HOW TO BUILD FITTED ALCOVE FLOOR TO CEILING WARDROBE AND DESK COMBO

Over three years after moving into our current house, we finally decided to start decorating inside. We started with the biggest bedroom and one of the biggest jobs here was to get rid of clunky, space-wasting free-standing wardrobes we bought with us from the old house and replace them with wardrobes built into the fireplace alcoves.

This blog post is about exactly how we did that, including the tips we learned along the way.

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THE PLAN 

The fireplace in this room is way off-centre so we wanted to make a small storage cupboard with some shelving in the smaller gap. We wanted a large wardrobe and desk combo with storage above both in the bigger gap.

This blog post will focus on how we built the wardrobe as shelving and the small cupboard on the other side use the same principles – if you can follow along with the wardrobe build, you’ll have no issue working out how to build the smaller cupboard!

Here is a sketch of what I had in mind when designing the room.

Quick tip 1
When planning your build, please consider whether an alcove wardrobe is suitable for your room. These types of wardrobes are notorious for suffering damp problems if they are built against an exterior wall due to the fluctuating temperature of the wall and the lack of heat and air circulation. If you want to build a wardrobe against an exterior wall, consider plasterboarding it first with damp-proof plasterboard and installing sufficient ventilation in the wardrobe for airflow to get behind the build. Do your research before making a decision!

MATERIALS & TOOLS REQUIRED

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STEP 1: PREPARE THE WARDROBE BASE

The first step to building the wardrobe and desk combo is to prepare the wardrobe base. As you can see in the plan image above, the wardrobe will not stand directly on the floor but will be raised off the ground via a base covered with skirting boards later on. You do not need a base for the desk area.

Quick tip 2
Consider how long you expect the wardrobe to remain in place. If you expect it to outlast your current flooring, remove the flooring from under the wardrobe before building. If your flooring is sound and you think the wardrobe would go first, consider building it on top of your existing flooring. We laid wood veneer flooring under the wardrobe as we have no intention of changing it as long as we live in this house.

To build the base, we cut our base wood to make a box (see image below) and screwed everything together. The box must be the same size as your wardrobe so that when you stand the wardrobe on top, no part of the base is hanging out from under the wardrobe. Our wardrobe width was 110cm so we also added a centre support plank but if your wardrobe is fairly narrow, you wouldn’t need this. It is easier if your base wood is thicker than 18mm plywood used for the wardrobe so you can screw the wardrobe to the base through the wardrobe bottom later on.

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STEP 2: BUILD THE WARDROBE FRAME

The next step is to build the actual wardrobe frame. This is literally just a big box. Here is the plan of how the construction should look from the front. Please look at the note in the image below – the top of the wardrobe will sit inside the wardrobe walls but will not be flush with the front. It will end short so the wardrobe doors can close without touching it.

We decided to build the wardrobe using hardwood plywood even though most DIY guides use MDF as the preferred material for this type of build. If you’re not sure what to use, check out our guide to plywood vs MDF for furniture building.

The first step was to cut the gigantic plywood sheets to size. We did this using a circular saw with a guide and it worked well but it was a time-consuming and painful task. If you have a big workshop and better tools go ahead and use those but this is all we had. We also don’t have a workshop so we laid some small wooden beams on the floor, laid the plywood on top and cut it right there.

Quick tip 3
In the UK, some B&Q stores have a sheet wood cutting service. It doesn’t cost much (5 free cuts and then 50p per cut at the time of writing) so if you trust their measurements, you can get the wood cut there and save yourself the hassle. Some US Lowe’s and Home Depot stores also offer such a service, but I’m not 100% sure.

After cutting the wood, we assembled the box as in the image above. Once assembled, the back was cut to fit inside the wardrobe and screwed in place from the sides, top and bottom.

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STEP 3: LIFT THE WARDROBE INTO PLACE AND ATTACH TO THE WALL

Now it’s time to get the wardrobe base in its final position and test that the wardrobe fits. You want a gap between the wardrobe and the wall for air circulation.

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Remove the wardrobe temporarily if your math worked out and everything fits as you planned. The easiest way we found to attach it to the wall while making sure that it was straight, as our walls are certainly not, was to use some wood to attach to the wall and then attach the wardrobe to that.

We screwed a relatively thin bead of wood from the alcove start to where we estimated the wardrobe and desk frame would end to simulate a level wall. We then screwed the wardrobe to that. The wall against which the wardrobe is standing leans back a bit. Hence using the wood worked out well as without it the whole wardrobe would be leaning backwards as it would have been screwed to the wanky wall. The wall where the wardrobe is touching the fireplace is even more wonky, so we doubled the wood to ensure the wardrobe is straight. 

