IKEA: There are actually quite a few built-in wardrobe sizes at IKEA – enough I found to fit the wardrobes snugly in key spaces, for example next to a fireplace in a master bedroom. I suggest using the PAX Planning Tool, where you can select things like doors, handles, internal rails, etc.

Ikea wardrobes did the trick in my master bedroom

3. Quality

• No big difference: Both custom and IKEA wardrobes are likely made out of a mix of MDF and laminate, meaning they will both last for years to come.

  
  

4. Installation

• Custom: Another reason why the overall price of custom wardrobes are higher is that a technician will transport and install the materials.

• IKEA: A great option is to hire a specialist to install your wardrobes. I used https://www.assemblyexpert.au/. The service was very well priced and kept my total costs still around 75% lower than going doing the Custom path.

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