# Measuring for a Wardrobe Before Delivery: The Numbers That Matter **By Joy David** ยท 2026-06-08 ![Wooden wardrobe in a compact Singapore bedroom with organised storage planning and a cat resting nearby](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1805/8667/files/megafurniture-wardrobe-measuring-guide-singapore-bedroom.jpg?v=1780916335) Get the measurements right before you order and your wardrobe arrives, fits, and works exactly as it should. Get them wrong and you are looking at a piece that cannot pass through your corridor, sits awkwardly close to the bed, or has doors that swing into the wall. This checklist walks you through every number that matters, in the order you should take them. > Measure in three stages: room fit, delivery path, and internal configuration. Check the wall space, floor clearance, main door, corridor, lift, bedroom door, turns, rail depth, shelf heights, and drawers before you confirm the order. ## Stage 1: Room Fit Start with the room itself. The wardrobe has to live there permanently, and it has to coexist with everything already in the space. ### Wall width available Measure the clear run of wall from corner or obstruction to obstruction, including any skirting boards or architraves that eat into the space. Standard wardrobes run from around 90 cm for a single unit to well over 200 cm for a double or triple; your wall measurement sets a hard upper limit. Write it down, because you will use it again when checking the delivery path. ### Ceiling height and the top-of-frame clearance Measure floor to ceiling, and then measure where any cornices, air-conditioning trunking, or light pelmet start. A tall wardrobe that looks perfect in a showroom may hit a dropped section of ceiling in your bedroom. Also note whether you want the wardrobe to reach the ceiling, keeping dust off the top, or stop short, which is easier to install but creates a ledge to clean. Most ready-made wardrobes come in fixed heights; if yours is just a few centimetres too tall, ask about a plinth-free base option. ### Depth and walking clearance Standard wardrobe depth is around 58-60 cm, and that is the minimum you need for hanging clothes without crushing them. The question is what happens in front of the wardrobe once it is in place. If the wardrobe faces the bed, check the gap between the front of the wardrobe and the side of the bed frame. The recommended clearance to move comfortably around a bed is around 60 cm on the sides and 70 cm at the foot. In a smaller room, the wardrobe depth and the bed together can make that gap tighter than you expect. Measure it before you order, not after. ### Swing clearance for hinged doors A hinged door on a 60 cm deep wardrobe swings out roughly 60 cm, which is the door panel, not the whole door stack. Map that arc onto the floor plan and check it clears the bed, the opposite wall, and any adjoining door or drawer. If the swing eats into the only walkway in the room, a sliding door wardrobe avoids the problem entirely. One thing to know before you switch: the panels on a [sliding door wardrobe](/collections/sliding-door-wardrobe) overlap at the centre and at the frame edges, which means at any given moment you can only open roughly half the interior. That is worth confirming against your actual storage needs before you decide it is the more practical choice. ### Skirting board and wall irregularities Singapore flats vary. Check whether your skirting board protrudes enough to prevent the wardrobe sitting flush against the wall. A 1-2 cm skirting is usually fine; anything larger may require a rebate or mean the wardrobe stands slightly proud. Also tap the wall for any hidden conduit or service riser box that would stop you fixing the wardrobe securely. ## Stage 2: The Delivery Path This is the stage most people skip, and it is the one that causes the real trouble. A wardrobe that fits your bedroom perfectly is useless if it cannot get there. ### Main entrance door HDB main door leaves are typically around 0.9 m wide. Measure yours precisely, including the door frame. Most flat-pack or panel wardrobes come in sections that pass through easily. Assembled or semi-assembled pieces may not. If your wardrobe is being delivered ready-assembled, the width of the largest panel must pass through this opening. ### Lift door opening and car interior Many HDB lift door openings are around 0.8 m wide. The lift car interior dimensions vary significantly by block age and estate. For tall wardrobes or wide panels, the height of the lift car matters as much as the width of the door. Call your estate management or check the lift specifications if you live above the first floor. Do not assume: the lift-and-corridor-turn combination is the single most common reason a large piece cannot be delivered upstairs. ### Corridor width and corners Walk the route from the front door to the bedroom door and note every turn. A long panel may clear each doorway individually but fail to navigate the right-angle turn in a narrow corridor. The usable corridor width at a corner is approximately the width minus the wall projection on the inside of the turn. For tight corners, ask your delivery team in advance whether the piece disassembles; the better crews come prepared for this, but they need to know ahead of time. ### Bedroom door Internal and bedroom doors in HDB and condo units are typically around 0.8 m wide. Same rule as the main door: the largest panel that needs to pass through must clear the frame. Also note which way the bedroom door swings. If it opens inward and the wardrobe will sit on the wall directly behind the door, you may need to rehang the door or reposition the wardrobe. ![Couple checking wardrobe placement and wall clearance in a practical Singapore HDB bedroom](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1805/8667/files/megafurniture-bedroom-wardrobe-placement-measuring-tips.jpg?v=1780916336) ## Stage 3: Internal Configuration Once you have confirmed the wardrobe will fit in the room and arrive through the door, turn to what happens inside it. ### Hanging rail length versus what you are hanging Count the garments you