DIY Built In Ikea Pax Wardrobes

In our mudroom Ikea Pax wardrobes provided the perfect storage solution. They’re super customizable, and don’t take up quite as much space as a fully framed closet. Also, we already owned them!Yes, our wardrobes used to live in our master bedroom. They provided great storage in there, but were just a bit too big and dark. Instead we decided they’d work perfectly in our mudroom.

In order to move them we had to disassemble the bedroom wardrobes and relocate them to the mudroom. This was a huge undertaking which involved moving all of our clothes. Completely taking apart the wardrobes. Moving them. Then reassembling them. 

Ikea sells these wardrobes in a few different sizes and heights. We went with the 39 3/8″ width and 93 1/8″ height. They come in either white or black and I chose the black. They sell TONS of different doors. I went with the “Flisberget” door, mainly because of it’s bargain price of $50 each, compared to the Hemnes door which was $11o each. I added these gorgeous pulls that totally make the wardrobes complete. **post contains affiliate links**

Once they were in the mudroom I had to first level them, secure them to the wall, and secure them to each other. Then to create the “built in” portion I started by screwing 2×4’s onto the top of the wardrobes and then adding 6″ boards to build them up to the ceiling. This was really hard to do with only 6″ to work with. If I were to redo this I would have added the 2″x4″ boards before assembling the wardrobes.

As you can see before they were painted it was very obvious that they were not built in. 

Once I caulked the seams, added trim and painted them black they look like they were here from the beginning.

Finally I built a nice big step using lots of scrap wood and leftover flooring from our kitchen. By painting it the same color black it really made the entire wall feel built in.

These gave us TONS of storage. We used hanging bars, pull out shoe shelves, wire baskets, and shelves.

If you’re considering DIY built in Ikea Pax Wardrobes it is an awesome storage solution. It’s also much cheaper and easier than framing in a closet and drywalling. I also love the modern look that they bring to a space.

I hope that this inspired you to find storage solutions for your home that work! Thanks so much for reading!