A dressing room lined on two walls with full-height painted wardrobes meeting in the corner, over-boxes carried up to the cornice and recessed lights set into the plinth.

Horsham

Fitted corner wardrobes, Horsham

Two walls of full-height wardrobes turning a corner, with fitted interiors, over-boxes to the cornice and lighting set into the plinth.

Town: Horsham

A small room turned into a dressing room by lining two of its walls, floor to ceiling, and running them into the corner.

Starting from a stripped room

The room came back to brick and joists first. Walls off, floor up, services exposed. Everything after that was set out from what the survey found once it was open, not from what the old room had measured.

That order matters for fitted furniture more than for most trades. A wardrobe built to a plastered wall that is about to be replastered is a wardrobe built to the wrong dimension.

The corner

A single run of wardrobes along one wall is straightforward. Two runs that meet in a corner are not.

Both runs have to finish on the same line at the same height, the doors either side of the corner have to open without catching each other, and the corner itself has to be usable rather than a dead void behind a fixed panel. The carcasses were set out together for that reason — the shelving and hanging in the return are reachable, and the corner is worked into the plan rather than filled in.

Inside

Behind the doors: full-height hanging, banks of adjustable shelves, and drawers on runners with cup handles. The interiors are finished in the same colour as the fronts, so opening a door does not reveal a different, cheaper piece of furniture behind it.

Where it meets the room

Over-boxes carry the wardrobes up to the cornice so there is no dust shelf and no gap. A ceiling in a house of this age is not level, so those boxes are scribed to it rather than cut square and packed.

At the other end the run meets a door architrave and stops against it cleanly. Recessed lights are set into the plinth, washing the floor along the base of the whole run.

How it went in

01

Before

The room taken back to brick and joists. Everything after this was set out from what the survey found with the room open, not from what the old finishes had measured.

A room stripped back during the first fix, walls back to bare plaster and brick, floorboards lifted, a cable hanging from the ceiling and a step ladder standing in the debris. — Walls off, floor up, services exposed

The same room from the other corner, old wallpaper stripped to brick, a timber stud opening with cables run through it, and lifted floorboards across the whole floor. — The corner the wardrobes would later turn

02

Carcasses and drawer runners

Both runs set out together as one drawing before either was made, so the two would finish on the same line and the corner between them would end up reachable rather than sealed off.

Wardrobe carcasses built in, showing adjustable shelves, an open hanging section and drawer runners fixed into the sides ready for the drawer boxes. — Runners in before any door is hung

The corner of the run with both carcasses in place, shelving and drawer runners fitted on each wall and the return between them left open and usable. — The corner kept usable, not filled in

03

Doors hung, before paint

Fronts fitted in bare board so the gaps, the shadow lines and the run of the doors can be judged and adjusted while everything is still easy to take off again.

Full-height panelled wardrobe doors hung in bare board across two walls meeting in a corner, with fresh pine skirting laid along the base and the floor still bare. — Two runs meeting on one line

The same wardrobe run from further back, panelled doors and over-boxes hung in bare board, carried up to the ceiling cornice. — Over-boxes scribed up to the cornice

04

Painted, lit and finished

Finished in a soft grey inside and out, with lights recessed into the plinth washing the floor along the base of the whole run.

The finished wardrobes with every door closed, painted soft grey across two walls and around the corner, with small lights recessed into the plinth. — Closed: one continuous face around the corner

The finished dressing room, grey wardrobes on two walls, a painted door in a dark floral papered wall and a pendant bulb hanging in the middle of the room. — The room it makes

One wardrobe door standing open to show shelves above a bank of four drawers with cup handles, finished in the same grey as the doors. — Opened: the same colour inside

A wardrobe with both doors open, showing full-height hanging on one side and adjustable shelves over four drawers on the other. — Hanging one side, shelves and drawers the other

This project involved bespoke fitted furniture. See more work across West Sussex.

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