Finallyyyyy. I am really excited to share this post because I’ve received so many questions about our IKEA PAX wardrobe. I am hoping this post helps answer a lot of them. When we first started planning our addition (converting our garage to a bedroom/bathroom) one of my main priorities was more closet space. Before the addition we had two closets in the entire house (and they are tiny). It made organizing my wardrobe VERY difficult, especially for the colder months. I had coats and sweaters all over the place and it drove me crazy not being able to see all of my clothes in one place. Needless to say, I wanted something that would fit all of my clothes, shoes, and accessories. I’ve split this post into a few sections, why we chose the IKEA Pax, how we designed it, the total cost and installation. If you have any follow up questions please let me know in the comments. Happy to help however I can!
**Scroll all the way down for additional room sources.
How We Designed Our IKEA PAX Wardrobe
Why We Chose the IKEA PAX Wardrobe
My dream wardrobe/closet situation started out on Pinterest, with lots of inspiration images that were wildly unrealistic (as one does). We decided to get a quote for custom closets and when we got the price tag (over $13k) we realized that was definitely not in the budget. So we went back to the drawing board, and since Craig was finishing the addition as we were going into lockdown at the beginning of Covid our options were becoming more and more limited. We started to look at IKEA because we saw so many spaces with the PAX system and it seemed very customizable. Knowing we could order everything online, have it delivered to our door and install it ourselves were the deciding factors.
How We Designed the IKEA PAX System
I’ll be honest, most of the PAX wardrobe system design was Craig. I picked the doors and the knobs but Craig spent a lot of time planning it out. The IKEA website is confusing AF when you’re trying to build a wardrobe system. It took Craig a solid week of measuring, planning, adding things to the cart, and triple checking to make sure he had everything picked out correctly. The nice thing is the PAX system is super customizable, but that’s also the really annoying part about it because of how the website is organized.
The main goal was to give each of us ample drawer space with a hanging rod above. The far left section is for long hanging items like dresses and coats and the far right section is for linens and towels. I figured I’d make it easy and tell you exactly what we ordered to build our IKEA PAX wardrobes. In terms of the space we had to work with: 96 inches floor to ceiling, 142 inches wall to wall and around 5 feet of depth from the wall to the bed. Here’s what we ordered (I put this in the order it’s installed from left to right):
3 Wardrobe Frames (39×92 inch)
1 Wardrobe Frame (19x 92 inch)
7 Bergsbo Doors (19×90)
8 Komplement Drawers – 4 per wardrobe in the two center sections (39 inch)
4 Komplement Drawers – for linens and towels (19 inch)
3 Komplement Clothes Rail (39 inch)
3 Komplement Shelves (39 inch) – 1 per wardrobe for the first three sections
4 Komplement Shelves (19 inch) – for linens and towels
Knobs
Total Cost of the IKEA PAX System
We were quoted over $13,000 for a custom closet compared to a little over $1300 for our IKEA Pax system (Total for the above= $1325 + $99 delivery fee and tax). The $13k quote also included the cost of the additional wardrobe in our bedroom that I haven’t shown in these photos (it has my shoes, jewelry and extra beauty products but it’s an absolute disaster right now so I will share when I can get it organized). The total for that from IKEA was $1075. So our complete cost for the IKEA PAX system was $2499 (including delivery).
It has been A little over 5 months since we installed the IKEA Pax system and I am SO happy with it.
In terms of installing the wardrobe, once Craig got the hang of it, installation went quickly. In typical IKEA fashion you have to build EVERYTHING. Craig was able to install the system in one day. It definitely goes faster with two people, and the taller 92 inch wardrobe system might be difficult to do without the help of another person. That said it was relatively fast and simple to install. We assembled and installed all the frames first, then did all the drawers at the same time.
We love it so much we ended up purchasing another PAX system for the hallway that leads to our bedroom where we keep cleaning supplies, and other household items that haven’t had a place to be stored. Craig had to cut it to fit because we didn’t have enough depth but I can share more on that in a future blog post. Overall I love how our PAX wardrobe system turned out and definitely recommend for an affordable way to build closets in your space.
You might also enjoy: Everything You Need To Know About Our Wood Floors, Our Bathroom Addition
Additional Room Sources
Linen Duvet Cover
Belgian Flax Linen Sheets
Bed Frame (spray painted white)
Frame TV (My Samsung Frame TV review here)
Media Cabinet
Teak Step Stool
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Hi Jess–did you consider getting custom doors at all or are you happy with the quality of the Ikea doors? I know there are a lot of companies that do custom doors to make the Ikea wardrobes look more high end (basically getting the look of a much more expensive wardrobe for the cost of an Ikea one). Yours look great!
I’ve looked into custom doors for other IKEA things we have and it always seemed too expensive to be worth it but I do think it can be a great option. I actually really love the IKEA doors we got, they’re not the BEST quality but they are certainly fine for our PAX system.
Beautiful and useful!
I know you have mentioned this before but what is the color of paint you used on the walls?
It’s linked here, it’s a mix of two colors https://www.jessannkirby.com/master-bedroom-addition-paint-color-and-primer/
IKEA.com has a “closet builder” tool to help with planning and design. You can plug in your closet measurements and build a virtual closet system, and IKEA will provide the entire shopping list. They’ve made it easy for all of us!
Beautiful, and I love the closet options at IKEA.
The PAX system always looks SO good. I also love when people go a little crazy and paint it fun colors! This looks so clean and crisp though. Love the look of it!
xo Jessica
My Style Vita
Yeah I’ve definitely seen some amazingly creative designs with the PAX system. So happy we went with it!
This post comes at the best time! We are redoing our mudroom, and I think the Pax wardrobes might be perfect for us. However, I’m wondering if you think they are deep enough for coat closets?
Thanks!
Laura
Hi Laura, yes the ones we have are definitely deep enough for coats. I have winter coats in them no problem.
Hi Jess! What paint did you use for your bed? Thank you in advance!
Hi Leslie I used this spray paint! https://amzn.to/2HedFDv
Looking to use this system for my mudroom and curious to know how many coats and jackets could fit in one? Want to make sure it will work for my family of 4! We are thinking of getting 2 of the 39inch wardrobes and debating on whether one can be for coats or if we need to have both wardrobes available… Thanks in advance!
It’s tough to say without knowing how many coats you’re talking but they can definitely fit a lot in them. If you have a lot of big bulky coats you might want two.
Looking to use this system for my mudroom and curious to know how many coats and jackets could fit in one? Want to make sure it will work for my family of 4! We are thinking of getting 2 of the 39inch wardrobes and debating on whether one can be for coats or if we need to have both wardrobes available… Thanks in advance!
Hi Jess- I’m curious, did your doors come with a space for knobs/handles or did you have to drill in and create a hole? Thanks in advance!