IKEA Pax Closet Wall Wardrobe Design

If you’re short on closet space and need an affordable solution, installing an IKEA Pax wall wardrobe closet might just be the best solution for you! Today I’m sharing how we created our built-in IKEA Pax wall closet, all products used in the design, and a cost breakdown for the completed project.

Four years ago when we toured our home with our realtor over a Facetime call, I fell in love with the house, but the teeny-tiny size of the primary bedroom closet was almost a deal breaker. I knew it just would NOT work for us! But saying no to a house simply because a closet is too small would be foolish, and I knew we would somehow figure it. Our closet is located in our master bathroom, and the only way to adequately remodel the closet is to fully gut the bathroom, or remodel our bedroom. Both options are sadly out of our budget right now, so instead I’ve tried (and failed) to make the closet work for both of us by utilizing additional dressers in the bedroom and using the linen closet for additional clothes. This solution was adequate for the short-term but never should have lasted this long! It was due time to come up with an affordable storage solution!

“For every minute spend in organizing, an hour is earned.” -Benjamin Franklin

Sometimes the ideal of what we want can interfere and block our creative abilities to generate an adequate solution to our design dilemma. Perhaps you can relate! I honestly didn’t want to create a wall wardrobe in the room. I had my heart set on a large and adequate walk-in closet, or better yet, an entire room closet. My rigid thinking kept me entrapped in a hopeless design loop that went something like this: 

1. I hate our closet. It’s a mess, and it’s way too small for two people. I can’t find anything in it and don’t even like walking into it to try and put together an outfit. I want a new closet!
2. I’m going to design a new closet. We will just rip out that wall, move all of the plumbing, create an addition, and have the bathroom remodeled.
3. We can’t afford a remodel right now. I need to find a way to make peace with the closet, wait until we can afford a remodel, or continue to be miserable and curse the closet daily until our financial situation changes! 
4. Repeat steps 1-3!!

When I worked as a counselor one of my favorite quotes was, “We change our behavior when the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of changing.” I was so tired of waiting for my dream closet to magically manifest itself, and finally decided that I needed to lower my expectations and come up with a creative solution! Our bedroom has a long and deep wall that I knew would work perfectly for tall wardrobes. 

IKEA Pax Wall Wardrobe Online Designer

I headed to IKEA’s website and utilized their free PAX closet designer program. It’s very user-friendly and you don’t have to even create an account to use it. However, if you want to save your design, I recommend logging into IKEA first in order to do so. Be sure to have all of the measurements of your walls, enter them into the program, and then start dragging and dropping all of the items you want in your closet. The program will create a shopping list for you and give you the option to immediately purchase your shopping cart online if delivery is available in your area. Our nearest IKEA is two hours away, so I opted to pay $199 in delivery fees to have everything conveniently delivered to my door. There were a few in-store only items in my cart, but all of the large and heavy items were able to be shipped to me.

IKEA Pax Shopping List

Here is everything I purchased from IKEA and a total cost breakdown minus delivery fees.

• IKEA Pax Wardrobe Frame 39 1/4″ (4)
• Bergsbo Doors (8)
• Komplement Soft Closing Door Hinges (8)
• Gribbol Gold Door Hardware (8)
• Komplement Clothes Rail (5)
• Komplement Shelf (5)
• Komplement Pull-Out Tray (1)
• Komplement Drawer (6)
• Komplement Mesh Basket (2)
• Komplement Pull-Out Rail for Baskets (2)
• Komplement Shoe Shelf
• Komplement Pull-Out Multi-Use Hanger

Total Cost: $1529

IKEA Pax Wardrobes Built-in

I snapped this picture with my phone to text to my sister and didn’t really intend on posting it, but I was terrible about taking progress pictures of this project so here we are—bed all unmade and drawers hanging out! Putting together the Pax wardrobes wasn’t difficult but it also wasn’t what I would consider “easy” either. Matt and I worked on it together and our marriage survived yet another IKEA build, so I have faith that if you choose to tackle a similar project yours will too!😅

We put together the frames and doors first, positioned them exactly where we wanted them to go on the wall, and secured them to studs in the wall.

Next, we measured the remaining space between each wardrobe and determined that 1x4x8 boards would work nicely to fill the gaps between each wardrobe. To ensure that we didn’t drill through a needed hole on the interior of the closet, I then put together and installed all of the interior components. We then secured the boards into place with wood screws and attached the crown molding to the tops of the boards. 

I still need to calk, paint, and install a baseboard, and pull hardware, but here is what the closet wall currently looks like! When one of my friend’s saw it she remarked, “It honestly looks like it was always meant to be there!” It seamlessly blends with the rest of the room and once I finish my bedroom makeover I think it will look even better! 

If you’re wondering where I got my baskets, closet organizers, and closet wallpaper, click here! I wrote an entire post with all of the sources for the interior of the closet here: Closet Organizers and Storage Solutions. That cute wallpaper really made the closet come to life!

Also, if you missed my bedroom design plan be sure to check it out here: Modern European Cottage Bedroom Makeover Mood Board.

For more IKEA Pax closet design ideas, you might also like: 

15 Amazing IKEA PAX Hacks: Ideas, Inspiration, and Installation Hacks for IKEA PAX Closet Systems

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