A recessed panel wardrobe is not a product you can order from a catalogue number. The panel detail is only the visible part of the job; everything that decides the price sits behind it — the opening it has to fit, the carcass and door materials, the internal layout and the terms of delivery. When an enquiry reaches us with those details already settled, we can return a quotation that is close to final. When they are missing, the first number is only a rough allowance, and the round of questions that follows delays everyone on site.

The list below is the set of information our estimating team works from on built-in wardrobe projects. Send it in one enquiry and you will normally get a usable price with one or two clarifications at most.

1. The opening, measured and confirmed

Made-to-measure cabinetry starts from dimensions taken on site after the floor, wall and ceiling finishes are in place — not from architectural drawings alone. For each run, please send the width, height and depth at several points along the opening, because walls and slabs are rarely square across a full room. Note anything the unit has to work around: skirting, architraves, downlights, air-conditioning grilles, radiators, doors that swing into the run, and electrical outlets or switches that cannot be obstructed.

Floor to ceiling or wall to wall matters as much as the raw measurements. A built-in that fills an alcove needs different scribes and trims from a wardrobe built into a dedicated room, and a room with an uneven plaster finish may need a framed-out rebate before the carcasses go in. Photographs of the empty space, taken from both ends, resolve most of these questions faster than a written description.

2. Door style and the panel profile you want

Recessed panel doors belong to the same family as raised panel and shaker panel doors, but the profile of the moulding, the width of the frame and the depth of the recess all change the cost, so a reference image is worth including with your enquiry. Tell us whether the panel is a flat centre panel or a shaped one, whether the frame edges are square or routed, and whether the same profile has to carry through to other joinery in the project, such as doors, panelling or vanity units.

Door operation is the second decision. Hinged doors need clearance to swing, which affects their placement around corners and adjoining furniture. Sliding doors suit narrow circulation spaces but sit on a track, so headroom and floor level have to be checked. If you are weighing the two, send a floor plan and we will advise which operation the layout actually supports.

3. Materials, finish and the look you are matching

Our wardrobe work is specified by project rather than by a fixed material list, so state the construction you want and the finish it should match. For a paneled door that usually means the core, the face material and the surface treatment: painted, lacquered, laminated or wood veneer. If a paint colour is involved, give the colour reference and the sheen level, since a matt and a satin finish on the same colour read very differently across a large door face.

Veneer and laminate work needs a sample or a physical reference wherever the piece has to match existing joinery. Photographs of a colour chip in daylight, or a swatch sent to our Foshan workshop, give a far more reliable match than a screen image, and they let us confirm grain direction and edge treatment before the panels are pressed. Where the wardrobe sits in a humid bathroom or an exterior wall prone to condensation, say so at the enquiry stage — it changes what we recommend for both the board and the finish.

4. The internal layout and the hardware

Internals are quoted per project, and a rough sketch with dimensions is enough to price them. Mark where hanging clothes go and at what heights, how many shelves and drawers, whether you want a trouser or jewellery tray, and whether the run includes an open display section. Also state what the wardrobe has to store that is out of the ordinary: long coats, ironing boards, luggage, a safe, or an animal feeding station tucked into a lower compartment.

Hardware is where quotations diverge most, because two identical carcasses can differ substantially depending on what is fitted inside them. Please confirm your preference on soft-close hinges and drawer runners, the type of handles or a push-to-open and handleless profile, integrated lighting in the open bays, and any mirror, glass or timber drawer fronts. If you have a hardware brand or a specific hinge in mind, name it. Otherwise tell us the level of use the room will see — a guest suite and a family bedroom place very different demands on the same fitting.

5. Quantity, site context and programme

One wardrobe for a single apartment and thirty across a residential development are not priced the same way, and repeat units on a common layout let us standardise the parts that can be standardised. Give the count per type, and where the same specification repeats, say so plainly.

The site context shapes the packing and the delivery plan. Tell us the storey, whether a goods lift is available and what the lift or stairwell will accept, since a full-height side panel that will not turn a landing has to be built in sections. For projects in Australia, the references on our turnkey solutions pages include villa work in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Willoughby, and in each case we work to the site access and stage sequence the local contractor sets.

Finally, give us the date the joinery must arrive on site and work backwards from there. Wardrobe manufacture follows the completion of wet trades and floor finishes, so a realistic programme states when the room will be ready for measurement, not merely when the units are wanted. Send your dimensions, drawings and photographs together with the target on-site date and we can confirm what is achievable rather than guess at it.

What you receive back

With the information above in hand, your quotation sets out the wardrobe construction, the specified finish and hardware, the unit price against each run, and the delivery arrangement. Where a detail is still open, we flag it as an allowance on the quote rather than leave it hidden in the total. Our team is available to review drawings before you send the enquiry, so if your dimensions are still being taken, contact us for a short pre-check and we will tell you which items are missing before the estimate is prepared.