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Increase your hand when you bear in mind how a lot closet area our bed room had once we moved in. The reply is zero. We used dressers for some time (and borrowed the tiny closet in our son’s room for our hanging stuff) and ultimately added some floor-to-ceiling Ikea Pax wardrobes to our bed room after about 10 months, which felt like we had arrived. A bed room closet is so good to have. And – massive information! – as of scripting this submit, we’ve added one other Ikea wardrobe to that wall… which suggests now we have simply as a lot storage in our present bed room as we had in our final home’s FANCY WALK-IN CLOSET! I do know. It’s downright mind-blowing.
For comparability, that is our final home’s walk-in closet (it was an 8′ x 6′ room). Either side had one 29″ cupboard within the center and two 19″ cupboards (one flanking either side of the bigger cupboard). That’s 67″ of linear closet area on every wall, for a complete of 134″ in the entire closet.
Right here we used the very same Pax programs (flooring to ceiling, 8′ peak once more, identical 24″ depth) however in our present smaller bed room we simply ran them alongside the left wall of our room. The configuration right here is three 39″ wardrobes plus one 19″ wardrobe on the tip, for a complete of 136″ linear inches.
It’s wild to us that our final home had a devoted 48 sq. foot room to accommodate this quantity of storage, and in our smaller closet-less room we simply ran the wardrobes alongside a wall, and nonetheless managed to work in a bigger bed than we’ve ever had! Discuss residing massive, even whereas downsizing. It’s fairly superb.
So this submit is to indicate you the way we obtained all of that storage into our smaller bed room – and to element precisely how we make them look utterly built-in. Plus, we took a bunch of up to date photos of our room for you too (there’s a sneak peek of our new chair and a shot of the glass doorways open).
First up, just a little background…
Why Use Ikea Pax Closets?
We fell in love with the Ikea Pax closet system 15 years ago once we first used them so as to add clothes storage AND create a comfy sleeping nook in our first house. Not solely are they a budget-friendly answer, additionally they provide a number of customization and group choices so you’ll be able to actually tailor your Pax to your wants. That’s why we’ve used them repeatedly, together with for our “fanciest” closet makeover in our final home.
You may try that closet reveal post for all the main points (how a lot it price, earlier than & afters, how we organized it, and even a video tour), however again to our present home…
Why Add One other Closet Now?
After we originally added the Pax wardrobes to our present bed room again in 2021, we left area on one finish for a doorway that we have been planning to maneuver there ultimately (presently it’s simply across the nook of that wall under). On the time, we thought transferring the entry level to our bed room over there could be an improve, however after residing right here some time we realized seeing the mattress via a doorway from the entryway/informal sitting space the place we regularly entertain doesn’t really feel like an improve in any respect.
At the moment, the door to our bed room seems to be in on the other wall the place we simply have a dresser – so it doesn’t really feel as “intimate” as seeing a mattress from the entrance door or the hangout zone downstairs. So we’re glad we waited it out and didn’t transfer that doorway prematurely. I actually assume if we did we might have moved it again to this spot later.
So with that crystal clear realization of “Nope. No door right here!” – we knew this nook of the room would look quite a bit higher with another wardrobe operating alongside that wall, quite than squishing the inlay dresser you see under in that spot (you’ll be able to see from the picture above that it now lives on the wall that’s seen from the kitchen/sitting space).
Including another closet on that finish positively makes the wall look extra full.
Once more, right here’s that distinction. Goodbye random enclave on the finish of that wall, hiya extra closet area!
I do know the photographs above make it appear like the closet overhangs the wall, but it surely doesn’t. It really leaves the identical quantity of wall area that we already had subsequent to the bed room door, in order that nook really seems to be fairly balanced – prefer it has at all times been this manner.
We positively thought of utilizing some tremendous thick filler items on every finish to make the closets totally flush to the door wall, however in the end determined we appreciated it higher this manner with out cumbersome finish items flanking the closets.
I’ll share some extra photos of how the area suits collectively on the finish of this submit, however let’s dive into the constructing course of.
Making An Ikea Pax Closet Look Constructed-In
Pax wardrobes are literally one of many simpler Ikea items to hack in case your purpose is to make them look extra like a customized built-in closet. The primary trick is to make use of trim or molding for that totally floor-to-ceiling look. The Pax system is available in both 79″ or 93″ heights, so when you’ve obtained 8ft ceilings (96″) like us, all you need to do is fill that 3-ish inch hole. You could must do some hole filling on the edges too when you additionally need it to go wall-to-wall (which we did here). That course of is just about the identical one we’re sharing on this submit).
We really captured your entire course of – from unboxing to portray! – on a timelapse video you could watch under. We’ve additionally obtained a extra detailed step-by-step tutorial after the video as effectively.
Constructing-In A Pax Wardrobe: Timelapse Video
We condensed this course of down to simply 5 minutes, however in actual time it stretched over the course of about 4 afternoons. The primary 2 have been extra labor intensive with assembling and constructing within the closet, whereas the second 2 have been principally simply ready for caulk and paint to dry. So it’s positively one thing you may principally full in a weekend.
Word: You may also view this video on YouTube.
Instruments & Supplies Wanted
Along with your Pax wardrobe items themselves (wardrobe field, doorways, hinges, inside fittings, and many others) you’ll additionally need to have the next gadgets obtainable:
I’m going to skip over the precise wardrobe meeting and set up elements, since Ikea covers that fairly effectively of their directions. You may watch them within the timelapse above when you’d wish to see them in motion. and we added some notes to the video for you, like how I added an outlet gap. Beneath we’re going to start out on the stage the place you’ve already obtained your Pax in place and secured to the wall.
