A wardrobe quote rarely fails because the wood grain melamine panel is wrong. It fails because the information in the enquiry is incomplete. Two projects can ask for the same "oak grain wardrobe, 3.6 m wide" and end up with very different prices, production drawings and delivery plans. If you are sourcing built-in cabinetry for a villa, apartment or fit-out package, the quality of your enquiry determines how accurate the first quotation will be and how few rounds of revision it takes.

This guide walks through the details a manufacturer needs to price wood grain melamine wardrobes properly, what each item changes in the cost, and how to turn a rough drawing into a quote you can actually compare against other suppliers.

Start With the Frame of the Question

Before you send dimensions, decide what you are buying. A single wardrobe for one bedroom, a matching set across several rooms, and a full built-in joinery package that also includes vanity units, TV wall panelling and a laundry cabinet are priced and produced differently. Manufacturers quote per unit or per project line, and bundling related built-in furniture into one enquiry usually simplifies drawings, hardware ordering and container loading.

State the project type in the first message. Residential self-use, a villa development, a serviced apartment project or a renovation contract all involve different tolerances, documentation and delivery arrangements. That one sentence tells the supplier which details matter and which can be settled later.

The Specifications That Move the Price

Size, ceiling height and how the unit sits in the wall

Send width, height and depth for each run, and say clearly whether the wardrobe is built into a recess, aligned with the finished wall face, or standing proud as a freestanding piece. Finished and structural dimensions differ, and melamine panels are cut to millimetre accuracy, so a drawing that shows the opening rather than the internal clearance will produce a unit that does not fit. Note floor and ceiling heights at both ends of the run: older properties are rarely square, and that affects scribing, plinth design and installation time.

Door style and opening mechanism

Door type changes the construction as much as the appearance. Sliding doors need tracks, wall clearance and a different internal layout, while hinged doors need swing room, hinges and a robust carcass. Tell the supplier which style you want and the clear opening width, then let them confirm the mechanism. If you are comparing designs across the range, look at the textured melamine wardrobe pages, where the door and carcass construction are visible in the photographs.

Wood grain direction and finish

Wood grain melamine looks simple and hides detail differences that create cost and rework. Specify the grain direction on doors and drawer fronts, whether the grain should run continuously across a bank of doors, and whether the finish should be matte or textured. Also state the surface finish on the carcass interior and on visible side panels, since a wardrobe with exposed ends needs matching edge treatment on both faces. Where an exact timber species is expected, provide a reference image or a physical sample and accept that a printed decorative finish will reproduce the look rather than the timber itself.

Interior layout and hardware

List what goes inside: hanging lengths, shelf heights, drawers, trays, trouser racks, lighting provisions and any tall or deep storage. Drawer stacks and soft-close hardware are the largest variables in a wardrobe quote, so give a rough count of drawers and say whether soft close and integrated handles are required. If the design carries through to the rest of the home, note matching pieces in the same enquiry; the same panel and hardware choices cover the wood grain melamine cabinets in a kitchen or laundry, and a combined enquiry avoids mismatched finishes between rooms.

Documents Worth Attaching

• A dimensioned room sketch or architectural plan showing each wardrobe run, with heights at floor and ceiling level.
• Photographs of the wall, floor and adjacent openings, taken straight on rather than at an angle.
• Reference images of the door style and grain you want, plus a note on anything you explicitly do not want.
• A schedule listing each unit, quantity and room, so multiple wardrobes are quoted as separate lines instead of one blended figure.
• Delivery address, access notes and the floor the goods arrive on, which affects packaging and handling.
• Your target date on site, and any earlier date when approved drawings are needed.

What the Quotation Should Show

A usable quotation is itemised. Expect a price per unit or per wardrobe line, a panel and edge-band description, the door construction, the hardware schedule with brand or specification, packaging detail, and the production sequence after drawings are approved. Ask which line items change if you add drawers or swap a door style, so you can adjust the specification without a completely new quote.

For international orders, the freight and delivery terms are part of the price, not an afterthought. Clarify the Incoterms being quoted, who arranges inland transport and customs clearance, and how the shipment will be packed for long-distance transport. A made-to-measure built-in program from a China-based manufacturer follows a workflow that moves from design consultation and space planning to material selection, manufacturing, project coordination, delivery and installation; ask where your quote sits in that workflow and what has to be signed off before production begins.

Treat the drawing as the contract. Production should not start until you have approved a layout drawing that shows external dimensions, door elevation, interior fit-out and hardware positions. Check grain direction, handle positions and door gaps on that drawing; correcting a drawing costs nothing, correcting a cut panel does not.

Common Reasons a Quote Needs a Second Round

• Only external dimensions supplied, with no recess depth or ceiling height.
• "Melamine" quoted as a material without a stated finish, edge treatment or grain direction.
• Interior layout left to the supplier, then changed after the price is issued.
• Hardware described as "standard", which cannot be compared between suppliers.
• No delivery address or access detail, so freight is excluded and the comparison is incomplete.

A quote you can compare is one where every supplier has been given the same drawings, the same finish description and the same delivery terms. Send the same pack to each and the price differences become meaningful rather than a guess.

Putting the Enquiry Together

A short, complete enquiry reads like this: project type and location; number of wardrobes and which rooms; finished opening dimensions and door style for each; panel finish, grain direction and edge treatment; interior layout and drawer count with hardware preference; the delivery address, access constraints and target on-site date; plus drawings and photographs. That is enough for a manufacturer to return production drawings and an itemised price rather than a placeholder figure.

SANTERSON works on custom, made-to-measure built-in furniture for residential and project orders, with specified dimensions, materials and finishes rather than standard sizes, and supports the wider fit-out around the wardrobes through design coordination, manufacturing and door-to-door delivery. Share your drawings and finish references with the team and you will get drawings and a quote built around your actual rooms, not an approximate size.