First: OEM, ODM or custom — which one are you buying?

These terms get used interchangeably in quotations, and the difference changes your lead time and your risk.

• OEM — you supply the design and specification; the factory manufactures to it, including your brand marking, labelling and packaging. Your drawings are the contract.
• ODM — the manufacturer's existing design is adapted: sizes, internal layout, handle detail and finish change, but the underlying construction stays with them.
• Custom / made-to-measure — one-off or small-batch joinery built around a specific room, driven by site measurements rather than a repeatable product code.

Most wardrobe packages for residential and hospitality projects sit between the second and third category. Our Custom & OEM Service covers both: custom furniture design and prototyping, bespoke finishes and textures, OEM manufacturing, private labelling such as engraving or logos, and flexible minimum order quantities. Where a project needs a single built-in run rather than a repeatable product line, we treat it as made-to-measure joinery under the same production and quality-control process.

What OEM sourcing covers, step by step

A wardrobe order does not start at the factory. It starts with a specification you can hand over without further questions.

• Brief and scope. Room list, unit count, target handover date, and whether wardrobes are built-in (fixed to walls, scribed to skirting) or freestanding. Built-in work needs wall-by-wall dimensions, not nominal room sizes.
• Layout and internal configuration. Hanging zones, drawer banks, shelf runs, shoe and linen storage, mirror or glass inserts, lighting provision. Our custom minimalist bedroom wardrobe work is specified this way — sizes, internal layout, door style and surface finish are selected per project.
• Door system. Hinged, sliding, pocket or open frameless. Sliding runs need headroom, track allowance and wall clearance; hinged runs need swing clearance against beds and doors. This is a site decision, not a showroom one.
• Substrate and finish. Lacquer is a finish system, not a board. The substrate (typically an engineered panel) and the lacquer build — primer, sanding passes, colour coat, top coat — are quoted separately, and matte and high-gloss lacquer are different processes with different lead times.
• Prototyping or first article. One wardrobe, or one door set plus a finish sample board, produced before the full run. For repeat-unit projects this is the step that protects you from rework across every room.
• Production and inspection. Panel sizing, edge treatment, lacquer lines, assembly, hardware fitting, then pre-shipment checks against the approved prototype.
• Packing, freight and delivery. Panel-by-panel packing with unit labelling that matches the room schedule, so crates arrive on site in install order. We arrange sea, air and rail freight, export paperwork and door-to-door delivery.
• Installation and after-sales. On-site fitting or fitting supervision, snag list closure, spare panels and hardware held for the handover period. Details on our installation and after-sales support page.

Matte lacquer specifically: what to lock down before you order

Matte lacquer looks simple on a drawing and is the finish most likely to cause disputes, because "matte" is a range rather than a value. Fix these in writing.

Our matte lacquer wardrobe range within the Lacquer Wardrobes collection is supplied with made-to-measure sizing, material and finish options, and a layout tailored to the project. Related finishes in the same collection — high gloss lacquer and two tone lacquer — suit designs that need contrast between carcass and door, or a lighter door against a darker frame. For kitchen joinery in the same finish family, see our matte lacquer cabinets, which lets bedroom and kitchen cabinetry be produced on one line against one approved sample.

The document pack that makes an OEM wardrobe order quotable

Vague enquiries get vague prices. Send these and you will get a comparable number:

• Room-by-room schedule — width, height and depth per opening, plus wall construction (plasterboard, masonry, tiled) so the fixing method can be set.
• Elevations — door split, handle position, and which edges are visible from the doorway.
• Internal layout drawing — hanging heights, drawer counts, shelf depths, any mirror or glass panel.
• Finish reference — approved sample number, or a physical sample sent to the factory.
• Quantities and phasing — total units, unit types, and which rooms are needed first.
• Delivery address and Incoterms preference — port, site, or last-mile delivery into a secured building.
• Brand requirements — if the wardrobes carry another company's label, that affects packing, marking and paperwork, so state it at enquiry stage.

If those drawings do not exist yet, our interior design service takes the project brief and produces space planning, furniture layouts and 3D renderings before anything goes into production, then coordinates the drawings with the factory during manufacture.

Why buyers source these wardrobes from a one-stop supplier

A wardrobe package rarely travels alone. The same project that specifies matte lacquer joinery also needs built-in furniture, kitchen cabinetry, flooring, wall panelling, doors, lighting and bathroom fixtures. Splitting those across five suppliers means five tolerance systems, five delivery windows and five sets of snags.

Consolidating them under one one-stop furniture and building materials supplier keeps finish samples consistent — the lacquer on a bedroom wardrobe, the panels on a niche wall and the cabinetry in the kitchen can be produced against one approved reference — and puts a single production schedule behind the whole fit-out. Our turnkey project solutions cover villa, hospitality and office work on that basis, from design consultation and material selection through manufacturing, quality control, site coordination and handover.

For Australian buyers the same model applies: we ship to project sites across Australia and have published case references in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Willoughby. Import terms, duties, transit routing and delivery scope are confirmed per project rather than assumed, and we handle the commercial invoices, packing lists and origin documentation that go with them.

Five failure points to design out

• Sheen drift between batches. Never release a repeat order against a colour chart alone; keep the signed sample panel and reference it on the purchase order.
• Site dimensions taken too early. Measure after flooring, skirting and ceiling finishes are in place, or record the pending build-up explicitly.
• Sliding doors specified into a room without clearance. Track depth and door overlap need confirming against the finished floor and wall lines.
• Hardware quoted as "standard". Name the hinge and runner system, or expect it to change on the second production run.
• No prototype for a multi-unit project. One approved wardrobe before the run costs far less than correcting thirty rooms after installation.

Before you send an enquiry — checklist

Confirm these ten items and your OEM wardrobe order can move straight to costing:

• Built-in or freestanding, per room.
• Door system: hinged, sliding, pocket or open.
• Finished dimensions from site measurement, with tolerance allowance.
• Substrate and thickness for carcass, doors and shelves.
• Lacquer build: matte sheen band, colour reference, edge treatment.
• Internal layout per unit type.
• Hardware brand and model, including soft-close and any handleless profile.
• Quantities by unit type, with delivery phasing.
• Branding or labelling requirement, if the goods leave under another name.
• Delivery address, Incoterms preference and target on-site date.

Send that pack with your drawings and we will come back with a specification-based quotation, a prototype plan, and a production and delivery schedule you can build the site programme around. Contact details are on our contact page.