Wardrobe depth: why 600 mm is not enough with sliding doors

Depth is the one wardrobe measurement you cannot fix afterwards. The number of doors changes before cutting, shelves move even after fitting, but a wardrobe 550 mm deep stays shallow for as long as it stands. So here is what each depth means, and why 600 mm with sliding doors is not the same as 600 mm without them.

A hanger is a measurement, not a preference

The shoulders of a men's jacket are 450–500 mm wide. A hanger with a jacket on it needs about 550 mm of clear depth to sit across the wardrobe without rubbing the back wall or pushing against the doors.

That is the measurement of the inside, not of the alcove. Sliding doors and their tracks take about 90 mm of the alcove depth: the door profile, the gap to the carcass, and the space a door needs to pass its neighbour.

• —Alcove 600 mm → inside about 510 mm — hangers sit at an angle, clothes rub the doors
• —Alcove 620 mm → inside about 530 mm — works, with nothing to spare
• —Alcove 650 mm → inside about 560 mm — the depth at which the wardrobe stops being in the way

That is why the planner asks for at least 600 mm with sliding doors and calls 620 and up comfortable. A wardrobe with no doors, or with hinged ones, works at 550 mm — there those 90 mm do not exist.

What happens when it is shallower

It is not that it fails — it works worse, in three ways you only notice later:

• —Clothes hang at an angle. A hanger that will not sit across turns, and the sleeves touch the doors. Every opening moves them.
• —Drawers drop out of the plan. A drawer box is 450 mm deep and needs a carcass of at least 500 mm. Below that, drawers are made to measure and cost more — or there are none.
• —The doors brush. A door passing clothes that stick out is not a fault in the gear; it is a consequence of the depth.

When 650 mm is not enough either

There is the opposite case. Past 700 mm you can no longer see into the wardrobe: whatever sits at the back is forgotten, and a shelf that deep is hard to empty. That is where a double rail one behind the other, a pull-out carrier, or keeping the depth at 650 and using the rest of the alcove from the side all come in.

Common questions

How deep is a standard sliding wardrobe?

Around here the usual alcove is 650 mm. That gives about 560 mm inside — enough for a hanger across and for a 450 mm drawer, without the wardrobe pushing too far into the room.

Do sliding doors really cost usable depth?

Yes, about 90 mm. Hinged doors do not need it, so the same alcove with hinged doors has nearly 90 mm more inside — which is exactly why shallow alcoves get them.

How do I measure the depth?

From the back wall to the line where the doors will sit — not to the edge of the wall if there is skirting or a plinth there. The whole procedure is in the measuring guide, with a printable form.