Can I split a double IKEA PAX wardrobe?

[QueenofWhatever]

I have a double IKEA PAX wardrobe in my bedroom, which is too big for my needs and half-empty. DD doesn't have a wardrobe, so I want to split the carcasses and move one into her room.

Seems straightforward, but I have sliding doors. Is there any way I can do this without having to buy new doors? I've looked at the IKEA website, and can't really work it out.

Hmm, I don't think you could without getting new doors as there would be nowhere for them to run onto if there was just one each, IYSWIM?

Don't think I explained that well. On ours (double) there are two sliding doors but fixed to one runner that goes the whole length. If it was just one door per side of wardrobe, each door wouldn't have the other half to slide onto.

I think you could be right. My runner is one piece of metal which goes across both units. Also, one of the doors is mirrors, and I remember when we put it together, it was really heavy. I can't see, as you say, what it would slide onto as a single unit.

The irony is that it'll be cheaper to get DD an IKEA wardrobe off eBay or Gumtree, than buy new doors at IKEA.

It surely will. Pax wardrobes are ever so cheap on eBay, so long as you can pick them up. DD's wardrobe was a fiver (and thirty quid for the van hire).

I wish I'd thought of eBay and Gumtree when I moved two years ago and bought all this furniture. I've been an avid eBay buyer for years, so not sure why it didn't occur to me.

The stuff is just so much cheaper, and tends to be in really good condition. I got a sofa, an armchair and some cupboards in the last year, and probably paid less than a third of the price. I'm amazed at how often people upgrade their furniture, and are willing to let the old stuff go for a fraction of what they paid.

As someone with more Pax wardobes than probably Ikea, I would say that it would be very hard to do this even if it had a hinged door.

I am like those trained military people who can strip a gun blindfolded except my skill is Pax wardrobes, I have 6 doubles and 9 singles!

Buy a second hand one if you can't do new.

I (well, my Dad) split a double Pax when I bought 2 doubles but found that the 2nd would cover a light switch. Cut one in half and now have one double and one single. That was with hinged doors though, and if you wanted to convert to two doubles you'd need extra sides as well (unless you left the cut end open and had it against a wall I suppose).

potterer that's a serious PAX habit!

It does sound like it's all too complicated, and nigh on impossible to split them. I think I'll keep my double one, even though it's more than I need, and get DD a second hand one. It still seems a bit back to front though.

Jumping on the pax bandwagon, would it be possible to put lights inside the wardrobe (obviously low voltage wardrobe lights)? I am planning on buying some for 2 newly extended bedrooms & was thinking of getting our electrician to put some wiring in for lighting. Thanks.

Genieinalamp Ikea sell the lights that go inside the wardrobes, I think they come on like a fridge light, ie when you open the door.

QueenofWhatever I started collecting Pax wardrobes 14 years ago! The children have those ones in their rooms. They have seen 3 house moves hence the reason why I am so good at putting them together.

We have white gloss ones in our bedroom and they actually replaced some birch ones, which I sold to my friend, so I have put a shit load of them together.

Plus I have a bank of them in the boys playroom, it is a 4m run! So 3 doubles and 2 singles, sooo glad we converted the double garage. I can now hide everything in those wardrobes, coats, shoes, bags, toys, ironing board, hoover! Bliss.

Technically of course you can separate a double wardrobe but you would have to cut down both the top and bottom, they are connected by cam bolts (you can see the assembly instructions on Ikea's website) so you would have to re-drill or connect the sides to the base and top in a new way. It is too complicated for me.

Thank you very much Potterer!

You're welcome