You do not have to choose between keeping your skirting boards and having fitted wardrobes. A skilled fitter can scribe the wardrobe to sit tight over the skirting, build a plinth that replaces it behind the units, or remove it and refit it neatly around the finished run. The right answer depends on your skirting profile, your floor, your walls and how the wardrobe will be finished.
This guide explains each option in plain terms, shows where each one goes wrong, and gives you the questions to ask before anyone cuts a board. It is written for homeowners in West London and the surrounding counties, where Victorian and Edwardian houses with tall, ornate skirting sit alongside flats with slim modern profiles.
TL;DR
- There are three sound ways to handle skirting: scribe the wardrobe around it, set the wardrobe on a plinth and remove the skirting behind it, or remove the skirting and refit it to the sides and front returns.
- Deep, ornate or uneven skirting is usually better scribed or removed. Slim, flat skirting is the easiest to leave in place.
- Whatever the method, the finish should look as if the wardrobe was part of the room: no gaps at the floor, no unpainted strips, no board ends left hanging.
- Check leasehold and fire-safety points before you start, particularly in flats and loft conversions.
- At Finest Furniture Studio the design visit settles the skirting detail before manufacture, so nothing is improvised on installation day.
Table of Contents
- Why skirting is the detail that makes or breaks the finish
- The three ways to deal with skirting
- Which method suits your room
- What a good fitter checks before cutting
- Depth, ventilation and the base of the wardrobe
- Finishing details that make it look built in
- Planning, leasehold and fire safety
- Our perspective: decide the skirting first
- Fitted wardrobes with the skirting done properly
- FAQ
- Sources
Why skirting is the detail that makes or breaks the finish
Skirting boards hide the join between wall and floor. They also stick out from the wall, typically by 15 to 25mm on a modern profile and noticeably more on a period one. A wardrobe is a square-backed box that wants to sit flat against a flat wall. The skirting stops it.
If nobody plans for that, you get one of three poor results:
- A wardrobe that stands proud of the wall at the bottom, leaving a wedge-shaped gap at the back and a tilt you can see in the doors.
- A visible slot at floor level where the carcass has been notched badly around the board.
- Skirting that stops dead at the side of the wardrobe with a raw, unpainted end.
All three are avoidable. They are caused by treating the skirting as an afterthought rather than a design decision. In a made-to-measure build, the skirting is measured and drawn at the same time as the doors, the shelves and the lighting.
The three ways to deal with skirting
| Method | What happens | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scribe around the skirting | The wardrobe sides and back are cut to follow the board profile, so the unit sits tight to the wall above it | Slim to medium skirting, rooms where you want the original boards left untouched | Needs accurate templating; a cheap fit leaves visible gaps |
| Remove behind the wardrobe and build on a plinth | Skirting is taken off where the wardrobe stands and the unit sits on its own base | Deep, ornate or damaged skirting; full-width and floor-to-ceiling runs | The plinth must align with the skirting height in the rest of the room |
| Remove and refit around the finished run | Boards are taken off, the wardrobe is fitted, and the skirting is cut back in at the ends | Rooms being redecorated, uneven walls, projecting profiles | Needs painting and making good afterwards; old boards can split |
None of these is universally best. The skill is in matching the method to the room.
Scribing: leaving the skirting where it is
Scribing means marking the profile of the skirting onto the edge of the wardrobe panel and cutting to that line, so the panel closes against the wall and over or around the board with no visible gap. It keeps your original skirting intact, which matters if the boards are period features you want to preserve.
It works well when the profile is simple, such as a square-edged or lightly chamfered board. It becomes harder with tall, stepped Victorian profiles with several moulded layers, because every layer has to be followed. A fitter who scribes properly will template the room first, not guess on the day.
It also depends on the floor. If the floor slopes towards a wall, which is common in older London houses, the scribe line changes along the run. The wardrobe base has to be levelled and the scribing adjusted to match, otherwise the gap at the bottom opens up at one end.
Plinth build: removing skirting behind the wardrobe
With a plinth, the wardrobe stands on a purpose-built base, often 70 to 100mm high and set back slightly from the door fronts so your toes do not hit it. The skirting behind the wardrobe is taken away, because it will never be seen again. The wardrobe sits flat to the wall and the doors line up cleanly.
