Wardrobe Inserts:

Here are some simple step-by-step guidelines to ordering and installing a custom sized wardrobe insert, using the strip shelving approach (as available on the Cabinets On-Demand web site).

General Comments

All the internals are manufactured from white HMR (16mm thick, high moisture resistant particle board) and the exposed edgings are all finished in a durable white PVC edging.

The heights of the drawer Unit are initially all pre-determined, as this creates equal sized draw fronts that are 210mm high (see below), which is typically used as a wardrobe height size. They are all set 200mm off the floor to allow for cleaning/extra shoe storage.

These defaults can be over-ridden if you wish, but you would need to clearly specify your needs in the ‘Special request’ box and we will advise you if it can be done in your particular configuration:

2 Equal Drawers = 500mm (Drawer Fronts equal at 247 mm high)
3 Equal Drawers = 750mm (Drawer Fronts equal at 247 mm high)
4 Equal Drawers = 1000mm (Drawer Fronts equal at 247 mm high)
5 Equal Drawers = 1250mm (Drawer Fronts equal at 247 mm high)

Note: The heights of these are fully flexible, you can specify not only the overall height, but individual drawer front heights as well in the ‘Special requests’ section in the website PROMPS box.
The height & depth of the runners themselves will automatically be set to the longest and highest available to suit the available inside space (unless otherwise specified).

There are 2 types or methods of wardrobes Inserts that you can create and order here.

The first methodis in a kit form and is the typical way that D.I.Y’ers would order it. The kit form comes complete with the hardware that you need to assemble it and is designed for quick and uncomplicated installation. It has a varity of options, including drawers, hanging rails and shelves.

The second method is just ordering the vertical blades (with or without holes), a length of top shelf, individual shelves and some standard hardware. see below for the vertical blade options:

The second method is aimed at the Trade Professional and is generally used in new homes as a low cost method of installing very simple style robes (typically shelves or hanging hail only). This method is not aimed at the D.I.Y’er, rather at the Trade Professional who knows what they are doing and has there own hardware, experience and the correct tools to do the cutting and assembling on-site.

General Design & Installation:

Throughout the course of this brief instruction manual, we will be referring to the following example below, as this is a ‘typical’ standard kit form wardrobe insert, with some custom features (shelves at the bottom).

Here is an example wardrobe, it is an existing wardrobe, with the old internals removed, walls prepped & painted –ready for the new internals. It has 3x existing hinged doors which need to be designed around:

Step: 1 Measure the walls.

The critical measurement point is the length of the rear wall, at 2000mm high, as this is where the top shelf goes. The more accurate this measurement, the better the fit.

Measure also where any existing doors are, as you will need this when you start the design phase. Measure anything else that you feel is important, or will effect the design.

Step: 2 Design your layout.

Simply sketch out your design layout. Use this web page as a reference guide to see the different options available. You do have some flexibility with things like number of shelves, placement of shelves, number of drawers, etc.

One of the key issues with the wardrobe design is working around doors, as you can’t put a set of drawers where either a pair of sliding doors overlap or (in the example case) where a door is hinged. That’s why do don’t see the set of drawers on either the left or right side of the robe (as when you open the drawers they will interfere with the door jamb). Also the location of the center door jamb is also very important, as you need to make sure that the starting point of the drawer unit is clear enough away from the center door jamb (say 20 to 30mm), so that the drawers don’t interfere with the centre door jamb –or even the door on the right Try to design in such a way that only one door needs to be opened to get at the drawers.

These two issues are two of the main reasons that some wardrobe designs don’t work, as some people forget to factor this in when designing.

We recommend that the span of your hanging rails not exceed a 1000mm, as the weight (with the cloths hanging on them) could possibly bow your robes. We use oval shaped hanging rails as standard, instead of the round type, to aid in strength in long spans, but if you can keep the spans under 1000 mm then this is better.

If the span must exceed 1000 mm then simply put in another vertical blade and split the hanging space, as this will solve the problem.