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STEP 4: BUILD THE DESK AREA FRAME

Now it’s time to build the frame for the other half of the area where the desk will sit. The desk area frame is quite similar to the wardrobe with two main differences:

1. it has no bottom
2. the top sits on top of the walls and it is flush with the front as no doors are being put here

Here is how the frame should look from the front. Pay attention to the note in the image – the walls of your desk area frame must reach the top of the wardrobe frame. The top of the desk area sits higher on purpose.

We built the frame as in the image above. We also cut the back to sit inside the frame and attached it from the sides and top. We then put the frame next to the wardrobe and screwed it to the wardrobe and the bead of wood we attached earlier. Note that we haven’t left space between the frame and the right side wall. This is because that wall is an exterior wall that had been plasterboarded before we started building (see quick tip 1).

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STEP 5: CUT OUT THE DESK

As the desk area is now complete, it’s time to measure it and cut a desk to fit perfectly. We cut the desk to sit exactly flush with the frame sides and also cut a small hole in the back for wires to go through. We used 18mm plywood, the same as the wardrobe.

STEP 6: BUILD THE ABOVE WARDROBE AND DESK STORAGE AREA

The next step is to sort out the storage area at the top. This step is quite a complicated one because of the way the bottom of the storage needs to be built to make sure that it fits. It also involves adding shelves. Here is how it should look from the front. Note that the right side does not have a bottom.

We built the frame as in the image and added a back to both sections to sit inside the frame. We added shelving and made sure that:

1. the shelves were level by using a small level
2. the shelves sat far enough inside the frame for the wardrobe doors to close with no issues

Quick tip 4
Please remember to leave enough space above the storage if your room has coving. If you don’t have coving and don’t want to add it, you can build right up to the ceiling. I think these wardrobes look much better with coving as it looks less ‘sharp’ where the wardrobe meets the ceiling but it is entirely up to you. For ideas on how to make the wardrobe look less out of place without coving, have a Google around for ‘alcove wardrobe’.

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STEP 7: LIFT THE STORAGE IN PLACE AND SCREW EVERYTHING TOGETHER

Let me tell you, that storage is HEAVY. Unless you are extremely strong, you will need a helper for this. The fact that ours is so big also made it awkward to lift. You could get around this by building two separate storage boxes instead of one (just split the top in half – that’s the only thing attaching them).

Once we did manage to lift it into place, we screwed through the top of the wardrobe frame to attach the storage. We did not screw it to the wall – believe me, it’s going nowhere at that weight. 

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STEP 8: TIDY UP THE TOP AND SIDES

Once your basic wardrobe and desk frame and storage are in place, it’s time to clean up around the top and sides.

We used some scrap wood to block up the gap left between the top of the storage and the ceiling and between the fireplace wall and the wardrobe. Once blocked, we attached the coving and filled around it a bit.

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STEP 9: MAKE THE DOORS

Making the doors is the final step before the fun painting stuff starts.

Up to now, we’ve been using 18mm plywood to build everything. The doors are where the 12mm and 5mm ply comes in. I wanted the total thickness of the doors to be around the same as the wardrobe – 18mm. But I also wanted to attach a decorative 5mm trim to the doors. That’s why the 12mm ply is used for the door structure – around the edge, with the trim, the doors will be 17mm thick. It’s also lighter than the 18mm stuff, so it’s better for the hinges.

We cut the sizes we needed out of the 12mm ply to make the doors. We then cut the 5mm stuff into 10cm strips and used tiny pins and wood glue to attach them to the doors.  See the images below for the pattern. 

Quick tip 5
Please be aware of how much space you need to leave around the doors. You want a minimum of 2mm between the door and the wardrobe and 2mm between the doors. Be mindful of how you will be finishing the wood. For example, if you plan on painting the wood with ten layers of thick paint, it will add to the width and thickness of the finished door, so leave extra space for that!

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STEP 10: TEST THE DOORS

After you built the doors, testing is definitely a must! We temporarily attached the doors to check that everything fit. It’s much easier to fix before it’s painted, so I highly recommend you double-check everything at this stage. 

When we attached the doors to the upper storage area, it was clear that the top of the desk area frame was sagging down slightly, giving a curved look under the doors when they were closed. The only way we could solve this was to attach a small piece of wood between the bottom and the shelf in the centre to lift the bottom. It worked well but it is a bit annoying that this was necessary. Our desk area is quite wide at 100cm, so it should be fine if you have a smaller space.

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Quick tip 6
Pay attention to the grain of the ply when working out how to cut your pieces. The result is much nicer when the grain runs in the same direction. Above, you can see this isn’t the case for the small storage doors at the top (oopsie). Luckily, it isn’t noticeable as the wardrobe is painted a solid colour, but if you plan on staining the wood, this would be a big no-no.

