The best cupboards: eight things that actually separate them
Almost nothing that makes a cupboard good is visible in the showroom photograph.
The best wardrobe design for a given room is mostly decided by four choices made before anybody discusses colour: how the doors open, whether there is a loft, where the weight is carried, and what the shutters are made of. Everything else is preference. Here is what to check, in the order it costs you money to get wrong.
Things to check before buying a cupboard
- The back panel. A 3 mm back stapled into a rebate is the commonest place a cheap cupboard is cheap. Ask for 6 mm minimum, grooved in, and 6 mm BWR against an external wall.
- The bottom panel and its support. A wardrobe bottom carries everything and sits nearest the floor. It wants the best board in the job and a mid-support if it spans more than about 900 mm.
- Shelf span. An 18 mm shelf longer than roughly 800 mm will visibly sag under folded clothes within a year. Either add a partition or thicken the shelf — a partition is usually cheaper.
- Edge banding. 2 mm PVC on every exposed edge, 0.8 mm is acceptable internally. Unbanded edges take in moisture and are the single most common defect.
- Hinge count and type. Four hinges per full-height shutter, not three. Soft-close is worth it; a soft-close hinge on a soft core is not.
- The plinth or toe kick. It keeps the carcass off a wet floor. A cupboard sitting directly on the slab is a cupboard whose bottom will fail.
- How the loft is accessed. A loft you need a ladder and two hands for is storage you will use twice.
- Whether you were given a cutting list. A supplier who will not itemise is asking to be trusted on the one thing you can actually verify.
Sliding vs hinged wardrobe
This is the choice with the largest consequences and it is usually made on looks.
| Hinged | Sliding | |
|---|---|---|
| Room needed in front | 600 mm swing clearance | None |
| Usable opening | The full bay, all at once | Never more than half at a time |
| Depth lost | None | 80–100 mm to the track |
| Cost | Lower — hinges are cheap | Higher — the track system is the expense |
| Maintenance | Occasional hinge adjustment | Track cleaning; rollers eventually |
| Best for | Rooms with space, and full-access storage | Narrow rooms, and a bed close to the wardrobe |
The rule of thumb: if you can open a hinged door fully without hitting the bed, choose hinged. You get the whole opening, it costs less, and you keep 90 mm of depth. Choose sliding when the room genuinely will not allow a swing.
A wardrobe with loft, or without
A loft adds perhaps a fifth to the cost and a large amount of storage you will access twice a year. It is worth building when the ceiling is above about 2900 mm and you have seasonal things to put in it; it is worth skipping when the ceiling is low, because a shallow loft is neither useful storage nor a clean line. If in doubt, build the carcass to loft height and add the loft box later — the joint is not difficult.
The questions that expose a weak quotation
- "What grade and thickness is the back panel?" — a vague answer is the answer.
- "How many hinges per shutter, and which brand?"
- "Is the loft included in this figure?"
- "Can I have the cutting list?"
- "What happens to the price if I move this wall by 50 mm?" — a supplier who cannot say is not costing, they are guessing.
You can answer the last one yourself in about thirty seconds: open the design tool and drag the width.
Common questions
Sliding or hinged wardrobe: which is better?
Hinged, unless the room will not allow a door to swing. Hinged doors cost less, give you the whole bay open at once, and lose no internal depth, whereas a sliding system takes 80 to 100 mm for the track and never opens more than half the wardrobe at a time. Choose sliding for narrow rooms or where a bed sits close to the wardrobe.
What should I check before buying a cupboard?
The back panel thickness and grade, the bottom panel and whether it has a mid-support, shelf spans over about 800 millimetres, edge banding on every exposed edge, four hinges per full-height shutter rather than three, and whether there is a plinth keeping the carcass off the floor. Then ask for the cutting list.
Is a wardrobe with loft worth it?
It adds roughly a fifth to the cost and gives you storage you will open perhaps twice a year, so it is worth building when the ceiling is above about 2900 millimetres and you have seasonal items to store. With a low ceiling a shallow loft is neither useful nor good-looking, and building the carcass to loft height now and adding the box later is a reasonable compromise.
How long should a shelf span be in a wardrobe?
An 18 millimetre plywood shelf longer than about 800 millimetres will visibly sag under folded clothes within a year. Either add a vertical partition, which is usually the cheaper fix and adds useful structure, or increase the shelf thickness. Thickening a long shelf costs more board than simply dividing the bay.
Design it yourself, free. Interior Studio draws the object in 3D and returns the cutting list and the bill of quantities, using your own dealer rates. No account, no sales call. Open the design tool.