Loft conversions are common in London terraces, and they leave rooms with sloping ceilings and low eaves. The same thing happens in top-floor flats under the slope of a building. Standard wardrobes don’t fit these rooms: they’re too tall for the low side and leave dead space everywhere else.
Fitted wardrobes made for the room follow the slope, put long hanging where the ceiling is high and use the low parts for drawers and shelves. This guide explains how to plan them.
Read the room first
Every sloping ceiling is a little different. The angle varies, and the height where the slope starts (often a low knee wall) changes from room to room. Note where you can stand up straight, where you can stoop to reach, and where the space is only useful for storage that pulls out.
Look out for things that must stay accessible: hatches into the eaves, pipes, cables and anything your builder or electrician has left in the knee wall. We plan around them rather than covering them up.
Putting each kind of storage in the right place
- Full-length hanging goes where the ceiling is tallest, usually at the high end of the slope or in a dormer.
- Short hanging for shirts and jackets can sit part-way down the slope.
- Drawers suit the low space near the knee wall, where you can pull them out without standing up.
- Shelves work at any height, and can follow the slope at the top.
The aim is to use every part of the space for something it suits, rather than forcing a rail where you can’t reach it.
Doors that follow the angle
The doors on a wardrobe under a slope are usually cut to the angle, so the top edge follows the ceiling line. Hinged doors are the usual choice. Sliding doors need a straight track along the top, which is hard to fit under an angle. Where the slope is steep, part of the wardrobe may sit behind a shorter door with the angled section above it as a fixed panel.
See our guide to wardrobe doors for more on the choices.
Thinking about fitted furniture? We design, make and fit it across London: we visit, measure and talk through the design, then send a written quote. Arrange a design visit.
Eaves storage behind the knee wall
Behind the knee wall there’s often a long, low space under the slope. Pull-out drawers or cupboards set into the knee wall can use it for bulky things like luggage and seasonal clothes. That space can also be colder than the room, so ventilation helps, and nothing should block any insulation or vents your builder put in. Our guide to storage in a loft conversion goes into detail.
Walls, ceilings and fixings
Loft rooms are usually lined with plasterboard on timber studs and rafters. Fixings must go into something solid, so we find the timbers before deciding where units are fixed. In older houses, ceilings and walls may be uneven, so wardrobes are scribed to follow them and set level on a plinth or adjustable feet.
We don’t build loft conversions. Building Regulations apply to loft conversions, and the GOV.UK page on Building Regulations approval explains the process. We build storage in lofts that are already converted or boarded.
Getting the pieces upstairs
Loft stairs are often narrow and steep, with tight turns. Furniture made in our workshop is made in sections sized to get up the stairs and round the landings. That’s why we measure the route as well as the room. See how to measure a room for fitted furniture.
Quick answers
Can you fit sliding doors under a slope?
It’s difficult, because the track needs a straight run. Hinged doors cut to the angle are the usual choice.
Is the low space under the slope worth using?
Usually, yes. Drawers or pull-out cupboards make the low space easy to reach.
Do you build loft conversions?
No. We build storage in lofts that are already converted or boarded. The conversion itself is for a builder.
Will the wardrobes block access to the eaves?
They shouldn’t. If there’s a hatch or services to reach, we design around them.
Related services
More advice
- Storage in a Loft Conversion: Eaves and Slopes
- Wardrobe Doors: Hinged, Sliding or Open?
- How to Measure a Room for Fitted Furniture
- Storage Ideas for Small Bedrooms
- All advice
This guide is general information about fitted furniture. It isn’t legal, planning or building advice; for those, speak to the council, your landlord or managing agent, or a suitably qualified professional.