STEP 11: FILL AND SAND… x1000

Time to take the doors back off and use the rough sanding paper to clean up any rough edges of the ply. We found that the ply we used was prone to chipping when cut with a circular saw, but as we were painting a solid colour, we were too lazy to tape the edges.

Quick tip 7
If you are staining the ply or want to minimise the filling, use masking tape to cover any cut lines before you saw the wood. This will stop the ply from splintering and chipping.

Once the rough bits are removed, it’s time to use the wood filler to fill any areas where the ply was damaged. If you are also finishing the ply edge with filler as we did, you must also fill those now. After the filler has dried, use a softer sandpaper to smooth it out and do another filling round. You will likely need 2-3 rounds of filling and sanding to get the wardrobe nice and smooth. During the final sand, also go over all of the ply with a high grid sandpaper to finish everything off to a high standard of smoothness. This stage takes a long time, but the better you prep the wood, the better the final finish will be.

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STEP 12: PAINT EVERYTHING AND ATTACH THE FIXINGS

Painting the wardrobe and desk and attaching the fixings is the next (and last) step.

Painting was the most time-consuming part of the project for us. This is because we decided to paint the outside of the wardrobe a lovely creamy colour to match the wall perfectly but inside… EMERALD GREEN! Oh yes, it is a bit of a shock when you pop open a door and see the greenness inside, but it is so unique I doubt anyone else will have the same!

We used a satin finish wood paint for both the inside and outside. We applied three coats with a very gentle sand using high grit paper between each coat. As for the desk, we used a multi-purpose copper paint and it looks beautiful against the cream.

After the painting, we attached the doors using some lovely cast iron look hinges and attached cast iron door handles to those. We attached the desk using x2 black hairpin legs at the front and just ran a thin bit of wood underneath it at the back to fix it. We didn’t think the legs were needed at the back as you can’t see them there.

Inside the wardrobe, we attached the wardrobe rail and some magnets to hold the doors closed.

To mention as well before we started painting, we cut a small hole and fitted a vent to the desk frame area for better air circulation behind the whole thing.

After decorating the room, we attached the skirting boards to complete the whole thing.

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THE RESULT

The final result is fantastic. It is by far the most detailed and complicated project we attempted and I’m really pleased with how it turned out. We will now build more of these in other rooms with fireplaces in the house!

Not mentioned in the post is the other side of the fireplace. Here, we built a small storage unit to sit flush with the fireplace wall and put some beautiful copper-painted shelves above to match the desk (all made from 18mm ply). We attached those using some hairpin look shelf fittings and they look perfect. 

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TIPS

Here is a collection of all the tips scattered throughout the post in one place:

1. When planning your build, consider if an alcove wardrobe is suitable for your room. These types of wardrobes are notorious for suffering damp problems if they are built against an outside wall due to the fluctuating temperature of the wall and the lack of heat and air circulation getting behind the wardrobe. If you want to build a wardrobe against an outside wall, consider plasterboarding it first with damp-proof plasterboard and installing sufficient ventilation in the wardrobe for airflow to get behind the build. Do your research before making a decision!
2. Consider how long you expect the wardrobe to remain in place. If you expect it to outlast your current flooring, remove the flooring from under the wardrobe before building. If your flooring is sound and you think the wardrobe would go first, consider building it on top of your existing flooring. We laid wood veneer flooring under the wardrobe as we have no intention of changing it as long as we live in this house.
3. In the UK, some B&Q stores have a sheet wood cutting service. It doesn’t cost much (5 free cuts and then 50p per cut at the time of writing) so if you trust their measurements, you can get the wood cut there and save yourself the hassle. Some US Lowe’s and Home Depot stores also offer such a service, but I’m not 100% sure.
4. If your room has coving, please remember to leave enough space above the storage. If you don’t have coving and don’t want to add it, you can build right up to the ceiling. I think these wardrobes look much better with coving as it looks less ‘sharp’ where the wardrobe meets the ceiling but it is entirely up to you. For ideas on how to make the wardrobe look less out of place without coving, have a Google around for ‘alcove wardrobe’.
5. Be mindful of how much space you need to leave around the doors. You want a minimum of 2mm between the door and the wardrobe and 2mm between the doors. Be mindful of how you will be finishing the wood. For example, if you plan on painting the wood with ten layers of thick paint, it will add to the width and thickness of the finished door, so leave extra space for that!
6. Pay attention to the grain of the ply when working out how to cut your pieces. The result is much nicer when the grain runs in the same direction. It’s not too noticeable if the wardrobe is painted solid, but if you plan on staining the wood, this would be a big no-no.
7. If you are staining the ply or want to minimise the filling, use masking tape to cover any cut lines before you saw the wood. This will stop the ply from splintering and chipping.