Kitchen Cabinets from China: A UK Specification and Enquiry Guide
What to confirm before ordering kitchen cabinets from China for a UK project: real costs, specifications, quality checks and a simple enquiry pack.
Read the guideA walk-in wardrobe in the UK costs anywhere from £500 for a self-built IKEA PAX setup to £15,000+ for a fully bespoke dressing room from a national brand. Between those poles sit made-to-measure modular systems from around £2,000 and local joiners at £1,500–£6,000. The range is enormous because "walk-in wardrobe" covers everything from a converted box room with two hanging rails to a three-wall dressing room with an island.
This guide does three things most cost guides skip: it tells you the minimum room size that actually works for each layout (with real dimensions, not "it depends"), prices a box room conversion line by line, and gives you an honest answer on when flat-pack is the right choice and when it isn't.
Key takeaways
- A walk-in wardrobe costs £2,000–£15,000+ professionally installed; a box room conversion with custom joinery lands at £2,500–£5,000
- The true minimum is 1.4m × 1.5m for a single-sided layout — most UK box rooms (1.8m × 2.5m) can take an L-shaped walk-in
- Importing bespoke joinery only pays off when the walk-in is bundled with other rooms in one shipment — for a single room, a local joiner usually wins
Walk-in wardrobe cost in the UK (2026)
Four routes exist, and they barely overlap on price. Published figures from UK suppliers and cost guides, October 2026:
| Route | Typical cost | What you get | Lead time |
|---|---|---|---|
| IKEA PAX self-build | £500–£1,500 | Fixed 35cm/58cm depths, standard widths, you design and build | Immediate |
| Made-to-measure modular (online suppliers) | From £2,000 | Cut-to-size panels from your measurements, flat-packed, you or a fitter install | 2–4 weeks |
| Local joiner, bespoke | £1,500–£6,000 | Site-measured, scribed to your walls, any layout, painted or veneer finish | 2–4 weeks |
| National brand (Sharps, Hammonds etc.) | £6,000–£15,000+ | Showroom design, full installation, 10–15 year guarantee | 4–8 weeks |
Sources: online-bedrooms.co.uk (made-to-measure walk-ins from £2,000, 2–4 week delivery), londoncarpentersandjoiners.co.uk (fitted £1,800–£6,000, walk-ins £6,000–£15,000+, London rates), myjobquote.co.uk (£1,500–£3,500 straightforward, up to £4,000–£6,000+). Full links in Methodology.
Two honest observations from these numbers. First, the joiner range and the brand range barely touch — you are paying for the showroom, the national fitting network and the guarantee, not for better materials. Second, the modular route at £2,000+ is the fastest-growing segment because it splits the difference: real made-to-measure sizing without joiner day rates.
What the table doesn't show is the fifth route — factory-direct custom import — because no published UK price list covers it. That's what the worked example prices.
Worked example: converting a 2m × 2.5m box room
The most common walk-in project we see quoted: a 1930s semi box room, 2m × 2.5m with a 2.4m ceiling, converted to an L-shaped walk-in with hanging on two walls, a drawer tower, shelving, and LED strip lighting. Painted finish throughout.
| Line item | Local joiner | Bespoke import |
|---|---|---|
| Design & site survey | £200 | £0 (you measure, we draw) |
| Custom carcasses & panelling (≈4.5 linear m) | £2,100 | £950 (FOB) |
| Drawer tower (4 drawers, soft-close) | £480 | Included in FOB |
| LED strip lighting + drivers | £220 | £120 (FOB) |
| Painted finish (sprayed) | £550 | Included in FOB |
| Installation (2 fitters × 2 days) | £1,080 | £1,080 (local fitters) |
| Sea freight (share of consolidated 40ft) | — | £280 |
| UK delivery & customs clearance | — | £240 |
| Import duty (HS 9403500000, 0%) | — | £0 |
| Import VAT (20%, on goods + freight + insurance) | — | £270 |
| Total | £4,630 | £2,940 |
Import column assumes you arrange installation locally — two fitters at the Checkatrade average of £270/day. Figures are illustrative market benchmarks, not a George Group quotation.
