To ask for help on Ikea units?

[EmmaEmerald]

Hi all

I think there are some Ikea experts in here

Gird yourself - I've never been and am not near one so likely to order online without seeing in person (but they don't have display models I think?)

I'm quite confused about it and don't want to make a huge mess! So, my questions are about Pax and Billy.

If I order this wardrobe, I then need to order doors, right? And the interior will be as shown with shelves and drawers included?

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/pax-wardrobe-white-s69128567/

With Billy bookcase, I'm essentially looking for low covered bookcases which will probably go either side of a TV. I could get a new TV unit, ideally with doors, currently have a crappy Argos one that's probably older than me.

Looking at Billy, the middle right picture looks twice the height, is it just taken at an odd angle?

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/billy-oxberg-bookcase-with-door-white-s69287392/

All advice gratefully received, thanks

They definitely have display models in store.

Billy comes in multiple widths and heights and colours so you need to be careful you order the right things.

Go to a store if possible they have a whole floor of room set ups. Not sure if it's changed now but you used to have to order every screw, nail, hinge, handle, drawer sliders etc along with doors, drawers and dividers. Although those set ups you've linked to might come as a pack.

They do have display models in store - that’s half the fun of it seeing the sample room layouts on your way around. (The other half is eating meatballs).

They also have a PAX planner in store who can help you plan your wardrobe but if you know you want that layout then yes you can order that and it will come with the drawers and things shown (I checked by looking at the assembly instructions).

You need to check under the photos for the dimensions on the measurements tab. The billy you have chosen is 106cm tall so is rather short.

If you have a tape measure you can check the height/size. IiRC Billy comes in 2 heights and 2 widths. Pax wardrobe does come as separate pieces but they have an app/instore computers and sales advisors to help you "build" your design and pick all the parts for it.

They have huge amounts of display models - whole room sets. Everything big has a tag telling you what aisle and shelf the flat pack boxes are in on the warehouse floor below.

I have a Pax wardrobe. It starts off as just the shell. You have to design and spec the drawers, shelves and baskets you want and then it builds you an order. You also add the doors. There was a Pax builder on the website when I got mine in 2019.

Yes, that pax comes with everything in the picture for that price. It is 13 boxes. You don't have to have exactly what's in the picture, you can have more / less drawers / shelves etc. They also have brilliant inserts for the shelves and drawers. You will need doors, they can be sliding or hinged. You will also need sliding rails or hinges. And handles.

Be careful if you have hinges, as they can conflict with placing things like drawer runners.

If you're on a pc you can do a design your own pax thing on the website, it will tell you all the things you need to make your design. You need the number shown in the black box on the product details, that's how you find it in the warehouse to collect the boxes before you go and pay for it all.

Thanks so much everyone

I'm having lots of issues with my internet at the moment so the planner pages don't come up clearly

I will get a better connection at mum's later in the week so I will try that

I was worried about not buying all the right fixings but hopefully the online planner puts it all in a list.

Do people feel it's better quality than Argos? I have seen people who have Ikea stuff and was quite impressed.

It's definitely going to work out cheaper than a joiner isn't it? I think I will pay a lot for delivery - 13 boxes for that wardrobe, wow - but I know a couple of guys who will fix it for mates' rates.

Initially I was going to get made to measure but that's going to be way too pricey. I also want freestanding ideally....won't work for wardrobes but should work for shorter bookcases I'm thinking?

We have wardobes we got from argos and I hate it compared with things I now see in Ikea. Especially the drawers on things which don't go anywhere near the full depth of the unit. Luckily it is now in a spare room, otherwise I'd chuck it all out and start again with Ikea.

It's much better quality than Argos! Pax wardrobes are REALLY heavy, so make sure you have them delivered to "room of your choice" (it's one of IKEAs delivery options).

If you can possibly get to an IKEA store, it's always best to see their furniture in person. The whole shop is basically full of display models of the furniture.

Thanks Pony
when I googled, a few people said Ikea Pax was light!

I find IKEA furniture is excellent as long as it's built properly in the first place. We bought second hand PAX wardrobes (2x1m wide, floor to ceiling height) with sliding glass doors. They had to be dismantled, transported then reassembled and we replaced the interior fittings to suit our needs.
They're solid as a rock and incredibly functional. An excellent buy but even more so second hand.

IKEA have some lovely stuff I can’t wait to do my bedroom starting next year must find out how high my bed is the one I want with shelves underneath. I need a high bed.

@EmmaEmerald I may have an Ikea Pax addiction. Please ignore the 1 star comment on that combination, you can dismantle a Pax wardrobe, I have done it several times for moving house, you just have to know how to do it ie how to remove the back.

That wardrobe combination you linked, if you are having hinged doors I believe that you cannot have a drawer at the bottom due to the hinge location. The drawers have their runners attached to the bottom of the drawers. If you want the drawers you just leave a gap that allows the door hinge to be underneath. It should be 3 holes worth.

