IKEA Pax - what do you wish you'd known?

[naiveandrestles]

Just that. Or what would you change if you could buy them again? What features have been helpful and what havent you used?

We need a wardrobe. Our stairs are twisty so flat pack is our only option. The tall ones will fit in the room but may not fit up the stairs. I think we could fit in 2 doors and one narrow unit but I want doors on all of it which limits options.

It will have my partner and mine clothes but also be a catch all eg for bedding, towels etc.

Can I put a full length mirror on the inside of one of the doors?

It's a big chunk of money for us so I want to get it right. The options are a bit overwhelming.

No advice but I’m in the same boat. Am tempted, but it’ll be an expensive mistake if it didn’t work. Am flowing for advice.

That the hinges often need re-tightening and the hanging pole frequently slips back out of its fitting so you need to push it back in. I‘m not sure a Pax door would hold up a mirror - ours certainly wouldn’t. That said, we’ve had ours for 3 years now and no issues apart from the above.

ETA: a friend had hers professionally fitted and she’s had none of these issues. I know that might not be do-able on a budget but my DH fitted ours and he’s no tradesperson 🤓

Our Pax wardrobes were bought maybe 20 years ago and a few bits are still doing a good job.

1. The mirror doors were REALLY heavy, like full wood and then full glass on top. It always felt as if I was going to rip the hinges out with the weight. Top tethered and doors never left open. The mirrors are now mounted on the wall as an optical illusion (corridor with blank wall) and as a full length+ mirror.
2. the body is now a shoe cupboard with those very useful metal shelves you can make slope.
3. I bought those PAX face-on telescopic rails and used them in a shallow hall cupboard. Needs must.

IKEA sells lightweight mirrors. I’m sure you could hot-glue one inside a door.

I’m thinking about Pax too for a house I’ll be moving to, but am a bit overwhelmed with the choice.
I think my approach will be to make a note of what works or doesn’t work for now and go off that? Eg if you have 2 feet of hanging rail for shirts and 1 foot for dresses and that’s enough, then design that in. Pile up all the bedding and towels and measure the space it takes up and design in the pull out baskets that will hold them. I do like them! I currently have some freestanding ones that I use for bedding and towels but they are narrow and deep and I think the wider shallow ones would be better.
I think I’m going to go for sliding doors due to available space. Couldn’t you have one mirrored door, or do you have to have the mirror on the inside?

I have Pax and Platsa

Half hanging space, half drawers is a good combo IMO. Especially if you have linens to store too. However, you have to open the doors fully to open a drawer, which can get annoying.

Look at Platsa as well especially if Pax doesn’t fit your space perfectly. With Platsa you can have a separate drawer unit and cupboard above (looks like one unit) so no need to open doors then drawer.

With Pax you can’t put a drawer right at the bottom because of the hinges, wire basket or shoe rack only in that position.

The felt divider boxes are really useful.

The institute wardrobe designers are really efficient and helpful. Book an appointment.

We just had to put some stuff through 1st floor windows as they wouldn't fit up
Our stupid stairs.

Mirror doors are not too heavy these days and the Ikea ones are good quality.

Hints from my experience

• the felt lined drawer inserts for jewellery / cufflinks / small bits are excellent and help it feel really 'luxe'
• the drawers are pretty sturdy and fit loads of clothes so go for those if you can.
• we topped off the drawers parts with a glass shelf. Looks good and is useful too
• don't be afraid to get builders to

Shave a few cm off the carcasses of you need special heights - we had 40cmTaken off top of one of ours to fit under a sloped ceiling (but have no doors on that bit) The Ikea planner helped with that too so we could work out what insides would work

• for shoe storage the pull out drawers are good for women's shoes and better than a shoe rack as you can fit more in
• Ikea offers a zero percent loan so you can spread the cost.

-take your time on assembly as cock ups can damage the items. Use / borrow an electric screwdriver

• sliding doors are a fab space saver but if you each have a side you have to wait for the other to finish which can be a pain.

Overall we love ours and they are much cheaper than the wardrobe companies even when you factor in delivery.

Good luck !

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The institute wardrobe designers

Should read IKEA designers. 🙄

I wish I didn’t buy all the inserts etc in one go because I ended up with bits I didn’t need and didn’t get it together to return.

I use mine for towel storage too and find Skubb boxes really practical for being able to get things from the top shelf without a step stool. I’ve also got baskets on top for stuff I don’t need often.

Your post just reminded me to order replacement shelf support fixtures after about six months of forgetting - thanks!

Once built, they’re bombproof. I’d highly recommend them.

You have to have the ceiling height to raise the tall pax, not just to have them when they are built. If you do get tall paxes then you will be able to get them from Bargain Corner as there are always tall paxes from people who have returned them because they can’t stand them up.

Not if you build them standing up

@CloddHoppers they have changed assembly instructions now. You can build in situ without standing them
Up as an alternative to standing it up after building.

We did that and it worked perfectly. A bit fiddly but now we have a wardrobe that's only 1cm from the ceiling.

You can also reduce the height a bit by cutting a few cm off the top of the cabinets.

Yes if you have high ceilings, put a shelf or two above your hanging rail and use the large Skubb boxes to store winter duvets/spare linens and out of season clothes.

We have the pull out shelf above our drawers and it’s great for jewellery watches etc (and we then have a fixed shelf above that).

Loads of stuff on youtube, about modifying ikea cabinets and wardrobes to fit odd sized spaces. The best ways to reduce the height/depth or width, so that it looks like a custom made piece, rather than a flatpack, you've had a go at with a saw. All quite possible for a confident handy(wo)man, you will probably need to borrow/hire a mitre saw if you haven't got one. Golden rule - measure twice, cut once.

Have just got rid of 2 x sliding doors PAX as we're moving. Was really happy with it, had for about 8 years with no issues - was v happy with it. Managed to get all parts up (and down) staircase with bend.

My advice would be to get them fitted by professionals - I know it’s an extra few hundred quid, but for me it’s been worth it - they are properly bolted to the wall and feel solid. If you have uneven walls, or a weirdly shaped space they have the proper tools to fit them properly.

I’ve had mine for 5 years now with no problems.

In terms of mirrors, I chose one of the mirrored doors for mine, which is really nice, it bounces light around the room and makes it look bigger.

Make sure you have the right size draws BEFORE you make them up and realise you've bought the wrong size and can't return them.

Measure the height of your ceiling. If there's not a lot in it, build stood up. Ignore the stuff about mirror doors above - they are fine.

Top half wardrobe, bottom half drawers (with wire draws in bottom slot) are the way to go.

You won't find a more efficient wardrobe for space/money. They last a bloody long time.

We had to put a wood baton on the wall to fix it to as our skirting boards are quite large and didn't fit the cut outs. Also I found I couldn't have sliding doors on the 100cm wardrobe, only the 150 and 200cm one, though they probably wouldn't have looked right on the smaller width wardrobe.

Our doors on one of them have gone a bit wonky, DH tried without success to straighten them and I did wonder if I had overstuffed it a bit and stressed the whole thing so it was a wonky frame rather than door.

I tried putting a mirror inside one of the doors but found that the door wouldn't shut as the shelves were too close to the doors.

Do use Ikea design service!
Pax is great! Specially when well installed. I have at home and love it. I just don’t recommend the corner piece. it’s a waste of space.