Built-In Wardrobes Cost Sydney: 2026 Price Guide

How much do built-in wardrobes cost in Sydney?

Most standard built-in wardrobes in Sydney cost about $1,200 to $5,000 supplied and installed, with a typical job around $2,500. That is the range in What’s The Damage’s Sydney carpentry guide, verified in October 2026, with prices including GST. Bigger robes, custom joinery and walk-in robes cost more.

Indicative only. Airtasker labels its type and size tables as average labour costs, although it says its per-metre figures include materials, so treat them as rough totals. Your price depends on the room, the design and a site measure.

The sources measure different things. What’s The Damage prices a whole job, Mates Rates prices each opening, and Airtasker gives both per-job and per-metre figures. A NSW guide from The Quote Yard (February 2026) adds another view: about $1,500 to $3,500 for a basic built-in, $3,500 to $7,000 for mid-range and $7,000 to $15,000 or more for premium custom work. It says most standard bedroom robes in Sydney land between $3,000 and $7,000.

Read the ranges together. A simple reach-in robe with melamine shelves and standard sliding doors sits at the low end. A floor-to-ceiling robe with drawers, lighting and painted doors sits at the top.

What does a built-in wardrobe cost per linear metre?

Airtasker’s national guide puts built-in wardrobes at about $1,110 to $3,010 or more per linear metre, with a median of $2,060, including labour and materials. It splits that into three bands:

• Basic, with plywood and standard sliding doors: about $1,110 to $1,550 per metre
• Mid-range, with melamine or MDF and soft-close hardware: about $1,610 to $2,010 per metre
• Premium, with custom timber, glass and high-end storage: about $2,510 to $3,010 or more per metre

The Quote Yard’s NSW guide gives a similar $1,000 to $3,000 per metre installed. As a rough check, a 2.4 metre robe at Airtasker’s median works out at about $4,900. Measure the wall you want filled, and ask each joiner to price the same length and height so quotes can be compared.

Reach-in or walk-in robe: which costs more?

A walk-in robe almost always costs more, because it lines a whole room with joinery instead of one wall. A reach-in robe is a cupboard along one wall that you open and reach into. A walk-in robe is a small room, often off the main bedroom, with hanging, shelves and drawers on two or three sides.

The extra cost in a walk-in comes from more cabinetry and from the room itself. Mates Rates lists typical walk-in extras in its 2026 guide:

• Joinery island with drawers: about $1,500 to $4,000
• LED strips and downlights, wired by a licensed electrician: about $400 to $1,200
• Full-length mirror panels: about $600 to $2,000
• Carpet or timber flooring: about $800 to $3,000
• Changes to wall framing: about $2,000 to $6,000

In many Sydney houses, a walk-in is carved out of a bedroom or the space beside an ensuite. If a wall has to move, the job becomes building work, not just joinery, so ask who handles the framing, plastering and painting.

Sliding or hinged wardrobe doors: which is cheaper?

The sources disagree, so compare quotes for the same design. Mates Rates says hinged doors are typically cheaper to make, and prices a fully custom 2.4 metre hinged robe at about $2,500 to $6,000 per opening against $2,800 to $7,500 for sliding. Airtasker shows the opposite: sliding robes from about $1,600 to $5,000 or more and hinged robes from about $1,600 to $6,100 or more.

Prices from Mates Rates (2026). The Quote Yard lists mirror sliding doors at about $600–$1,500 in NSW.

Many Sydney bedrooms, especially in apartments and older semis, are too tight for hinged doors to swing past a bed. In those rooms, sliding doors are often the practical choice whatever the price.

Which materials and finishes change the price?

The carcass board and the door finish move the price more than anything else. Melamine is a board with a tough plastic face, and it is the budget choice for shelves and carcasses. Two-pack (2-pac) is a painted finish sprayed onto MDF, used for smooth, coloured doors. Timber veneer is a thin layer of real wood over board.

Airtasker’s per-metre figures by material are:

• Melamine: about $1,500 to $1,950 per metre
• MDF: about $1,800 to $2,300 per metre
• Timber: about $2,500 to $3,000 per metre
• Glass sliding doors: about $2,800 to $3,300 per metre

Mates Rates adds that 2-pac painted MDF adds about $400 to $1,500 or more to a project, and timber veneer costs about 30 to 60 per cent more than melamine. A common way to save is melamine inside and a better finish only on the doors you see.

What do internal fittings and extras cost?

Drawers, pull-outs and lighting are where a budget robe becomes an expensive one. Price them one by one.

National figures. Hardwired lighting must be installed by a licensed electrician in NSW.

Older Sydney homes often have walls and floors that are out of level, so scribing and packing are common. Ask whether removing the old robe and making good the walls are in the price.

How deep is a built-in wardrobe?

Hanging space is usually built close to 600 mm deep so coat hangers can sit across the rail without touching the doors. IKEA’s PAX frames, for example, are 58 cm deep, with a shallow 35 cm option for shoes, linen and folded clothes.

Sliding door tracks sit in front of the carcass and take up some depth, so check the overall depth with the doors on. In a narrow room, a shallower robe with folded storage can leave more floor space than a full-depth hanging robe.

What should a built-in wardrobe quote include?

A good quote lets you compare joiners like for like. Ask for:

• A site measure and drawings showing heights, widths and the internal layout
• The carcass board, its thickness and the door finish
• The hinge and drawer runner brand, and their warranty
• Every internal fitting: rails, shelves, drawers, shoe racks and lighting
• Removal of any old robe, making good, painting and disposal
• Who does any electrical work, and whether it is included
• The lead time from signing off the drawings to installation day

Airtasker says installation itself typically takes about 5 to 15 hours. The Quote Yard puts manufacturing lead times at about 2 to 6 weeks. Most of your wait is design and manufacturing, not installation.

Do you need a licence or approval for built-in wardrobes in NSW?

The NSW Government defines joinery as making and installing non-structural components, including built-in cupboards and wardrobes. A contractor licence is needed for joinery valued at more than $5,000 in labour and materials, including GST. Jobs over $5,000 also need a written contract.

In a strata apartment, NSW strata rules treat installing or replacing built-in wardrobes as cosmetic work that does not need approval. Your building’s by-laws can still set rules about noise, work hours and access, so check them first.

How can you save on built-in wardrobes?

• Design to standard sizes. Mates Rates says designing to 600 mm or 900 mm modules can cut material costs by about 10 to 15 per cent.
• Keep doors simple and spend on hardware. Good hinges and runners last longer than fancy fronts.
• Do several rooms at once. The Quote Yard says whole-house packages often attract volume discounts of about 10 to 15 per cent.
• Mix flat-pack carcasses with custom doors, if the joiner offers it.
• Compare at least three quotes for the same length, height, finish and internals.

Get quotes for built-in wardrobes in Sydney

For more on fitted storage in kitchens and laundries, see our Kitchen Renovation Cost Sydney and Laundry Renovation Cost Sydney guides.

Describe your built-in wardrobe job, with the room size and the doors and internals you want, to MyTradeCrew in about two minutes. We send it to up to three vetted, licensed and insured local trades from our crew who cover your area. They contact you, quote and contract with you directly, and you choose who to hire, or no one at all. It’s free for homeowners.

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