The import route saves roughly £1,690 on this room — but read the caveats before getting excited. It adds 8–12 weeks of lead time, puts the measuring responsibility on you, and requires you to find and coordinate local fitters. And the saving only exists at all because the freight and clearance costs (£520) are spread across a consolidated shipment — which is why we say plainly below that importing a single walk-in rarely makes sense.
Pricing a walk-in right now? Send us your room dimensions and photos → — we return an itemised quotation within 24 hours.
Is your room big enough? Minimum sizes by layout
This is the question that decides everything, and most guides answer it with "it depends". Here are the working minimums, cross-checked against published dimension guides and trade convention:
| Layout | Minimum room size | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Single-sided (one wall of storage) | 1.4m × 1.5m | 60cm deep cabinets + 80–90cm walkway |
| Double-sided (two facing walls) | 1.8m × 1.8m | 60cm + 60cm cabinets, 60cm minimum walkway — tight but workable |
| L-shaped (two adjacent walls) | 1.8m × 2.0m | Corner unit bridges both runs; best use of a box room |
| U-shaped / with island | 2.4m × 2.4m+ | Three walls of storage or an island drawer unit — master bedroom territory |
Working minimums based on 60cm cabinet depth (standard hanging) and 60–90cm walkway clearances. Published dimension guides recommend 91cm (36in) walkways for comfort and quote 183cm × 183cm as the minimum for a comfortable walk-in — you can go smaller, as the table shows, by accepting a 60cm walkway (Houzz UK; fittedbedroomwardrobes.com). These are trade conventions, not regulated standards — see Methodology.
The numbers that matter most are the two you can't fudge: hanging clothes need 550–600mm of cabinet depth (the same constraint as fitted wardrobes generally), and a walkway under 600mm stops being a walkway. Everything else is negotiable — shelf depths can drop to 350mm, drawer towers to 450mm, and corners can carry the load.
The UK box room question. The typical box room in a 1930s semi or post-war terrace measures 1.8–2.5m × 2–3m. Against the table above: yes, almost every box room in Britain can become a walk-in wardrobe, and the L-shaped layout is usually the answer — hanging along the long wall, shelving or drawers on the short wall, corner unit bridging the two. What you give up is the room's status as a bedroom, which matters at resale in some markets (a point estate agents disagree on — see the FAQ).
If your room doesn't make the minimum, three alternatives, in order of cost: reconfigure the partition wall (steal 300–400mm from an adjacent room — a stud wall move typically costs £800–£1,500), combine the box room with the adjacent bedroom into a bedroom-plus-dressing-room suite, or accept a floor-to-ceiling reach-in wardrobe wall instead — a well-designed reach-in holds more than a badly-planned walk-in.
What drives the quote
Two quotes for "the same" walk-in can differ by £2,000+. These are the variables that move the number, in order of impact:
| Cost driver | Typical impact | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Linear metres of cabinetry | Base cost × metres | A 2-wall box room is ~4.5 linear m; a 3-wall dressing room 7–9m |
| Drawers vs shelves | +£80–£150 per drawer | Each drawer is a box, runners and a front; a shelf is a board |
| Doors on cabinets | +20–30% | Open walk-ins skip doors entirely — the room itself is the enclosure |
| Timber veneer vs painted MDF | +35–45% | Real oak/walnut veneer vs 2-pack spray finish |
| LED lighting | +£120–£300 | Strip lighting in hanging sections and shelving niches |
| Island unit | +£800–£1,500 | Only fits rooms 2.4m+ in both directions |
| Mirror / dressing table section | +£200–£400 | Integrated mirror panel or drop-down dressing shelf |
| Angled ceilings / bulkheads | +10–20% | Loft conversions and rooms with soil-pipe boxing |
Trade estimates based on material differentials and typical labour rates, October 2026 — see Methodology.
The single biggest lever is drawers. A drawer tower with six drawers costs roughly £700–£900 of a quote; the same volume in shelving costs about £150. The second biggest is the finish: painted MDF to real veneer typically adds £800–£1,200 on a box room project. If the budget is tight, keep drawers to one tower and paint everything — that combination holds most projects under £5,000 installed.