This suits long runs and floor-to-ceiling wardrobes, where you want the cabinet to look like a fixed part of the room. A plinth also gives the fitter a reliable, adjustable base on an uneven floor. For sliding doors, where a track must run level at the bottom, it is often the most dependable approach. You can see how we approach these on our sliding wardrobes page.
The detail to get right is the transition. If the room skirting is 120mm high and the plinth is 80mm, the difference is visible where the two meet. A good design either matches the plinth to the skirting height or finishes the wardrobe with a clear, deliberate return so the change looks intentional.
Remove and refit: skirting around the finished run
Sometimes the cleanest result comes from taking the skirting off along the wall, fitting the wardrobe tight to the plaster, and then cutting the skirting back in at the sides. The boards return neatly to the cabinet edges, and the wardrobe looks built in.
This route suits rooms that are being redecorated anyway, or where the wall is so uneven that scribing would leave a gap. It means more finishing work: filling nail holes, caulking, repainting. It also needs care with old skirting, which can crack when lifted. For a general idea of how boards are cut and fixed, the Checkatrade guide to fitting skirting boards covers the basics, including why you should avoid joints in the middle of a wall run.
Which method suits your room
Victorian and Edwardian houses
In Chiswick, Putney, Fulham, Richmond and similar areas, skirting is often tall and moulded, and floors and walls are rarely square. Here we would usually suggest a plinth build for the wardrobe run, with the original skirting kept on the rest of the room. The wardrobe gets a clean base, and your period boards are left alone where they are visible.
If a chimney breast and alcoves are involved, the skirting usually runs round the breast and into each alcove. Alcove wardrobes need the profile followed around the projection, which is where accurate templating earns its keep. Our fitted wardrobes cover alcoves, chimney breasts and awkward corners as standard work.
Modern flats and new builds
Modern skirting is typically slim, flat and shallow. It is the easiest to scribe or to leave in place, and walls and floors tend to be more regular. In a flat, though, check your lease before removing anything fixed to the structure. Our guide to fitted wardrobes in leasehold flats explains what to look at.
Loft conversions and sloping ceilings
Loft rooms have their own skirting issues. Eaves walls are often short, and the skirting may be fixed to stud partitions rather than masonry. The wardrobe has to follow the slope of the ceiling at the top and the skirting at the bottom. The DIY Doctor walkthrough of a sloping ceiling wardrobe gives a good sense of how limited head height shapes the whole design. For our approach to this kind of space, see our loft wardrobes guide for West London.
Rooms with thick carpet or new flooring
Flooring changes everything at the base. If you plan to lay new carpet, engineered wood or luxury vinyl, tell us before the survey. Carpet is normally fitted up to the plinth. Hard flooring needs expansion gaps, and those gaps should be hidden by the plinth or a scotia rather than left visible. The best order is usually: decide the flooring, then fit the wardrobe, then finish the floor to it, or at minimum agree the finished floor height before the plinth is cut.
What a good fitter checks before cutting
Before any panel is made, these points should be measured and recorded:
- Skirting height and projection at several points along each wall, not just one.
- Floor level, using a spirit level over the full run. Note any slope.
- Wall plumb, because walls that lean in or out change the gap at the top and bottom.
- Profile shape, either by photograph and template or by a profile gauge.
- Obstacles: radiators, pipes, sockets, light switches and thermostats on the wall.
- Finished floor height, so the plinth lines up after new flooring.
- Door swing and clearance, so doors do not catch on the skirting returning at the side.
If you are measuring yourself for a rough idea of what will fit, our homeowner’s guide to measuring for fitted furniture lists the dimensions to take. Treat it as preparation for a conversation, not a substitute for a professional survey.
Depth, ventilation and the base of the wardrobe
The skirting also affects how deep your wardrobe can be. Standard hanging depth for clothes on hangers is usually around 600mm, and a plinth set-back or a projecting skirting can eat into that. We explain how to think about depth in our wardrobe depth guide.
Air flow matters too. A wardrobe built tight against an external wall with no gap at the base can trap moisture. Leaving a small gap or vent at the plinth, or using a ventilated back panel, is part of good design. Our fitted wardrobe ventilation guide goes into the detail.
Finishing details that make it look built in
The difference between a good and an excellent wardrobe is in the last few millimetres.
- Shadow gaps and returns. Where the wardrobe meets a side wall, a narrow return panel or scribing strip hides any small irregularity in the plaster.
- Matching paint. If the wardrobe is painted, the skirting that meets it should be painted in a matching or deliberately contrasting colour, in the same sheen.