Step 1: Make Your Plan
Like I mentioned, the principle trick to creating it look in-built is simply filling the hole between the highest of the Pax to the ceiling. Nearly such as you’re creating some crown molding round your closets.
The problem is that the Ikea doorways go all the best way to the highest of the field, leaving no uncovered floor to nail your molding into. So earlier than you add your trim, you’ve gotta add a “backer piece” that it might connect to. Right here’s just a little overhead view of how we solved this. What you see me nailing within the picture above is the piece that’s labeled “trim” within the picture under:
The “backer piece” is just a few spare 1×3 I had laying round, however it might actually be something. It is going to connect flat towards the highest of the closet (nailed in from beneath). Then no matter you utilize as your seen trim might be nailed into the 1″ aspect of the backer. I promise this may make extra sense as we go.
Step 2: Align & Connect Your Backer Piece
First, we used the miter saw to chop our 1×3″ backer items – one for either side – to measurement. Subsequent got here the tough half: getting the location of the backer excellent.
Assuming, like us, you need the trim to be flush along with your closet doorways – resist your intuition to put in this piece flush with the entrance fringe of the wardrobe field. That may solely work in case your trim have been precisely as thick as your closet door. Because it’s not, we’ve at all times needed to mock one thing as much as get our placement excellent. That’s the place this pet turns out to be useful.
What I’ve achieved right here is taped a few items of scrap trim (aka, the identical 1×2″ that I’ll be utilizing as my closing molding) to the entrance of my backer piece. That method I may maintain up my backer piece and double-check that my closing trim would find yourself precisely the place I needed it. On this case, it could be flush with my present trim (since we have been including this final wardrobe to an present one right here) in addition to flush with my doorways.
With the backer firmly held in place with my hand, I secured it with a few nails utilizing my nail gun. You may also see this half in motion through the timelapse video above.
Right here’s one other view of that course of, as repeated on the opposite finish of the closet. You may see how the scrap piece of trim helped us make sure the backer piece obtained hooked up in exactly the precise spot. As a result of on this aspect, I needed the trim to be precisely flush with the aspect of the Pax field.
You may also see above that we had already hooked up the trim on the entrance of the closet. Discover how a lot it hangs over the wardrobe field? However as you’ll see under, it’s completely flush with the door when it’s closed.
Step 3: Lower & Connect Your Trim
As soon as your backer piece is nailed into place, you’ll be able to lower and nail in your trim (aka: the molding that can really be seen and provides your closet a built-in look). Since now we have an uncovered nook, we selected to miter lower ours on an angle for essentially the most polished look.
Then we nailed the trim items into the backer, as you’ll be able to see under. Don’t fear concerning the nail holes. You may fill them later with caulk or wooden filler.
Step 4: Including Quarter Spherical To End It Off
As you’ll be able to see above, our 1×2″ molding wasn’t tall sufficient to fill the hole to the ceiling completely (and a 1×3″ was too massive). However fortunately a bit of quarter spherical was sufficient to shut the hole. Relying in your ceiling, you will have to get inventive with what molding or mixture of trim works greatest. You can also at all times use a desk or round noticed to tear a bigger piece of wooden to measurement.
Within the picture above we’ve really already accomplished the final step, which is…
Step 5: Caulk & Paint
As soon as every part is constructed, use paintable caulk to fill any nail holes, gaps, or seams – like the place your moldings meet the wall, the ceiling, and one another. From there you’ll be able to paint your trim to match. I’ll admit we’ve but to discover a paint that completely matches Ikea’s white (particularly since totally different Ikea merchandise are totally different whites). However we’ve discovered that our wall & ceiling shade – Sherwin-Williams Pure White – is a fairly shut match. We’ve simply been utilizing it as a result of, if nothing else, at the very least it’s an ideal match to the adjoining floor in our room.
The Completed Constructed-In Closet
We completed this venture a month or two in the past, and it’s been so nice having the “bonus” storage. To not point out that the wall doesn’t really feel in limbo anymore.
We’re additionally engaged on a closet group submit as a result of we all know individuals wish to see particular inside elements of the Pax wardrobes and the way we’ve chosen to retailer stuff in ours. Possibly Sherry will do the entire video tour deal.
The most important takeaway from this many-years-long closet evolution is that wild realization that we didn’t really find yourself giving up an entire lot once we moved to a home that’s half the scale of our final one. Again when we decided to downsize, we assumed that we’d always be chopping corners and sacrificing area, so the truth that our present bed room has simply as a lot closet area as our final home (which had a 48 square-foot walk-in closet!) – it simply shocks us. And to now be luxuriating within the largest bed we’ve ever owned… we simply didn’t see that coming.
We additionally giggle about how, in our old walk-in closet, we significantly contemplated sacrificing some wall area so as to add a window for some pure mild in there. And now, though our present closet is rather less conventional (wardrobes alongside the wall of the bed room versus having an precise closet), we’ve obtained daylight in spades!
Now that you simply’ve seen how we added to our built-in closets, we’ll be again with a whole-shebang tour of how we’ve organized them inside (that has been a little bit of a transferring goal as we proceed to optimize it, but it surely’s on our to-do checklist!). Within the meantime, be at liberty to take a look at the opposite aspect of the room and the other Ikea storage we customized and our final home’s closet, which was full of favorite Pax components!
Different Ikea Customization Initiatives
Wanna see another Ikea hacks? Listed below are just a few of our favourite customizations:
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