Fitted wardrobes- Pax or craftsman or?

[duriandurian]

We are hoping to exchange today- forms all in on our side.
There is no storage so I am hoping to build in a 3m wide wall of fitted wardrobes in both kids' rooms (quite big rooms) and also convert the box room into a dressing room for us.
My Ma has a nice craftsman/carpenter contact.
I assume it would be cheaper to use Ikea Pax and get him to tweak it? How do I (how does anyone) decide on the layout within and ratio of drawers to rails to stackable space? The goal is that all their stuff will be in it. So all seasonal stuff, swim wear, maybe even books.
They will have a playroom (will reuse my kallax for that) but everything else should be stowed away.
Is it a false economy (Pax is still about £800/room) ?
Thanks for any tips. All of our possessions are currently in storage. Current rental has no storage space and everything is piled on the floor. I really want to start the right way in our first family house!

I think it depends on the level of customisation you're looking for. I've been looking at this and one thing I was considering was 'custom' doors on PAX frames. That actually seems to work out about the same price as getting a carpenter to build the whole lot from scratch.

One interesting thing I did discover though is that B&Q do a similar range to PAX called "Darwin". Seems to be very similar pricing too (potentially slightly cheaper?)

Ooh thanks. Would not have thought of B&Q.
I think I need some sort of design service to work out layouts. Will see if Ikea or B&Q offer it. Quite exciting/scary in case we blunder!

I think the best way to do it is to lay everything out that you'd want to put in there and then see what storage you'd need for each of them. Everyone has different needs and ways of storing things so it's best to tailor it to what you already have.

Yes, I think I was trying to avoid the fetching everything (in massive boxes) out of storage and then having to wait to have wardrobes fitted. But better to get it right.
Do you know of any good websites? I was thinking of risking losing a few hours on Pinterest but fear that the storage will all be a bit kondoed and not represent the piles of stuff we accumulate! X

Bobbins, please ignore stray X. Texting and typing on MN simultaneously.

We are waiting to do PAX as well which is why I opened this thread. IKEA can do PAX planning in the store but I think that you can do it on the website as well.

Ah, website planning sounds good. We have been so caught up with the dull admin parts of the move that I am only now starting to think about the fun bits like decorating, organising and reclaiming all of our possessions from storage!

We bought PAX frames which were hacked a bit to slot into the space, and had shelves built above (so truly floor to ceiling) and then had custom doors made the measure. I don't know how much a craftsman would have charged, but it was certainly wayyyy cheaper than the quotes we'd had from high street places. The advantage is that you can change the internal fittings in a PAX frame as children get older / more shelves / hanging space etc.

I've been a bit disappointed in my Pax wardrobes. They look nice from the outside but don't feel very sturdy. Not sure I planned mine that well though. I would probably not have inner wide drawers as you have to open 2 big wardrobe doors to reach them which is just a pain!

I think it's a really good idea to look physically at everything you want to store and then decide how best to do it. Better to take your time and kive in a bit of a mess for a week or two than make the wrong decision.

I have Pax with mirror doors in my dressing room because there is only "borrowed" natural light in there.I use the fitted baskets for shoes but they also work for small clothes. Ikea do lots of different baskets and boxes that will just go inside the carcass. The shelves are huge - take all my jumpers and t shirts and DH uses the upper shelves for his stuff / out of season etc as I can't reach those.

Can't advise on the drawers as I have a separate chest of drawers.

Without fail every Pax drawer we have had had broken off it's runners. I wouldn't recomend them.

Yes you can do pax planning online on their website. I really love my pax wardrobes. I did the design online. I got the highest height version, and they are just about 3 inches below my ceiling so for all intents and purposes they are basically fitted, no need for a craftsman to do anything to them.

So my recommendation is:

Check the height of your new rooms and go as tall as you can.

Use a shelf at the top and get some ikea storage boxes to fit perfectly in the space - put things up there that you don't need very often (as you may need a stepladder to reach!)

Do a double rail in one section. Ie one rail across above head height, then anotherr below it at about waist height. This is something my brother did as he can hang a row of shirts above another row of shirts. SUCH massive space saver compared with just having one rail to accommodate tall clothes (long dresses) and wasting space at the bottom where you end up just chucking shoes in willy nilly.

When you put the rails in don't forget to accommodate the height of the clothes hangers.

Having one mirror door is really useful. I had to get one by mistake really as my space only allowed 1.75m,so I have 3 white doors of 50cm and one mirror at 25cm). It's surprising how narrow it can be yet you can still see yourself full width when you stand back from it.

We have a lot of Pax wardrobes. The difference between Ikea and other brands is the interior fittings are usually much cheaper meaning it is cheaper over time to change stuff.

We have had them for the children's wardrobes and have changed from drawers to hanging rails over the years. The good thing about the drawers is you can slightly overfill them so they are a better investment than a chest of drawers.

I would put Pax into the space floor to ceiling and then have custom doors on them. Bear in mind where the hinges for the doors will go as some Ikea fittings hang from the top and some from the bottom, ie the wooden drawers have rails underneath the drawer meaning they cannot be used at the bottom of the wardrobe, the baskets have rails at the top.

I told you I have a lot of Pax, including a 4m run in the children's playroom that hides everything from coats, shoes, hoover, all toys, a 32" TV complete with xbox and all the games.

Just seen previous posters comment on pax drawers. I've only got two drawers in my wardrobe - they are the wire mesh ones that are 75cm wide. I love them, and haven't had any problem with the runners. I suspect these are more sturdy than mdf type drawers. They are much lighter too, and great for things like beach towels which can get sandy as the sand is so easy to sweep out of the base of the cupboard instead of getting in the cracks in the drawers. (I used to live in Australia so this was v handy there, may not be relevant here, but I still recommend these as drawers)

'baskets' much better word to use than wire mesh!

I love my Pax. I think you need to have an idea of what's going to be stored in it and then decide how much drawer/rails you will need. Going into store and looking helped, i got the trouser rail after seeing it in store. I only have one drawer but it's fine so far.

No problems with drawers here (but don't tend to over fill them and don't store anything heavy in them).

This is all fantastic. Thank you. I hadn't thought about the possibility of reconfiguration inside which makes everything less scary- what I choose doesn't have to be forever!
Ceiling height is v high and I was hoping to build to the ceiling. Maybe 3-3.5m. I can't quite remember only looked around house twice- ridiculous how house buying works when one spends so much really.
I will ask the carpenter if he is able to adapt or strengthen the drawers as I would really like not to be yelling at them to be careful. I don't want anything to put them off being tidy .