Pax Built-in for sloping ceiling

Materials: PAX closet BIRKELAND doors FINTORP handle

Description: First I have measured the space between the closet and the ceiling this was about 20 cm. I have used 2 rows of aerated concrete blocks of 10 cm direct on the floor to raise the closet 10 cm.

After placing the blocks I had to cut all sides of the closet because at 160 cm (170cm from the floor) the roof slope began. Don't forget to cut the right side, I messed up one panel :(. I have added some wood laths on the walls to mount the covering.

After this I have mounted a wooden lath over the closet to give it more strength and to mount the ceiling covering. After all closets were placed and connected to each other and to the wall I have screwed 12 mm carton board to finish. After grounding I have used a self adhesive MDF finishing profile to make a nice connection to the walls and ceiling. I have used Acrylic kit to finish it up and used white paint.

~ Bram van Tienhoven, NL Hendrik Ido Ambacht

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Hallway storage from Pax wardrobe

Materials: Pax wardrobe

Description: We have a side door that never gets used. Stuff got piled in front of it all the time, so it was time to do something.

I cut a Pax wardrobe half and fixed it in front of the door. I needed two doors, which were cut half. I used one door for side filler panes to make it look like built in unit. Second door was used in a shoe rack project.
Top needed to be more solid than wardrobe top. I used a kitchen worktop for finishing.
Inside I have one rail for coats and space for shoes.

~ Design by Mika, UK

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Wall mounted shoe rack from Pax door

Materials: Pax wardrobe door

Description: Shoe rack for any size shoes.

I had a a half of Pax wardrobe door left from a previous hack which I cut to a design that holds four pairs of shoes. Great looking and doesn't need a lot of space.

~ Design by Mika, UK

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Pax Murphy Bed with Sliding Doors

Materials: Pax Wardrobes and Lyngdal sliding doors

Description: We wanted to make the second bedroom in our condo more multifunctional, and the obvious solution was a Murphy bed.

We spoke to some of the local suppliers, and a basic Murphy bed with no additional storage space would have been at least $3,500. That's a little steep, and we didn't really like the style of any of them.

I'd seen two IKEA hacks that used Pax cabinets with a Murphy bed kit here and here.

I used those as inspiration, but switched to sliding doors instead of bifolds.

Materials:

3 Ikea Pax 100x236 wardrobes (1 was cut up and used for materials)
2 sets Ikea Pax Lyngdal 200x236 sliding doors
1 set Ikea Inreda LED spotlight
2 Ikea Inreda LED light strips
Free-standing Murphy bed kit
2" and 1-1/4" particle board screws
Cabinet edging tape

Total Cost: $1,650

Ikea Cost: $1,010

We waited until Ikea had a Bedroom event. We bought the Pax stuff, got $150 gift card back, and then used that to buy the lighting. I was also able to scavenge some underutilized shelves and drawers from a few of the other Pax wardrobes we have.

Total Width: approx. 372cm (10'-1")

From start to finish the project took about 1 week - that was one solid Saturday of work, with everything else done in the evenings.

For the most part all of the work was done by one person, but there were a few steps were a second set of hands was needed: initially assembling the Pax wardrobes; lifting the top piece into place; and lifting the doors onto the rails.

See more of the Pax sliding door wardrobe with Murphy bed.

~ Chris Nelson, Edmonton, Canada

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Pax wardrobe as jewellery shop display cabinets

Materials: Pax wardrobes, Vika Amon table tops, Billy shelves, Perfekt plinth, Rationell shelves,etc

Description: This was a jewellery shop completed for a customer. Wardrobes fitted together then a timber frame attached to support the trimmed Vika Amon table tops. I used a hinge cutter to modify Billy shelves, so they could be used as doors.

~ Scott Bettesworth, Burntwood, Staffs, UK

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How-to: Change Pax sliding door to hinge door

Materials: 75 cm PAX WARDROBE frame in white + 1 hinge door 50cm. with mirror / PAX VIKEDAL + 1 hinge door 50cm. plain white/ PAX BALLSTAD + 2 sets of 4 hinges with door dampers / KOMPL + Rubber hammer, electric saw, aluminum edge

Description: I can finally say that after 2 years of brainstorming with myself, reading forums all over the world, asking and not getting answers I figured out how to put a hinge door on a PAX 75 cm. wardrobe frame. All done at home with standard tools that any house have and one visit to the local hardware shop.

