Wardrobe and dressing room internal dimensions

At a glance

Millimetres, heights from the finished floor. Conventions from fitter and designer guides, not standards; they disagree.

Start from the clothes, not the catalogue

Retailers and fitters quote different figures for the inside of a wardrobe because the right figure depends on what hangs in it. This sheet gives each range with its reason, so that you can check it against the client's own clothes. The studio plans the interior from the inventory of what the room holds, as our journal guide on fitted wardrobes describes, and the dimensions follow from that.

A rail's height is set by the longest garment hung from it:

• Long hang. Rail height to the tube centre = the base (plinth) + the hem clearance + the longest garment + the hanger drop. Example: 100 + 150 + 1,400 (a long coat or maxi dress) + 150 = 1,800 mm.
• Double hang. Rail to rail = the longest garment in the upper zone + the hanger drop + clearance over the lower hangers. Example: 750 + 150 + 100 = 1,000 mm, so with the lower rail at 1,000 the upper rail is at 2,000.
• The hanger drop is the distance from the rail centre to the shoulder line. We use 150 mm in the examples; measure the client's own hangers, because bulky or padded ones drop further.

The sources we read give different rails because they assume different garments and users. One UK fitter guide gives a single rail at 1,750 to 1,900 mm and the lower rail of a double at 850 to 950. A US guide gives 1,676 mm (66 inches) for a single rail and about 1,030 and 2,075 mm for a double. We give the spread (single 1,650 to 1,900, double lower 850 to 1,050, upper 1,800 to 2,100) and the sums, and leave the choice to the clothes. A rule of thumb in circulation allows about 25 mm of rail per shirt, 30 mm per pair of trousers or skirt and 50 mm per dress, jacket or suit: 30 shirts, 12 jackets and 10 dresses need about 1,850 mm of rail.

Depth: hinged and sliding doors

Hangers lie front to back across the rail, so the hanger sets the depth. An adult hanger is commonly 400 to 450 mm wide (we draw 440). Leave about 80 mm clear at the back and at the front and the clear depth comes to 600 mm. That is where the sources converge: a UK fitter guide gives 550 mm as the minimum, 600 mm as normal and 650 to 680 mm as generous, and a second guide says around 600 mm. Approved Document M volume 1 also draws a double wardrobe as 600 mm by 1,200 mm for its furnished layouts (Appendix D), which is a drawing footprint, not a rule for the inside.

• State what depth means. Say whether it is the clear depth, from the back panel to the inside face of the closed door, or the overall carcass depth. Sources do not say, and the two differ by the thickness of the back and the door.
• Hinged doors need the clear depth only. They also need clear floor in front to swing, and a leaf wider than about 600 mm loads the hinges, according to one fitter guide.
• Sliding doors add a track zone in front of the hanging space for two tracks and the overlap of the leaves: 50 mm in one fitter guide, 75 to 100 mm in the research notes. With a 600 mm hanging space, the overall depth is about 650 to 700 mm. Only half the interior is open at a time.
• Rail position. Centre the rail in the hanging depth, about 300 mm from the back for a 600 mm space. A US guide says at least 12 inches (305 mm) from the back wall.

Shelves, drawers and shoes

Shelf and drawer sizes follow what is stored in them and the hardware, and the sources give ranges rather than standards. Treat the figures as starting points and confirm the hardware with the partner workshop.

Shelf span and load, and rail span and load, are structural questions that depend on the board and the fixing. We give no figures here: ask the partner workshop for the board thickness, the span and the load it will stand behind.

Dressing rooms: aisles, islands and door swing

Plan a dressing room as runs plus aisles. A run of hanging is about 600 mm deep, an island about 600 mm, and the aisle A is the clear width between fronts with the doors and drawers shut. The room width is then the sum of the parts. The drawing shows three layouts and the table gives the widths.

Widths are clear sizes between the finished wall faces, in millimetres, for runs 600 mm deep. As a check, one design article reports a 3,400 mm wide room fitting a 700 mm island with aisles of about 750 mm; the sum is 1,200 + 700 + 1,500 = 3,400, which agrees.

• Aisle. We take 1,000 mm as the working minimum between runs and 1,200 mm where two people pass, which matches the 100 to 120 cm on our walk-in wardrobes page. Designer guides accept 750 to 900 mm in a small room used by one person, so a lower figure can work, but test it with a drawer open. In wheelchair user dwellings in England, Approved Document M volume 1 asks for a 1,000 mm clear zone in front of bedroom furniture (paragraph 3.35).
• Island. Keep 900 to 1,000 mm clear on every side. The island depth is the dimension that changes the room width, so settle it first.
• Door swing. A door leaf that swings into the aisle uses it. Hang the door outward, slide it, or draw the arc on the plan, as the dashed arc in the galley layout does.
• Draw it with the drawers open. An aisle that works with everything shut may fail when a drawer is pulled into it.

What the regulations and standards say

Very little of this is regulated, and none of it fixes the inside of a wardrobe.