Custom vs flat-pack: where PAX genuinely wins and loses
Honesty first: if your budget is under £2,000 and your room is reasonably square, IKEA PAX is the right choice. Nothing in the custom market competes with it at that price, and any guide that pretends otherwise is selling something.
The comparison is about what you give up:
| Factor | IKEA PAX | Custom made-to-measure |
|---|---|---|
| Frame depths | 35cm or 58cm only | Any depth — including 55cm to dodge a bulkhead, or 62cm for oversized hangers |
| Widths | 50/75/100cm frames + fillers | Exact to the millimetre, no filler panels |
| Corners | Corner frame exists but wastes ~30cm of each run | Corner unit runs hanging or shelving continuously |
| Ceiling height | 201cm or 236cm frames | Floor-to-ceiling, any height — typically +40cm of top-box storage |
| Obstacles | Work around them | Scribed to skirting, picture rails, sloped ceilings, chimney breasts |
| Finish | Fixed range | Any colour, any veneer, matched to existing furniture |
| Price (box room, L-shape) | £700–£1,200 | £2,500–£5,000 installed |
| Lifespan | 10-year guarantee; particleboard frames | 18mm carcass, refinishable, 15+ year service life |
PAX specifications from IKEA UK's published range; custom column reflects standard trade specification. See Methodology.
The practical dividing line: PAX loses its price advantage precisely where UK period housing is least cooperative — rooms with chimney breasts, picture rails, sloped ceilings, or walls that aren't square. Each workaround (filler panels, gaps at the ceiling, dead corners) costs you storage you paid floor space for. In a genuinely square new-build box room, those problems don't exist, and the £3,000+ you save with PAX is real money.
The middle option worth knowing: hybrid. PAX frames on the straight runs, a custom corner unit and custom top boxes to close the gaps. Joiners and modular suppliers both do this — it typically lands at £1,800–£2,500 for a box room.
Local joiner vs bespoke import for a walk-in
If you've ruled out flat-pack, this is the real decision — and the honest answer is less convenient for us than you'd expect.
| Factor | Local joiner | Bespoke import (e.g. China factory) |
|---|---|---|
| Price (box room, L-shape) | £4,000–£6,000 | £2,500–£3,200 landed + local fitting |
| Lead time | 2–4 weeks from order | 8–12 weeks (production + sea freight) |
| Site survey | Included | You measure (with our measuring guide) |
| Installation | Included | You arrange local fitters (£270/day typical) |
| Scribing to wonky walls | On-site, natural | Possible, but needs accurate surveying upfront |
| Design revisions | In person | Drawings by email, 48-hour turnaround |
| Best for | Single room, tight timeline, difficult walls | Whole-house joinery packages |
The honest answer: for one walk-in wardrobe on its own, hire a local joiner. By the time you add freight, clearance and fitting to a single imported room, the saving narrows to £1,000–£1,500 — and you've taken on the measuring risk, the 8–12 week wait, and the job of finding fitters. That's a bad trade for most people.
The import economics flip when the walk-in is one room in a bigger package — the same container carrying your bedroom wardrobes, kitchen, or a media wall for the living room. Freight and clearance are fixed costs: spread across five rooms instead of one, the per-room saving jumps to £2,000+ and the landed-cost arithmetic turns decisively, as the full import cost breakdown shows line by line.
How to order a bespoke walk-in wardrobe
The process is the same whether you go local, modular or import. Five steps:
- Measure the room properly. Wall lengths at floor and ceiling height (period walls rarely agree), ceiling height at two corners, door position and swing, window position, and anything interrupting the walls — radiators, sockets, bulkheads, picture rails. Photograph every wall straight-on.
- Fix the layout before pricing. Single-sided, L-shape or U-shape follows from the size table above. Decide what you're storing: count your linear metres of hanging (short and long), folded items, and shoes. A designer who quotes without asking these numbers is guessing.
- Choose the component mix. This is where the budget lives: hanging rails are nearly free, shelves are cheap, drawers are expensive. One drawer tower plus maximum hanging and shelving is the value sweet spot.