As you know PAX 75 cm. wardrobe frames are intended only for sliding doors and there are no hinge doors available for them. I needed a hinged door frame because 1: I had no space for anything but PAX 75 cm. frame 2: sliding doors are much more expensive, and 3: sliding doors come only in pairs and I wanted to put a door only to 1 frame of 75 cm.

It was much easier than I thought. Now I am furious that I did not try that hack earlier.

We assembled everything as per instructions just we left the white door the last. After the first door is fixed we measure the open front space left (around 25cm.) and mark top and bottom where we are going to cut the white door vertically. Cutting can be done at home with standard electric saw or anywhere where cutting services are offered as local hardware stores etc.

At the beginning we were thinking to cover the cut edge with veneer furniture edges but the material the door was made of is little loose and when you press to fix the glue of the veneer edge you damage the cut edge and it is not possible to leave it open any more. That is why we needed to cover it with something but still keep the elegant look of the wardrobe.

Eventually we decided to put an aluminum edges to cover it. The ones we used is 19 mm. external dimensions and 16 mm internal as thick as the chipboard is. We only found it in 2m and 1 m. lengths so we needed to cut one of them and put them together- they do look good though. We do not even needed to put any glue or silicon to fix the aluminum to the door as it goes over it very tightly and nicely -few rubber hammer hits later we were ready with the cutting/covering the cut process.

All there was left was to put the normal IKEA hinges and fix the door as per instructions. Here are pictures of the finished product that I'm sooooo very proud of. I feel like Columbus, discovering new world ... but in a smaller scale of course:)

~ Veselina Bekiarova, Sofia, Bulgaria

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IKEA PAX Wardrobe Hack

Materials: PAX Wardrobe

Description: We started with 2 wide PAX units and 2 narrow PAX units. Our ceilings are not even 80" but our height options at IKEA were 96" or 75".€ We rolled the dice, bought 96” units. Using a chop saw we cut them down to 80" and assembled using the instructions that came with the units.

We then screwed them all together and to the wall and built a hardwood face frame over the units to give it a solid, built in look. We split up the units in half by adding a custom hamper drawer and display shelving. This way we had the closet guts with a high quality frame and doors that will hold up to wear without spending a fortune.

Then my electrical engineer husband added lighting into the closet that automatically turns on and off when the door opens.

Last but definitely not least we built tongue and groove shaker style doors.
We added crown molding to the top to give it a custom look.

See more of the Pax built in.

~ Meg Martin

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Pax Wardrobe: Inserted and Kompleted

Materials: PAX wardrobe frame(s), Komplement shelf insert (tall), saw, tape measure

Description: I wanted to have more order to my new wardrobe, which actually served as a closet for the central vacuum cleaner hose. The hose did not fill the whole space of the frame. How to take the space left in good use?


I figured that could use the inserts, designed for 35 cm deep frame but gave me the solution also for 58cm deep frame. Yes! So I took the shelf insert, and cut it to suitable length. Now there is well used space to storage for example light bulbs and other home goods. Now I only have to buy more Skubb-boxes and enjoy my orderliness.

1. Measure the height you need.
2. Draw the mark to the long part of the shelf unit. Remember to cut from the upper end.
3. Cut it with saw.
4. Assemble as instructed.

More pictures here.

~ Johanna, Finland

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Stealing Space From the Outside

Materials: PAX Clothes Closet + Sliding Doors

Description: Our Eichler Kitchen pantry was not big enough nor did we have space to add a bigger one.

We stole space from the outside. So - opened up a wall - pushed a PAX Clothes Closet with Sliding Doors through the opening - added Ikea pull out kitchen drawers - put a window on top - then enclosed the outside of the closet with cinder block.

~ mike graff, san jose

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Entertainment Storage in Design Studio

Photo: IKEA.com

Materials: PAX Wardrobe & Nexus Black/Brown Cabinetry & Numerar counters

Description: Design Dilemma: Create a storage solution with SCALE in an Interior Design Studio with 12' ceilings.

Solution: Combine PAX Lyngdal sliding glass door storage (96" tall x 118" wide x 17" deep) ABOVE 3' high x 13' wide Akurum/Nexus Black/Brown base cabinets with Numerar counters. (Non IKEA: 2 U-Line beverage fridges, priced more than the rest of the entire project!)