A typical wardrobe has a set of 4 drawers, shelf space, a full hang section and a half hang section. The sizes, locations and quantities is all up to you and your space available.

Using the above as a guide, you are now ready to start the design process. When designing a wardrobe, break the design into sections, starting always from the far left and naming this section “A”. You can have up to 7 sections in total (up to “F”). Dealing in sections is an easy way to design, as you can really focus in certain areas, one at a time, to get it right.

Whilst not every possible design option can be done as a flat pack, we have included the most used options (available sections) and given you the option to request customized details in the ‘special requests’ section in each product.

New design concept (below) for the example wardrobe:

 

You don’t have to have a plan or perspective view (as pictured below), just an elevation view will do (we just did it because people love pictures!).

Your planned design may look like that below, it may have shelves at the bottom.
This is not normal, as in most cases the walls are out of plumb by +-5mm and it can make fitting low shelves more difficult –That is why typically you don’t see bottom shelves in the hanging space.

We suggest that any bottom shelves are adjustable, because if the wall is out of plumb by a couple of mm’s, you can get away with it with adjustable shelving as they have much more tolerance then a fixed shelf.

The reason for showing you the option of the adjustable shelving in the above design is to stress you we allow some custom flexibility with your wardrobe design. Below is an example of a ‘more typical’ layout (without these shelves):

Step: 3 Placement of order.

Here is where you use the website to place your order.
All dimensions used are based on EXTERNAL measurements.

This is how the process works:

You MUST start from the far left section first (which is always section “A”). You then select the appropriate product from the website that best fits your needs/design; for example:

First prompt: the Qty [ordered} is ALWAYS 1 for individual Secrions.

You then select the Room Name from the available drop down list
(for Example: “Bedroom 1”) and you then enter in your first (and typically only) Wall Number (“1”), followed by the first Section Letter, always starting at (“A”).

Note: These 3 steps are important, because the computer system in its manufacturing design phase will automatically match all of the sections sequentially that go on Wall 1 which belongs to Bedroom 1, to create your robe insert so that all the pieces fit together correctly.
Failing to do this step correctly will cause you problems at the installation time.

Next you will enter the Height of the robe (typically 2000mm) and the external Width and Depth (typically 445mm or 595mm) for the Section.

Note: the computer automatically adjusts the opening sizes, depending if the section abuts another section or not, that’s why the about Room Name, Wall Number and Section Letter are so important. In the example above Sections A-C are 807, 616 and 709 resp. wide for an overall Wardrobe Width of 2132 mm.

The “Angle Top Shelf back” (Tick Box) prompt allows an optioninal cut back of the top shelf, as shown in the photographs below. (Tick the box if required)

See example below for Section A:

Ordering Vertical blades ONLY:

If the traditional method of supplying section details is not available (for example angled walls) then you could order the Vertical Dividers (Blades) only.

You order the length of top shelf (and any shelves) under the Parts section of the web site and any drawer units under the Cabinets section of the web site. You will need your own fixing screws, as fundamentally here you are only ordering parts.

Step: 4 Installation.

Below are some pictures of the example kit form style wardrobe being installed.

Start with the Vertical Blades.

Put them on either side of the wall and sit the top shelf on top.

Fix the blades to the top shelf with the cam fittings (or screws) supplied and then screw the sides to the wall.

Note: the side fixing of the blades is only to stop the robes ‘falling forward’, as the blades run right to the ground, (thus the weight is transferred to the floor). No need to over fix this step.

You are now ready to begin installing the rest of the vertical blades, followed by the drawer inserts & shelves.

 

Where the blades come into contact with the walls, often there is a small gap (1 to 3mm), this is due to slight variations within the wall itself. Some people just ignore this, however we recommend using white chalking (“No more gaps” – This is always available at any hardware store) to neatly and professionally finish your project, it takes a little longer, but the finish is much better.

Now your installation is complete.

Now just hang your clothes and you are done.

Job done, ready for your next project……