Sizing Storage for a Family Villa: A Worked Example in Running Metres

How much fitted storage does a household actually need, and how much floor area does it consume? A step-by-step illustrative calculation from occupancy to cost.

Storage is usually specified by drawing wardrobes where there is space left over, which is why so many new houses are both large and cluttered. The alternative is to size storage from the household, convert it into running metres of frontage, check that against the walls available and only then price it. This worked example does that in sequence. Every figure is an invented assumption used to demonstrate the method, not a quotation or a market rate.

The situation

A family of six is finishing a 400 square metre villa: two adults in a master suite, two teenagers and two younger children in four further bedrooms, plus a kitchen, a family living area and a majlis with its own entrance. The owner wants to know how much fitted joinery the household genuinely needs, whether the walls in each room can accommodate it, how much floor area it will consume, and what the joinery package is likely to cost before any decorative choices are made.

Assumptions (illustrative)

• Household: two adults, two teenagers and two children under twelve, in five bedrooms across two floors.
• Wardrobe frontage allowance assumed at 1.5 running metres per adult, 1.2 metres per teenager and 0.9 metres per younger child.
• Seasonal and linen storage assumed at 3.0 running metres, plus 1.5 running metres serving the majlis and guest entrance.
• Fitted wardrobe height assumed at 2.4 metres and depth at 0.6 metres throughout.
• Full-height fitted wardrobe assumed at 2,400 SAR per running metre supplied and installed.
• Kitchen assumed at 6.0 running metres of base units at 3,200 SAR per metre and 4.5 running metres of wall units at 1,900 SAR per metre.

Step 1: Convert the household into bedroom wardrobe frontage

Two adults at 1.5 metres gives 3.0 metres. Two teenagers at 1.2 metres gives 2.4 metres. Two younger children at 0.9 metres gives 1.8 metres. Total bedroom frontage required is 3.0 plus 2.4 plus 1.8, which is 7.2 running metres.

Starting from occupancy rather than from the plan produces a number that can be tested. It also exposes the fact that children's storage requirements grow, so a wardrobe sized for a nine year old will be undersized within a few years, which argues for building the adult allowance now and shelving it differently.

Step 2: Add the storage that serves the whole house

Seasonal and linen storage at 3.0 metres plus guest and majlis storage at 1.5 metres gives 4.5 running metres. Total fitted frontage becomes 7.2 plus 4.5, which is 11.7 running metres.

Shared storage is the category most often omitted, because it belongs to no particular room and therefore appears on no particular plan. Its absence is what fills bedroom wardrobes with linen and suitcases, which is how a house with adequate wardrobe frontage still feels short of storage.

Step 3: Express the requirement as wall area and floor area

At 2.4 metres high, 11.7 running metres gives 11.7 multiplied by 2.4, which is 28.08 square metres of wardrobe elevation. At 0.6 metres deep, the footprint is 11.7 multiplied by 0.6, which is 7.02 square metres of floor area.

Two useful figures emerge. The elevation area tells you how much wall you must find, which is the real constraint in bedrooms with windows and doors on several sides. The footprint shows that all the fitted storage in this house occupies about 1.8% of its floor area, which is a small price for the difference between an ordered house and a cluttered one.

Step 4: Test the requirement against the walls actually available

The master bedroom offers 4.2 metres of uninterrupted wall and needs 3.0 metres, leaving 1.2 metres spare. A teenager bedroom offers 3.0 metres and needs 1.2 metres. The linen requirement of 3.0 metres has no home in any bedroom and must be found in a corridor or a dedicated store.

This is the step that most often changes the layout, and it is far better to discover it now than after the plaster is finished. A 3.0 metre linen run usually has to be designed into circulation space, which means the corridor width has to allow for a 0.6 metre deep cupboard without becoming uncomfortable to walk along.

Step 5: Price the fitted joinery package

Wardrobes at 11.7 running metres multiplied by 2,400 SAR gives 28,080 SAR. The kitchen is 6.0 metres at 3,200 SAR, which is 19,200 SAR, plus 4.5 metres at 1,900 SAR, which is 8,550 SAR, giving 27,750 SAR. The joinery package totals 28,080 plus 27,750, which is 55,830 SAR.

Pricing by running metre makes the trade-offs legible: the kitchen, occupying 10.5 running metres, costs almost as much as 11.7 metres of wardrobes, because base units carry worktops, services and appliance integration. That ratio is stable enough to be a useful sanity check on any quotation.

Step 6: Test the effect of reducing the allowance

Cutting the per-person allowance by one fifth reduces bedroom frontage from 7.2 to 5.76 metres and total frontage from 11.7 to 10.26 metres. At 2,400 SAR per metre the wardrobe cost falls from 28,080 SAR to 24,624 SAR, a saving of 3,456 SAR.

The saving is around 6% of the joinery package and a fifth of the bedroom storage the household was assessed as needing. Expressed that way the decision becomes obvious: storage is one of the poorest places to economise in an interior, because the capacity lost is used daily and the money saved is small relative to the lines around it.

What changes the answer

• If the wardrobe depth is reduced below 0.6 metres, hanging garments no longer fit squarely and effective capacity falls faster than the frontage figure suggests.
• If ceiling height allows storage above 2.4 metres, frontage can be reduced, but the upper zone is only genuinely usable for seasonal items.
• If internal accessories such as drawers and pull-out mechanisms are specified heavily, the rate per running metre rises substantially above the figure assumed here.
• If the joinery is imported or uses imported hardware, lead times and conformity documentation become the binding constraint rather than cost.
• If a supply-only arrangement replaces supply and install, the comparison changes, so confirm how value added tax applies against the published headline rate of 15% with ZATCA for each contract.

What the numbers tell you

• Size storage from occupancy first, then test it against the walls available, rather than drawing wardrobes into leftover space.
• Shared storage for linen, seasonal items and guests is the category most often missed and the one whose absence is felt most.
• All the fitted storage in a large villa typically occupies a very small share of its floor area, which makes it a poor target for savings.
• Pricing joinery by running metre lets you compare quotations and test a budget before any decorative decision is made.
• Rules, rates and product requirements change over time, so confirm current prices, tax treatment and certification requirements with your suppliers, ZATCA and the relevant authority when you commit, and take any contractual or tax question to a licensed adviser.

Limits of this example

Every figure above is an illustrative assumption used to show the method, not a quote, valuation or market rate. Costs, rates, fees and regulations change and must be confirmed with the relevant authority, lender or supplier before you commit.

Domira designs and delivers interiors as part of the building, not after it: the finishing schedule, the joinery and the services coordination that decide whether a space looks built or assembled. Share the space and Domira will tell you what it would specify and what it would leave out.