Fitted wardrobes in Dubai villas

Fitted wardrobes in Dubai villas are built for one particular wall. The carcass is made to the size of the recess, fixed to the floor, the wall and often the ceiling, then finished with doors and internal fittings chosen for that room. It is joinery rather than furniture, which is why it is priced by the length of wall it fills and why the inside matters as much as the doors.

Which kind of wardrobe suits the room?

• Reach-in along a wall. The usual bedroom wardrobe, floor to ceiling across a recess. Sliding doors save the space a hinged door swings through; hinged doors open the whole width at once.
• Walk-in dressing room. A small room or a large recess lined with open hanging, drawers and shelves. One UAE retailer lists a bespoke walk-in system at AED 27,995 as a fixed-price product; a fitted one is drawn for the room.
• Storage above and around. Loft cupboards above the doors, a linen cupboard in the corridor, a bench with drawers under a window. Small pieces, priced the same way per metre.

Send us the wall sizes

What goes inside decides the price

Two wardrobes with identical doors can be priced far apart because of what sits behind them. Hanging rails at two heights, drawers on soft-close runners, pull-out trouser and shoe racks, shelves, a lit interior and a mirror inside a door each add a line. So does the finish: a carcass in plain board with lacquered or veneered doors prices differently from one lacquered throughout.

Ask for the internals as a list with a price against each, and for the hinges, runners and handles by maker and range. That is the part of a wardrobe that wears, so it belongs on the quote by name.

Do fitted wardrobes need community approval?

Rarely, as long as no wall moves. Nakheel's villa design codes let cabinets, wardrobes and furniture be replaced without an NOC, on a gate pass. Emaar needs no NOC for furniture installations, though every contractor needs an entry permit. Town Square is the stricter case: removing and replacing wardrobes, cabinets and doors is one of its minor alterations, at AED 1,000 with a stated 2 working days.

Turning two rooms into one dressing room is a different job. Town Square treats opening interior walls as a major alteration, and Emaar does not permit changes to structural walls in villas, so the wall comes before the wardrobe in the approval queue. The wider rules for built-in pieces are on our villa joinery page.

Wardrobes in Abu Dhabi and the other emirates

In Aldar-managed communities the handbook clause catches fittings and fixtures that deviate from the approved plans, so a built-in wardrobe that changes a room goes to the Owners Union Director first. The published per-metre prices above were collected for Dubai, and we confirm Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ajman prices from makers' answers to the same drawing.

What should a wardrobe quote list?

1. The wall length and height measured on site, after floors and ceilings are finished.
2. The carcass board and thickness, and the door material and finish, with a sample.
3. Every internal fitting, itemised and priced.
4. The hinges, runners and handles by maker and range.
5. Scribing to uneven walls and ceilings, installation, and removal of any old units.
6. Lead time from signed drawing to installation, and the warranty on carcass and hardware.

If the bedroom is being redesigned around the wardrobe, Corvana Interiors handles the room as a whole. A wardrobe that runs to the ceiling should be measured after any new gypsum ceiling is up, and one that is part of a wider refit sits with our whole-villa refit scopes.

Ask for a wardrobe quote

Common questions: What Is Joinery? Joinery Works in a Dubai Villa, Explained.