Alternatively you can order a mesh basket which has its runner at the top of the drawer. That way you can have that at the very bottom of the wardrobe. If you look at this range of Pax wardrobes it shows the mesh baskets all along the bottom. If this has changed I would be surprised.

https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/pax-wardrobe-combination-white-s69331427/

To put another spanner in the works, Pax comes in 3 widths, 50, 75 and 100cm. Doors are 50cm meaning you can have a single door on the 50, two doors on the 100 but Ikea UK doesn't have a 75 door, what they offer is a 50 and a 25 mirrored mini door. I don't believe you can get a 75 door in a sliding, unless it is part of a set of 2 that covers a 150cm wardrobe combination. I am happy to be corrected on that as I only have hinged doors, not sliding. The combination you linked is 175cm so two 50cm wardrobes and one 75cm wardrobe.

Billy, we have several, yes that photo just makes it look super tall. There are lots of videos on YouTube of people installing Pax and Billy and also building them in to make them look more expensive. They are both good quality items that should last a decade. We have Pax in the children's playroom for storage, they are over 10 years old and have not been treated kindly by the children when they were young but are still in very good shape.

They are very easy to put together, my advice would be to make life easier is to install the rails for the drawers whilst the two side pieces are laid next to each other rather than counting holes or measuring up when the wardrobes are erected.

WrongBabyHat I love your username!
Thank you for this. I'm probably going to want a 4 section thingy. I'd really like a section with two hanging rails but will have to a lot of height checking as I can't reach the top on a lot of those models.

However, by the time I've added up those costs, plus delivery, plus paying assembly, if I'm going to hit £1000, I wonder if I'm better getting a bespoke company in? Or will the cost be double that?

I'm struggling to get everything done as my mum has a lot going on medically this week and I suspect it will carry through into the following week. Hopefully if/when it settles, I will be able to make appointments for things but at the moment, my sister and I are doing tag team trying to balance work commitments etc. hence all the questions on here - I know this should be fun but sadly it's become something that just really needs doing as I'm tired of living from suitcase and boxes!

The Pax wardrobes are excellent and sturdy. If it's getting toward £1k for 2m of fitted wardrobes then a bespoke company will probably be £5k. Honestly it will be the best weekend's work you ever do.

I love my Pax wardrobes! My builders put the frames together and fixed them to the walls, but I did all the internal stuff myself, it's all very straightforward. The best bit is that if you find something isn't working for you, it's easy to take it out and rearrange things and/or add new bits.

Billy bookcases are very easy to put together, I've got about 20 and did them all myself.

Wow
I had heard - on here tbh - that a local carpenter can work out cheaper but that seems unlikely as well.

I didn't realise the inside bits could be easily done and removed etc, that's good to know.

@EmmaEmerald you can put your hanging rail where you want and where you can reach it, utilising the top out of every day reach section above for storing things you don't use all the time. My children have these wardrobes, Ds2 from when he was 4 for school uniform as that needed to be hung up. The interior fittings can be easily changed, Ds2 is now 17 so we have reconfigured his wardrobe interiors a few times over the years.

A bespoke wardrobe service would be £5k plus, a local carpenter might be cheaper than Ikea but sheet materials ie MDF or ply is expensive. As a direct comparison a 50w x 236h single Pax frame is £60. A sheet of MDF (cheaper than ply) 18mm thick 244h x 122 deep so cut it in half to give the sides of the wardrobe at my local B&Q is £37. You would need to add a top and bottom piece plus you lose the holes already incorporated into the Pax wardrobe allowing you the opportunity to change things around in future. A carpenter would probably be charging around £200+ a day for labour costs too and you would have to make decisions about shelf heights etc. Pax are incredibly versatile inside.

Honestly, the assembly is so easy my 10 year old did it. There are assembly videos on Youtube to help too. You would be mad to pay someone to do it. I put mine together. I understand you have a lot going on with your Mum. So take your time. Remember these wardrobes will last. It is an investment. I have them in a playroom for the children, they are well over 10 years old and still in very good condition considering that children are not gentle.

I put together the whole of my Pax wardrobe in one (very hot) day so you do not have to pay for assembly unless you really don't have the time.

It is very solid and I changed my mind on how it was configured whilst building it so I have rearranged the hanging bars and shelves to work for my daughter now. We will rearrange when she gets a bit older too.

We ended up getting a 50 and a 75 unit with a mirror half door and two main doors. The hinges do change where you put the drawers though. I also did not buy enough hinges as it was a little confusing so had to wait and get some more.

Thanks

I must get it right in one go re hinges etc! Hopefully the planning tool will do that.

In terms of making it - it's not the time. Being honest, I'd do a terrible job but regardless, I have an old spinal injury and really struggle with anything slightly heavy. I'd probably knock out a window through sheer clumsiness though.

I've just thought, I should probably tell Ikea about the injury - but they've got to deliver it to the room anyway, right?