Bespoke Fitted Wardrobes vs Ikea Pax?

[Balonziaga]

We have just nearly finished a big renovation and I have completely am running out of steam (and money).

I have also been quite unwell during last part of the build and just don't have the energy for millions of appointments and store visits (don't mind a couple).

We need fitted wardrobes in three bedrooms and I just haven't got a clue where to start. Are the Ikea PAX almost as good as a fitted wardrobe company (if put together well)? Is the main difference that you are restricted in terms of height and can't fit along a sloped ceiling for example? Or is it more than that.

And of the fitted companies - any recommendations for reasonably priced solutions?

Thanks.

We have Ikea Pax in our dressing room and fitted bespoke in our kids' rooms and they were about the same price. I got a local joiner to knock up the fitted ones with shelves and we put the rails in ourselves. The Ikea Pax we had fitted by one of those guys who makes a living from assembling and fitting Ikea furniture and he did a great job. DH and I have completely different interiors, which is great, so Pax can be 'bespoke' in terms of how you arrange the rails, shelves, drawers, racks, etc to suit the clothes you need to store. The only downside to them is that they're the size they are and if your space is a bit bigger you have a gap all the way round.

Thanks @zafferana. How do they compare in terms of quality/sturdiness please?

We got ikea ones and have been so pleased with them. It's been 5 years and no regrets yet

We had very expensive ones built into the kids rooms and pax in hours as dimensions were easier. Bloody love the pax ones. The kids ones are good and use the space well but we probably didn't think about what space they would need enough. Have ended with lots of deep shelves that aren't that useful.

Pax are so flexible and cost effective I would go for them unless you need to maximise a difficult space

We have Pax and they are the very tall version: they are only a couple of inches away from our ceiling. It goes the whole width of the bedroom and is so quiet and restful. I built them myself 15 years ago. They're doing fine, no problems at all ( I don't count it as a failing that one bottom pull-out drawer is broken; not much would have withstood my DH standing on it to reach higher up ). We have them as 2 double units with 2 rails each (upper and lower) with pull-out bottom drawers for bags etc, plus another shelved double with a mirror door which is the linen/bedding store, plus a single shelved / drawer set for all the small stuff like socks...yes, we do have a lot of stuff! It has worked brilliantly for us and was very cost effective.

@Balonziaga

Thanks *@zafferana*. How do they compare in terms of quality/sturdiness please?

The Ikea Pax doors have been better. We got sliding ones on runners for both those and the bespoke ones and we've had problems with the bespoke, which have fallen off their runners on several occasions. The Ikea interiors are also much more versatile. But if you got fancy bespoke I'm sure they'd be good too.

unless you have weird shaped rooms / odd ceilings etc to deal with, I'd go with Pax. much cheaper & quicker.

do you have big skirting boards? you can get a joiner to cut the pax to fit your skirting & fix it to the wall so it looks like fitted.

Our Pax are 10 years plus old and in that time I think one draw runner needed rescrewing. They've lasted so well. We have a mirrored dooras well which weighs a ton but no fixing issues. Ours are almost to the ceiling, there is an annoying 5cm gap between wardrobe and wall as the central heating pipe runs on that wall and bespoke probably would have fitted around it. But I ripped out the ugly slatted door built in things the day we moved in. The lkea planners were fab at helping us work out best layout. I'd get pax again in a heart beat.

This is really good to hear. Trip to Ikea then....

We rent out properties and put pax in all of them. They’re really sturdy and reliable. Also it’s great that you can adjust shelves/put in rails etc and also easily buy baskets etc that are perfectly sized for it, it means our tenants can set up their wardrobes how they want them. Can’t think of a single complaint about a broken wardrobe in about ten/twelve years of renting out multiple properties with them tbh.

We’ve just made the same call. Fitted bespoke £4,500. Pax with some extra bits to hack them and make them look bespoke £1,000. This also isn’t like for like as we could afford a lot more internal fittings with pax so have more drawers etc.

We’ve bought a kitchen end panel and coving to cover the white frames to match the doors.

I really liked the pax we had in our old house. We had the same debate in our new house but ended up with 3m marlow wardrobes from John Lewis. IKEA were really struggling with stock at the time and we got them reduced in last years January sale. I liked that I didn't have to build them myself/ pay someone extra to build them as it was all included.

Get the pax. We had same dilemma, absolutely no regrets and saved £4k right at the end of the build.

We have a hybrid - Pax carcasses and interior fittings (which are fab!) and then got a joiner to make doors and filler panels to make them built in.

We bought Pax recently for our bedroom. Really pleased with them.

We've got Pax with sliding mirrored doors. They're really sturdy and hold loads. We love them

I think the beauty of Pax is that you really can choose them with so many different doors that they can really be what you want them to be. And can have handles / knobs or handleless with the push to shut closures. These are mine. And yet the PP said she had mirrored sliding doors, so they must look completely different again.

Plus lots of combinations inside depending on how you want to use the space. So I have lots of hanging, plus one half-wardrobe of box shelving for jumpers and jeans, etc - my husband's has drawers at the bottom and hanging only at the top.

There are also companies like Superfront and Plykea which make different style doors for Pax.

I am liking the sound of a few bits of filler/panel/architrave to make the Pax look fitted, but I can't really picture it. Can anyone share a picture to help me understand?

On Instagram there are lots of people who have done pax with extra bits to look custom

instagram.com/1894home?utm_medium=copy_link

@Balonziaga - we’ve not fitted it yet but we have the dark blue grimo doors for the 240cm high wardrobes and the axstad end panel and the deco moulding. The end panel will go on the exposed end and also cover the gap between the wardrobe and wall because we have skirting board. The wardrobes are screwed into a batton the same thickness at the top. It’ll need a couple of cm removing from the bottom. We’ve then use the decorative moulding under the doors across the front and then as per the kitchen cupboards on the top.

www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/axstad-cover-panel-matt-blue-70475245/

www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/axstad-rounded-deco-strip-moulding-matt-blue-30475247/

@nameychange i know this is an old thread (and maybe your name has changed!) but I was just wondering whether you could help me with a quick query. I really like the matt white axstad doors and I thought the grimo white looked like the most similar pax option but wasn’t sure if it was matt? But if you found the two a match albeit in blue then would you say the grimo is matt? Hope you’re happy with the final look you got, sounds great.

@Inyournewdress the blue looks matt to me. What we did was take the axstad door from the kitchen bit to the pax bit and put them side by side. There was a very slight colour difference but it not noticeable at all now done.

this is the final look in blue, using the pax doors with the axstad blue end panel and deco strip to cover the frame at the bottom and finish the top.