• Standards. We found no British Standard that gives rail, shelf or drawer sizes. BS EN 16122 (test methods for strength, durability and stability of storage furniture) and BS EN 14749 (domestic and kitchen storage units) concern testing and safety, not layout. Both are named only: neither was read, so confirm against the current edition.
• Part M for dwellings (England). Approved Document M volume 1, 2015 edition incorporating the 2016 amendments, shows a double wardrobe as 600 mm by 1,200 mm in the furniture schedule in Appendix D, used to draw furnished layouts (paragraphs 2.25 and 3.20). For wheelchair user dwellings (M4(3)) it asks for a clear access zone of 1,000 mm in front of all furniture in the principal and other double bedrooms, and 1,000 mm in single and twin bedrooms (paragraph 3.35(e), (g) and (h)). It also sets minimum areas of general built-in storage (paragraph 3.26, Table 3.1), which are areas, not dimensions.
• Space standard. The Nationally Described Space Standard (March 2015, amended 19 May 2016), where a local authority has adopted it, counts a built-in wardrobe towards a bedroom's floor area but says it must not reduce the room's effective width below the minimum (paragraph 10(h)). It gives no wardrobe dimensions.
• Hotel bedrooms. Our Approved Document M sheet covers the wardrobe provisions for buildings other than dwellings. It gives no rail, shelf or drawer heights.
• Fire. Approved Document B leaves fitted furniture out of what counts as a wall lining (Volume 1 paragraph 4.3(d); Volume 2 paragraph 6.3(d); 2019 edition incorporating the 2020, 2022, 2025 and 2026 amendments). The wall behind is still a lining.

Hanging rail [25] mm tube, centre [1,800] mm above finished floor for long hang; double hang lower [1,000] and upper [2,000] mm; centred in the clear depth, [300] mm from the back panel; not less than [100] mm to the shelf above. Longest garment: [1,400] mm long hang, [750] mm short hang. Clear internal depth [600] mm from the back panel to the inside face of the closed door; sliding doors add [75] mm for the track zone. Door leaves not wider than [600] mm hinged, [1,000] mm sliding.

Shelves [18] mm, [380] mm deep, adjustable, pitch [350] mm. Drawers internal [800] wide x [500] deep, fronts [140 / 220 / 300] mm, full-extension soft-close runners rated for [ ] kg. Dressing room: clear aisle between facing fronts, doors and drawers closed, not less than [1,000] mm; island clearance not less than [900] mm all round; door swing not to cross the aisle. Dimensions to be confirmed against the client's garment and shoe list [attached] and a mock-up of [one bay] before production; the drawing governs over any catalogue figure.

Standards and sources

• Approved Document M volume 1 (England), 2015 edition incorporating 2016 amendments: Appendix D; paragraphs 2.25, 3.20, 3.26 and 3.35. Read November 2026.
• Nationally Described Space Standard (DCLG, March 2015, amended 19 May 2016): paragraph 10(h). Read November 2026.
• Approved Document B Volumes 1 and 2 (England), 2019 edition with amendments to 2026: Volume 1 paragraph 4.3(d); Volume 2 paragraph 6.3(d). Read November 2026.
• BS EN 16122 and BS EN 14749, storage furniture: named only; not read.

Questions we are asked

How deep should a wardrobe be?

About 600 mm of clear depth for hanging, with 550 mm as a tight minimum and 650 mm or more as generous. A hanger is commonly 400 to 450 mm wide and needs room at the front and back. Say whether a depth is the clear depth or the overall depth, and add 50 to 100 mm for sliding door tracks.

How high should a hanging rail be?

It depends on the longest garment. A single long-hang rail is usually 1,650 to 1,900 mm to the tube centre, and a double hang 850 to 1,050 mm for the lower rail and 1,800 to 2,100 mm for the upper. Work it out as plinth plus hem clearance plus garment length plus hanger drop.

How far apart should a double hanging rail be?

About 900 to 1,050 mm. The sum is the longest garment in the upper zone, plus the hanger drop, plus about 100 mm of clearance over the lower hangers. For shirts and jackets up to 750 mm long, 1,000 mm works.

What is the minimum size of a walk-in wardrobe?

It depends on the layout. With runs 600 mm deep and a 1,000 mm aisle, a single wall run needs a room 1,600 mm wide, a galley 2,200 mm and a room with a 600 mm island 3,800 mm. Allow 1,200 mm for the aisle if two people pass.

How deep does a wardrobe with sliding doors need to be?

The same hanging depth, about 600 mm, plus a track zone for the doors. Sources give 50 to 100 mm for the tracks and overlap, so the overall depth is about 650 to 700 mm. Ask the workshop for the track section.

Does Part M say how high a wardrobe rail should be?

Not for dwellings or for hotel bedrooms that we could find. Approved Document M volume 1 asks for a 1,000 mm clear access zone in front of bedroom furniture in wheelchair user dwellings (paragraph 3.35), and volume 2 asks for hotel wardrobe swing doors that open through a wide angle, but neither gives rail, shelf or drawer heights.