This post is Sponsored by IKEA. Thank you IKEA!! We love working with you and all your fabulous products!
When we first moved into this new project house, one of the first things I wanted was an great clothing storage solution for my two girls. They were sharing a small bedroom, which had room for their two beds and a nightstand but not much room for even one dresser — just the one small closet. Even with a good amount of shelves and a double hanging rod (and a low-tech laundry chute!), it just wasn’t working for us. So one of the first things we did was hit up our favorite flat-pack Swedish store IKEA to add closet storage with this IKEA PAX to create a built-in bedroom closet for their shared room. I want to especially thank IKEA USA for working with us and sponsoring this post and video! (As always, all opinions, messy drawers, and silly outtakes are uniquely ours.)
Built-In Wardrobe Closet
We used IKEA pieces in our last house to build in a closet previously so we knew the power of having just the right storage in the right space. We took out the closet (it seems contradictory to add storage by removing a closet… but stick with me!) and installed these awesome IKEA PAX wardrobes to act as both a closet AND a dresser. Removing the closet gave us some added space in our entryway, where we put our (faux) built-in KALLAX hack, and optimized the storage space in this room to give even our fashionista girls enough space for their clothes. Ready to see how it happened? Watch the video and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to see more about how this room is evolving!
This closet remodel has created such useful storage, easily accessible for our young kids. We used some of the same kid-friendly closet principles in our hall coat closet revamp, to make things easy for them to reach and put away themselves. We did consider putting a lower hanging rod for easier access, but since we mostly hang up their church dresses, we decided it was a better use to add more accessible drawers — but the versatile PAX pieces would have made it really easy to add a lower hanging section, or to add one in the future if we change our minds.
As you can see in the video, we extended the old closet space just a bit to fit the taller version of 4 PAX wardrobes side by side. In each wardrobe, we installed a hanging rod, one shelf, 5 PAX solid drawers, and one PAX mesh drawer at the bottom for so that the hardware for the door would fit into the space. The center 2 wardrobes also got a PAX slide out jewelry tray/drawer.
The old closet had louvered bifold doors — great for closets in small spaces but dated and definitely showing their age. The new IKEA PAX doors only take up a small amount more floor space (if any) and they fit much better with the clean modern lines we prefer and have been adding to update the style of this 1970’s home a bit. (See the full before home tour here.) We used 2 GRIMO doors and 2 VIKEDAL mirrored doors for clean lines and to give the girls some place to practice their diva poses in front of the mirror 😉 The mirrors also help make the room feel larger and brighter, which is always a win in my book.
The corner shelves and double hanging rods in the old close were pretty efficient uses of the closet space — they just didn’t work for us and our two young kids. The kids clothes were always falling off hangers (if they got hung up in the first place) and the shelves became collectors of stuff instead of clothing storage.
The roomy PAX drawers work SO much better for the storage that we need! And having a full line of PAX-compatible KOMPLEMENT organizers makes it so simple for them to have just the right storage for everything from t-shirts to their tiny “treasures.”
So ultimately during the process of moving into and using this house, we decided that the girls needed their own rooms and we needed an office, so this closet is now our office storage, BUT it is still utterly amazing!
However, to show you why we love these units, I’ll show you my girl’s new closets. I want to show you a little bit of our favorite products for keeping drawers organized.
First I absolutely love the KOMPLEMENT jewelry trays. Especially for my girls treasures!
And easy way to keep all their necklaces from becoming tangled up knots!
And the drawers are great for keeping things organized.
In my daughters shirt drawer, I found quite the mess. And the reason is she needed just a bit more organization option to keep this separated. So, I grabbed a couple KUGGIS boxes and some VARIERA storage boxes. We file-folded her shirts with the logos on top so she can really see what she is choosing.
Here is the before:
and the after…
Adding the storage boxes to the drawer not only defines the interior spaces, but helps to separate different items. it makes finding what she needs so much easier, and keeps the rest of the shirts in place.
As a busy mom, and I am sure most of you can agree, we don’t have a lot of time to go around keeping kids shirts folded! I have found, if they have a system, and we talk about it and organize it once together, they keep things organized longer. Which is why I have SO many drawers in my PAX units. It is one less thing to fight or worry about. Then, between seasons when we change out winter clothes for summer or vice versa, I can help them whip things back into order quickly and it lasts at least a couple months.
Well, what do you think about this makeover?
I am so happy with it. I LOVE these PAX units, that we have them in every bedroom. I think it really is a worthwhile investment into the quality of your home.
What do you guys think?
Thank you to IKEA for partnering with us on this post!
More of our favorite IKEA projects:
IKEA KALLAX cube shelf into flat file drawer cabinet
IKEA HEMNES desk into double-duty kids desk with hidden workspace and storage
patio makeover: IKEA outdoor dining area
I’m a big fan of the organization that IKEA PAX wardrobes can offer…but my husband thinks they feel flimsy. Obviously they need to be secured to the wall for safety, but what else can you do to lessen such a concern?
Awesome job! I knew ikea was versatile but this has me really thinking about a project that I was going to do abs I think I can do now. 🤔