- Caulking. A fine line of flexible decorator’s caulk at the junction with wall and ceiling closes hairline gaps without cracking.
- Soft-close hardware. It is a standard feature on our wardrobes, and it works best when the carcass is level, which is another reason the base matters.
- Cornice and ceiling. If the room has a cornice, the top of a floor-to-ceiling wardrobe needs the same thought as the bottom.
For wood-effect, shaker or modern flat-panel styles, the base treatment can change the character of the piece. A shaker wardrobe often looks best with a taller, more traditional plinth. A flat-panel modern wardrobe can have a slim recessed plinth that makes it look as though it floats.
Planning, leasehold and fire safety
In most houses, fitted wardrobes inside the home do not need planning permission, but consent can matter in listed buildings, conservation settings and leasehold properties. We cover this in our guide to planning permission for fitted wardrobes in the UK, and our building regulations guide for fitted furniture sets out the wider picture.
On fire safety, the government’s Approved Document B is the building-regulations guidance for England. Ordinary timber wardrobe joinery is not the target of the 2025 furniture-fire changes: those amendment regulations came into force on 30 October 2025 and mainly concern upholstered furniture such as sofas and mattresses. But the wider fire-safety rules can still matter in flats, HMOs, loft conversions and any alteration that affects an escape route. If you rent out rooms, your local council may set its own expectations: Hammersmith & Fulham’s HMO furniture guidance is one example. Ask your designer or contractor to confirm what applies to your building, and speak to building control or your freeholder if you are unsure. Do not assume wardrobe work is automatically exempt.
Our perspective: decide the skirting first
Most skirting problems we are called in to put right started with a wardrobe designed from a flat drawing. The doors and shelves were planned carefully, and the bottom 100mm was left to chance. The fitter then had to improvise, and the result shows every time the light hits the floor line.
We do the opposite. At the free design visit we look at the skirting before we talk about door styles. We check how the floor runs, how the walls stand, and what you plan to do with the flooring. Then we recommend one of the three methods above and explain why. In period homes this is usually a plinth with the original boards kept elsewhere. In slimmer, newer rooms we are more likely to scribe.
We also think the fitter should leave the room cleaner than they found it. That includes taking away and disposing of your old wardrobe, so you are not left with a pile of panels in the garage. Because every piece is made to your measurements, installation is typically quick, and the work is backed by our 10-year guarantee.
— Aureliu
Fitted wardrobes with the skirting done properly
If you are planning bespoke fitted wardrobes in West London, we will survey the room, draw the skirting detail alongside the doors and interior, and agree it with you before manufacture. You can see the range on our fitted wardrobes page, or look at media walls and home offices if you want the same finish across more than one room. To arrange a free design visit, call 07468 150807 or message us on WhatsApp. Our studio is at 124 City Road, Kemp House, London, EC1V 2NX.
FAQ
Do you have to remove skirting boards before fitting wardrobes?
No. A competent fitter can scribe the wardrobe around the skirting and leave it in place. Removal is often the better choice with deep, ornate or uneven boards, or where the wardrobe is a full-width run on a plinth. Your fitter should explain which they recommend and why.
Can skirting be put back after the wardrobe is fitted?
Yes. The skirting can be cut back in at the sides and returns of the wardrobe, then filled, caulked and repainted. Old boards can split when lifted, so it is worth asking whether replacement lengths in a matching profile are needed.
What is a plinth, and do I need one?
A plinth is a base the wardrobe sits on, normally set back slightly from the doors. It gives a level foundation on uneven floors and avoids having to cut the carcass around the skirting. You do not always need one, but it is the usual choice for floor-to-ceiling runs, sliding doors and period rooms.
Will new flooring affect my wardrobe?
It can. Carpet and hard flooring change the finished floor height, which changes the plinth or skirting junction. Tell your designer your flooring plans before the survey so the base height is correct from the start.
Does the skirting detail change how long installation takes?
It can add some time if boards need removing, making good or repainting, but good planning keeps this predictable. Our installations are typically completed within about a week, and we confirm the timing at the design visit.
Sources
- Fire safety: Approved Document B, GOV.UK
- Furniture and furnishings fire safety regulations, GOV.UK
- Fire safety guidance for HMO furniture, London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham
- How to fit skirting boards, Checkatrade
- How to build a sloped ceiling wardrobe, DIY Doctor