We are recent empty nesters! Launched the last of our 5 kiddos last spring (yes: all 5 concurrently in college!)

We moved to an ultra cool urban "live/work" loft in Downtown Tulsa. I'm an interior designer, and set up a studio on the ground floor (approx. 800 ft2).

After 25+ years of accumulating, we were forced to "downsize". In this solution I have stuffed several dozen charger plates, assorted dishes, placemats, candles, silverware, glassware and even an entire setup for making s'mores out by the complex's gas fire pit!

I used a spare black/brown PAX frame to trim the upper unit, as the 17" PAX frame is only offered in white.

While I assembled all the pieces easily myself, it took 4 of us (including one REALLY big guy) to lift the PAX frames and Lyngdal doors.

We've lived/worked here for 6 months, and LOVE using this storage system. VERY functional.

I've included a couple of pics of how we "styled" the unit with a 7 foot wreath for the holidays!

~ Lori Schram, Tulsa, OK

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Illuminated built-in wardrobe

Materials: BRODER System, PAX LYNGDAL sliding doors, strips of wood, 10m of RGB LED strips

Description: When we moved to our new flat we had a some drywalls which were ment to be used as a built-in wardrobe. As I didn't want to use some curtains covering some shelves, we decided to build an awesome wardrobe in this space with the BRODER system and the PAX LYNGDAL slyding doors.

First, we built up the BRODER rack. Therefore we used the wall mounted version for the left side of the ledge. There, we used the used the front brackets and applied the small wooden shelves to it. At the edge and the remaining space we used the height extension posts as well as the metal shelves and two clothes rail on the center brackets. At the end, we had two 120 cm broad sections and two 80 cm sections.

So that the interior was set up, we had to build a construction in which the sliding doors would work. We had about 241 cm in the height and 360 cm width to cover. As IKEA does not offer doors with such a size, we used one pair which is 150x236 cm and another one with 250x236cm. To actually make them sliding doors, we built a frame out of wooden strips, which covered all sides and was simply screwed together with the walls, ceiling and floor. We added a notch in the upper strip, so that we were able to plunge the upper rail of the door into it. The lower rail was screwed on top of the strip.

To give it all a bit more style, we bought some LED strips which can change their color and glued them on the leftover space of the frame, so that the glass doors are illuminated from behind.

~ Pia, Aachen, Germany

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Hacker help: Pax fixing for renters

Photo: IKEA.com

Materials: Pax

Description: Dear all,

Sorry this is not a hack (yet!) but we're in the process of buying and assembling the PAX wardrobe. AND here comes the sudden stressing question:

Will the PAX wardrobes fall on us? Any experience? And the reason why this could happen and any way to prevent it (apart from drilling)

Will the use of sliding doors be slightly better than opening doors, or the contrary?

As you may have understood, we're renters and drilling holes in the wall is a very difficult option. (Apart from the fact we never did, so we might not do it correctly).

I could use fixing straps and nail it to the wall but wonder if this will really prevent it from falling.

So.....any help/advise/scary thoughts (not too much, we're already worried enough!)welcome.

For the records, 2 of our friends didn't fix the PAX and are safe for years now.

Our plan is a 2m wide wardrobe + another 1.50m one in another room.

~ Jerry, Belgium

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Extendable Tie Rack for Pax Unit

Materials: Pax Wardrobe, As-Is wood

Description: After moving into my new house that doesn't have closets, I realized I could finally use that as an excuse to have my own custom Pax unit. After designing the unit though, I realized there was no real way to hang my ties in a way that wouldn't take up much space and that I could easily see all of them to make my decisions. Therefore I decided to make my own using my preexisting tie racks.

I bought a 24" x 8" piece of wood that matched the color of the Pax from the As-Is section and cut it in half to get two tie racks. I then routed the back out so that I could install a 20" drawer slide in the back and it would still be flush to the side of the Pax unit.

Then I attached my tie rack to the piece of wood, screwed the wood to the drawer slide, and the drawer slide to the Pax unit. Now when I get ready in the morning, I can simply slide out the two tie racks and easily see all of my ties to pick the right one.

