IKEA PAX wardrobe review
We first spotted them a few years ago when we were walking through the IKEA showrooms and Hubby saw a wardrobe which looked like this stunning set up from @villanolhaga:
Usually he would just stroll through the sections but in this particular case, he actually wanted to stop and take a look at it in more detail. He loved the lighting and pull-out tray. Fast forward a few years and we have our own PAX wardrobe!
We are sharing our thoughts on the IKEA PAX wardrobe today in case anyone else is thinking of getting one! We have also included our list of pros and cons.
Options, options and more options!
Once we had our measurements, we browsed on the IKEA website to see what our options were. There was so much choice!
We did consider whether we wanted to have wardrobe doors or not but as it was in the guest bedroom, we decided it would be better to have doors, although I do love PAX wardrobes without doors.
It’s great that you can get the wardrobe frame and customise the interior or adapt a ready made wardrobe combination which already has some interior organisers!
I thought the IKEA PAX Planner was quite easy to use and it was fun to select the different options and see how it would look! It also clearly shows the price of the individual parts and also the total price of the customised design.
In the end, we went for the PAX/ MEHAMN/ SEKKEN ready made combination and tailored it to how we wanted the interior to look! We went for sliding doors as the bedside table was relatively close to the wardrobe so sliding doors would save space.
Hubby really enjoyed choosing some additional interiors for the wardrobe! The ready-made combination (£420) we ordered comes with:
- PAX wardrobe frame (150 x 66 x 201 cm)
- Sliding doors
- Soft opening/closing device for the doors
- Two clothes rails
- 4 mesh baskets
- 4 shelves
We added the below additional interiors:
- A glass shelf (£15)
- Pull-out tray with the inserts (£55)
- LED cabinet lighting strip with sensor (£15)
- LED lighting strip (£8)
You can see on the website the exact product details.
I think having the customisable interiors does increase the cost quite a bit though as we didn’t really need them but wanted them as it looks so nice! The total cost of the wardrobe and interiors was £513 and we spent £93 on interiors.
Wardrobe assembly
We purchased our wardrobe during the first lockdown when IKEA deliveries were contact free and supposed to be delivered to our doorstep. We live on the third floor and there’s no lift so it was something we checked when making the order.
However, when it did arrive, I was told that the deliveries would only be delivered downstairs and I’d need to take them up three flights of stairs myself.
Thankfully Hubby was also there and together we had to carry the wardrobe and bed packages to our flat. Definitely something I wouldn’t want to repeat again! The parts were so heavy, I ended up having to open the boxes to take parts up separately and it took us like an hour at least!
The wardrobe took us several hours to assemble with two people. The wardrobe frame itself was quite quick, but adding the interiors took some time. Actually, later that week, Hubby ended up changing the interiors again!
I was surprised by how long it took to assemble and install the sliding doors. For us, it actually took around the same time as building the wardrobe and adding in the interiors!
Overall, we were very pleased with the quality and we had no missing pieces.
I shared our top 10 tips for building flat pack furniture in this blog post!
Interior organisers
The ease of which we could customise the wardrobe and the range of options was really impressive.
The glass shelf was a must for Hubby because he thought it would look really great with the lighting. I think the glass shelf and pull-out tray gives the wardrobe a high-end and modern look.
Hubby found the height of the pull-out tray just right for storing accessories as it doesn’t take up too much space and he can still add the mesh trays.
He did mention that with the pull-out tray and glass shelf, it is a little difficult to reach the compartment at the back of the tray. He would have preferred more colour options for the inserts.
If we didn’t have the wardrobe doors, I would have loved these IKEA KOMPLEMENT drawers with the glass front! I think they look more visually appealing than the ones without the glass front.
I also like that IKEA have the divider for the wardrobe frames, like this one below, as it means you can fully utilise the space at the bottom of the wardrobe! It’s a problem we have with the built-in wardrobe in the master bedroom. So much empty space that could be used! This divider means you can add drawers and the wardrobe looks so much tidier.
Photo from IKEA.com
Lighting
We were super excited about the lighting but then when they arrived we weren’t able to use them which was disappointing.
We purchased two types of lights for the wardrobe. The first was the STÖTTA LED cabinet lighting strip with sensor but it was too long to fit into the wardrobe!
As you can see in the photos above, the wardrobe is made up of two wardrobe frames secured together with a total width of 150cm. When we ordered the light, we thought it would fit since it is 72cm long and we thought each wardrobe frame would be 75cm in width.
Now we have built the wardrobe, it is indeed 75cm in width for each of the frames but that’s the outer edge. If we measure just the inner width, it’s 71cm.
Tip: To avoid the issue we had, it might be better to build the wardrobe and then see the measurements before ordering the lighting online.
The other light that we ordered was the LEDBERG LED lighting strip. The issue with this one was that we didn’t realise it needed to be connected to a power socket and we didn’t have one near our wardrobe. Luckily, we’re now using it to light up the bookcase so it didn’t go to waste!
Tip: If you are planning on adding lighting to the wardrobe, check that you have a power socket nearby or buy lighting which uses batteries.
Pros and cons
Sharing our pros and cons of the PAX wardrobe below!
Pros:
- Good quality sturdy product.
- Clear instructions to assemble the wardrobe.
- We love being able to customise the inside and that there was a ready made wardrobe combination to start us off.
- The sliding doors are very smooth and closes softly.
- Hubby loves the pull-out tray and the glass shelf. The pull-out tray is very smooth to pull out and also closes softly.
- We thought that the wardrobe has a lot of capacity. I was surprised by how much the mesh trays can hold! I was comfortably able to put 30 tops in one mesh tray.
- Hubby loves the frosted glass door, although now I think it might be more practical to have mirrors instead of the frosted glass door as we don’t have a full length mirror in the guest bedroom.
Cons:
- It took us several hours to assemble.
- Need to measure carefully before ordering the lights.
- Need to double check there’s a power socket close enough to the wardrobe for some of the wardrobe lighting products.
- The glass shelf looks great but one thing to be aware of is that once you have the clothes rail on top, the glass panel gets covered.
- The holes at the outer edges of the wardrobe (used to add shelves and the interior organisers) are quite visible in the white stained oak effect colour that we have.
Overall, we really like the wardrobe and love that we can easily customise the storage space inside!
Thanks for reading! Follow @adventuresofahomebuyer on Instagram for tips and home decor ideas!
Jess
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