need to hang and allow roughly 2-2.5 cm per item on a rail. Long items such as dresses, coats, and suits need a drop of at least 130-140 cm below the rail fixing point. Shorter items can stack with a double-hang rail and nearly double the capacity of the same space. Most wardrobes list the internal dimensions; check the rail height, not just the external height of the unit. ### Shelf heights and folded clothes Standard shelf spacing is often fixed at around 30-35 cm, which works for folded T-shirts and jeans. If you store bulkier items, jumpers, or shoe boxes, look for adjustable shelving. A shelf that cannot be moved is not wrong, but it means you live with whatever organisation the manufacturer decided on. ### Drawer depth and base clearance Built-in drawers add weight and, in a flat-pack wardrobe, are sometimes the last thing to be installed. Check that the drawer box has enough clearance to open fully without hitting the bed frame or a wall. Shallow drawers near the top of a tall wardrobe are easy to use; deep drawers at floor level are fine for seasonal items you rarely access. ### Configuration flexibility for a smaller room If the fixed configurations in a standard wardrobe do not suit your space or your storage habits, a [modular wardrobe](/collections/modular-wardrobe) lets you combine units by width and function, so you only use the floor area you actually have. Worth comparing against a full-height single unit before you commit. ## If You Only Do Three Things 1. **Measure the bedroom door opening**, which is often the narrowest point on the delivery path, and confirm the largest wardrobe panel fits through it with room to angle. 2. **Check the clearance in front of the wardrobe** against the bed position: aim for at least 60 cm between the wardrobe front and any furniture you need to walk past. 3. **Confirm internal hanging drop and rail length** against what you actually own, not a vague estimate of how much you own. ![Wooden wardrobe styled in a tidy Singapore bedroom with clear walking space and practical storage layout](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1805/8667/files/megafurniture-wooden-wardrobe-delivery-measurements.jpg?v=1780916336) ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What wardrobe depth do I actually need for hanging clothes? Around 58-60 cm of internal depth is the standard for full-length hanging. That accommodates a coat hanger plus clothes without the garments pressing against the back panel. If the wardrobe is shallower than 55 cm, hanging becomes awkward and clothes crease faster. Some slim wardrobes work only for folded storage. ### My lift opening is only about 80 cm wide. Can I still get a full wardrobe upstairs? Usually, yes, because most wardrobes are delivered in flat-pack panels rather than fully assembled. Each panel is typically well under 80 cm wide. The challenge is tall panels that cannot be tilted upright in the lift car. Ask the retailer for the dimensions of the largest single component before you order, and flag your lift dimensions when booking delivery. ### Should I choose a sliding door or hinged door wardrobe for a smaller bedroom? If the clearance in front of the wardrobe is tight, a sliding door removes the swing problem. But a sliding door wardrobe only gives you access to roughly half the interior at once. If most of your clothes hang in a single bay and you open that section constantly, the access trade-off matters. If your wardrobe has distinct zones that you open separately, sliding works well. Measure the swing arc of a hinged door first; if it clears comfortably, hinged gives better full-width access. ### How do I measure for a wardrobe if my walls are not perfectly square? Measure the width at three points: floor level, mid-height, and near the ceiling. Use the smallest number. Do the same for height at three points across the width. Most ready-made wardrobes have a small adjustable foot, but they cannot compensate for a wall that is more than a centimetre or two out of plumb. If your room is noticeably uneven, built-in carpentry is worth considering over freestanding. ### Do I need to measure the corridor separately from the bedroom door? Yes. A panel that passes through a doorway still needs enough corridor length to be angled and manoeuvred into position. A long narrow panel requires a longer run of corridor to pivot. The standard test: the panel length plus about half a metre should fit in the corridor before the turn, so the delivery crew can angle it into the room. If it does not, ask whether that section breaks down further. ## The Right Wardrobe for the Right Space Measuring once carefully is faster than dealing with a return, a re-delivery, or a room that never quite works. With the numbers from these three stages in hand, you can browse with confidence: you know exactly what will fit, what can be delivered, and how much storage you are really getting. [Browse the full wardrobe range](/collections/wardrobes) with complimentary delivery and professional assembly on qualifying orders. If you want to see configurations in person and take measurements on site, the Megafurniture Prestige showroom at 134 Joo Seng Road is open daily from 11:30am. For specific configuration questions, reach the team at +65 6950-2657, Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm, or enquiry@megafurniture.sg. Prefer something you can assemble in stages as your storage needs change? The [open door wardrobe](/collections/open-door-wardrobe) range is a good starting point. A growing share of Megafurniture's wood furniture, including wardrobes, is now made in the company's own factories in Batu Pahat, Johor and Foshan, Guangdong, and quality-checked before it ships. That means one line of responsibility from the factory floor to your bedroom, with no third-party manufacturer margin in between. The in-house furniture programme continues expanding through 2028, with delivery, professional assembly, and after-sales support handled in Singapore. --- > Source: [Megafurniture](https://megafurniture.sg/blogs/articles/measuring-for-a-wardrobe-before-delivery-the-numbers-that-matter)