Walk-in wardrobe dimensions: the five numbers to fix first
A walk-in wardrobe is mostly a row of open carcasses standing against one or more walls. Five numbers decide how the whole thing behaves: how deep each unit is, how wide, how far off the floor it starts, how far below the ceiling it stops, and how thick the board is. Fix those, and shelf spacing, rail height and aisle width follow almost by themselves. Below are the values Walk-in Planner starts from and the reasoning behind them.
Depth: 600 mm
Depth is set by the hanger, not by the clothes. An adult hanger is about 450 mm (17 11/16 in) across the shoulders and hangs across the unit, so the carcass has to be deeper than that plus the thickness of a coat. 600 mm (23 5/8 in) does it comfortably and is the planner's default. Drop to 500 mm (19 11/16 in) and jackets start rubbing the back panel; go past 650 mm (25 9/16 in) and you gain nothing for clothes while taking floor area out of the aisle — and in a walk-in the aisle is the part you actually stand in.
Depth is set per wall, not per unit, so a run stays flush. Shelves stop 20 mm (25/32 in) short of the front, which keeps a sleeve from catching the edge; in a 600 mm unit with a 4 mm (5/32 in) back that is a 576 mm (22 11/16 in) shelf.
Width: 400 to 1000 mm per column
Width is a compromise between rail length and shelf sag. Below 400 mm (15 3/4 in) a hanging rail carries so little that the column is better used for shelves; past about 900 mm (35 7/16 in) an 18 mm (23/32 in) shelf bows visibly under folded clothes. So 900 mm is the practical maximum for an undivided shelf; a wider column — up to the 1000 mm (39 3/8 in) top of the sensible range — wants a vertical divider or a thicker board. 600 mm (23 5/8 in) is the comfortable middle and divides most rooms neatly.
The absolute floor the planner enforces is 136 mm (5 3/8 in): two 18 mm sides and a 100 mm (3 15/16 in) interior. Treat it as a limit, not a target — it exists so an odd leftover stretch of wall can still be filled rather than left empty.
Plinth 100 mm, ceiling gap 150 mm
The plinth lifts the bottom panel 100 mm (3 15/16 in) off the floor. That keeps chipboard away from damp and from a mop, gives you somewhere to hide a levelling shim, and leaves a toe recess so you can stand close to the shelves. At the top, 150 mm (5 7/8 in) of clearance is what you need to tilt an assembled carcass upright without catching the ceiling, and it absorbs the fact that few floors and ceilings are parallel. In a 2500 mm (98 7/16 in) room those two together leave a carcass 2250 mm (88 9/16 in) tall.
Board: 18 mm sides, 4 mm back
18 mm (23/32 in) faced chipboard or MDF is the standard carcass material and what every cut list here assumes. The back is 4 mm (5/32 in) hardboard, which squares the carcass but carries no load. Unit width here is the outside width, sides included, so four 600 mm (23 5/8 in) units in a row measure exactly 2400 mm (94 1/2 in). What catches people out is the wall: it is almost never exactly 2400 mm. Measure it, watch the planner's free-width readout for that wall, and put the difference into a gap or one wider column.
The numbers in one place
| Dimension | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Unit depth | 500–650 mm (19 11/16 – 25 9/16 in), default 600 mm (23 5/8 in) | Clears a 450 mm hanger across the carcass |
| Unit width | 400–1000 mm (15 3/4 – 39 3/8 in), default 600 mm (23 5/8 in) | Long enough for a useful rail; over 900 mm (35 7/16 in) a shelf needs a divider |
| Minimum unit width | 136 mm (5 3/8 in) | Two 18 mm sides plus a 100 mm interior; a limit, not a target |
| Plinth height | 100 mm (3 15/16 in) | Damp, levelling shims, toe recess |
| Ceiling gap | 150 mm (5 7/8 in) | Room to tilt the carcass upright; hides an out-of-level ceiling |
| Panel thickness | 18 mm (23/32 in) | Standard carcass board; sets the minimum unit width |
| Back panel | 4 mm (5/32 in) | Squares the carcass, carries no load |
| Shelf setback | 20 mm (25/32 in) | Shelf is cut shallower than the carcass depth |
Checking it against your room
Measure the room at floor level and again at shoulder height, in both directions — walls that look straight are rarely within 10 mm (3/8 in) of each other end to end. Build to the smaller figure and take up the difference with a scribed filler, not by trimming a carcass. Then subtract the units from the room: what is left is your aisle, and that is the number that decides whether the wardrobe is pleasant to use.
Type your room into the planner and it does that arithmetic live, flags any column below the minimum width, and gives you a dimensioned plan, an elevation per wall and a cut list to hand to a panel shop.