- Get an itemised quote. Carcasses, drawer towers, finish, lighting, installation — every line separately. A single lump-sum number can't be compared against anything, and "from £X" marketing prices exclude the items that make a walk-in useful.
- Confirm lead time and who measures. Local joiner: 2–4 weeks, they measure. Import: 8–12 weeks, you measure to a supplied checklist. Either way, get the measuring responsibility in writing — it's the single most common dispute in fitted furniture.
Ready to start? Send your room dimensions and photos → — drawings within 48 hours, itemised quote within 24 hours of design confirmation.
Walk-in wardrobes in Ireland
The Irish market tracks UK pricing with the usual two adjustments.
VAT is 23%, not 20%. On a €4,500 box room conversion that's €1,035 in VAT versus £750 on the UK equivalent. Revenue publishes the current rates — fitted furniture supply and installation is generally standard-rated.
Labour runs higher in Dublin. Expect quotes 10–15% above UK equivalents in the capital, narrowing to parity elsewhere. A bespoke walk-in in Ireland typically costs €2,500–€8,000 from a local joiner depending on size and specification; national-brand dressing rooms start around €7,000.
The import route works identically — delivery via Dublin Port, the same 0% EU duty on wooden bedroom furniture under TARIC, and Irish VAT at 23% on the landed value. The bundling logic matters even more: with joiner rates higher, the per-room saving on a whole-house package typically exceeds the UK figure.
Why George Group
George Group manufactures bespoke joinery — wardrobes, walk-ins, kitchens, media walls — in our own factory and ships directly to the UK and Ireland. No showroom, no national sales team, no franchise markup: factory-direct pricing on joinery built to your exact room dimensions.
Every walk-in starts from your measurements and your storage count. We draw the room in 2D and 3D, you approve the layout and component mix, and we manufacture to those drawings — carcasses pre-finished, hardware pre-fitted where possible, panels labelled to the packing list so a local fitting team can install in one to two days.
We don't publish fixed prices because no two rooms are the same. What we commit to is an itemised quotation — carcasses, drawers, finish, lighting, freight, installation guidance — that you can compare line for line against any joiner or brand quote. And if the honest answer is that a local joiner or a PAX setup fits your project better, we'll say so — as this guide has.
Explore the wardrobe and storage range for finish quality and interior options, or see how the design process works from first measurements to installation drawings.
Methodology and sources
UK walk-in pricing compiled in October 2026 from: online-bedrooms.co.uk (made-to-measure walk-ins from £2,000, 2–4 week nationwide delivery, accessed via search listing), londoncarpentersandjoiners.co.uk price guide (fitted wardrobes £1,800–£6,000; walk-ins £6,000–£15,000+, London rates), myjobquote.co.uk walk-in wardrobe cost guide (£1,500–£3,500 straightforward installations, up to £4,000–£6,000+). The myjobquote and spaceslide guide pages returned 404 at crawl time; figures from those sources are quoted from their current search-result listings and labelled accordingly. National-brand figures from Sharps and Hammonds published pricing as compiled in our brand comparison; independent benchmark from Which? fitted wardrobe cost research (November 2025 survey).
Minimum room dimensions are trade conventions, not regulated standards: fittedbedroomwardrobes.com dimension guide (comfortable walk-in minimum 183–244cm × 183–305cm), Houzz UK walk-in wardrobe gallery and design guidance (36in/91cm walkway recommendation for comfortable two-person use, cabinet depths 14–24in), cross-checked against the 550–600mm hanging-depth constraint documented in our fitted wardrobe cost guide. IKEA PAX specifications from IKEA UK's published PAX range.
Import figures: GOV.UK Trade Tariff commodity 9403500000 (wooden bedroom furniture, third-country duty 0%), sea freight benchmark Drewry World Container Index Shanghai→North Europe US$3,626 per 40ft (17 September 2026, as used in our landed-cost analysis), fitting labour at the Checkatrade published average of £270/day. Irish VAT from Revenue.ie (23%, accessed October 2026).
Cost-driver figures marked as trade estimates are based on material differentials and typical labour rates; they are not from a single published source and are labelled as such. All prices are market benchmarks, not George Group quotations — your itemised quote will depend on your room dimensions, specification and finish choices.