~ Zachary Cohen, Annapolis, MD

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Ikea Sliding Door for Sleeping Alcove Tight Spaces

Materials: Pax 150cm Sliding Door Grey

Description: When moving into my second Stockholm apartment in Sweden I realized that the entire place needed a renovation. One of the things that caught my eye was the sleeping area (Sovalkove in Swedish).

This was approximately 2m wide by about 180cm in depth and was right beside the bathroom, in fact the door to the bathroom was from the sleeping alcove. As the prices of apartments in the city center are roundabout 7000 pounds per square meter, space is at a premium.

Being able to create two rooms where there was only one open area would not only give one that little bit of extra privacy but also allow visitors to sleep over in the main room and afford them a little bit of privacy for themselves.

Before: The bathroom is located behind the TV wall, with a door on the left side leading to it. This door was relocated to be facing the living room. An additional room created with the PAX doors as a guest room. 

It was clear that the first thing that needed to be done was to relocate the door to the bathroom to face the main living area and after that to install some type of door system to enclose this alcove space into its own room. In the before photo you can see how the sleeping area looked like before, with the brown door that leads to the bathroom.

When looking into possible solutions, I found that a sliding door system would fit my purposes but the costs of custom built sliding door solutions (the width required was 130cm) was prohibitive.

After searching via the web (and ikea hackers actually) I decided to try the the PAX sliding wardrobe solution.

The smallest PAX door is 150cm which is about 20cm too wide for my space but for me having a bit of overlap in the door is not such a huge concern and with the grey doors actually creates an interesting effect with the translucency.

What did turn out to be a concern is the mounting of this solution after all the guide rails were installed. It turned out to be somewhat difficult to mount the door without completely pushing aside the first door but after some trial and error it finally worked.

The setup only cost me 1700 SEK (regular price is 3700sek) as I had purchased all my kitchen at Ikea and this gave me a gift card which I put towards the price of the doors.

On top of this, in Stockholm the delivery company BRING is working with Ikea to deliver purchases for customers whom don't have vehicles available to them. The surprising part is that no matter how much you purchase, the cost is the same, 495 SEK to the Stockholm city area. This is about 50 pounds and I took advantage of this to the tune of about 400kg of goods that were delivered to me in a single go.

All in all, I would definitely recommend the PAX solution with their attractive finishes that will work with most decors, the cost competitive nature of the doors themselves and the versatility.



~ Oz, Stockholm, Sweden

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PAX Pantry

Materials: Two PAX wardrobes, 93" x 19" x 14" with Birkeland doors, MANY shelves, four baskets, cordless drill/screwdriver

Description: My kitchen was overflowing so for a couple of years I designed major remodels and reviewed this site for inspiration before this idea came to me. It's not so much a HACK as a repurpose.

I used the tallest and shallowest PAX wardrobes because I strongly dislike deep shelving for a pantry. Used two narrow units rather than one wide so that each shelf wouldn't have too much weigh to bear. The baskets are for crackers, noodles, etc.

IKEA includes instructions for joining the two wardrobes and you can buy as many shelves and baskets as you need or want. The instructions say it takes two people to assemble and mount these but I did them on my own.

Now I just have to get brave and drill holes for the handles (I could use advice on that because I'm afraid of shattering the paint finish).

~ Christine, Silicon Valley, CA

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Der Schtandund Vorkin

Materials: PAX wardrobe door

Description: Ladies and gentlemen, this is Der Schtandund Vorkin: a highly mobile, ultra convertible standing desk. The table top is made from a red Ikea Pax wardrobe door and is supported by finely sanded and finished poplar.

The legs are Speed-Rail bars, mounted onto speedy castors. The desk is custom sized to the worker and suitable to those who would rather stand at a bar during their labor hours.

The upright standing orientation provides the worker with increased creative flow of ideas from brain to fingertips and is not intended for seat sitters (though it will accommodate a bar stool).

This particular model is equipped with a computer machine rail on top, a fire extinguisher below and a side mounted drummer's practice pad. (middle management options include crash cymbal)

The Speedy castors are for when the worker is asked to quickly vacate the office.
Execution was simple:
1. Measure worker (legs and arms).
2. Cut speedrail to spec.
3. drill (16) holes into work surface.
4. Mount and tighten bolts.
5. Roll in front of worker.

There is work!
Maybe by Whiskey Tango Creative

~ Whiskey Tango Jeremy, Times Square NYC

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