I’M SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS! I’ve been wanting to re-do my closet since we moved in to this house. We bought our home brand new but wasn’t able to change a thing or customize it at all. Our closet was just plain and ugly frankly with a built-in dresser (who does this?) and one shelf that goes all around. Where was I supposed to put my shoes?! It took a few years to get started on this project and as usual it was a much bigger job once we started. I knew I wanted to do the Pax system from Ikea and not The Container Store, but then we had to do repair work once everything was ripped out, re-work the lighting and pull up the carpet. I’ve linked everything we use throughout the closet as you scroll down.
Before
About the Pax System
First my husband measured and sketched out our entire closet. We then went into Ikea and worked with a lady there to build out the closet. It wasn’t a user friendly software but we did it. Then we printed it out, brought it home and made our own notes. We went back to finish the project and order all the pieces. You can do the design process online if you have a standard rectangle or square area. We did not, so it had to be a little more custom. We also decided to use the Ikea installers so we didn’t have to mess with anything! Total for the closet pieces was about 2k. The installers cost about $500 and took two days to install.
During
After my old closet was taken down and sheetrock patched and painted, we installed the can lights and this chandelier that I actually had from my previous home and loved, but we never had hung it in our new home. My previous lighting was so bad, and just installing new lights has made such a difference! The chandelier is from West Elm and old, but I linked a few others below. We also ripped out our carpet and used the wood flooring that we have throughout our home. I also picked out this rug to put over our wood floors, and I think it makes the whole closet pop! I was originally going to do full antelope carpet, but it was very expensive for the space, and with a rug, I can take it when we leave!
After
I’m so so happy with how it turned out! I think the lights made a HUGE difference. I can now see everything, and my recessed ceiling lights can actually move and tilt so I can position them where I want. I didn’t want to jam-pack anything, so I actually got rid of a lot of items. Ideally, my space would have been larger, but I’m so happy with what I have for now! I organized everything by items: casual tops above jeans, all dresses together, dressy tops above skirts and dressy shorts and then all shoes organized together as well. Then, I organized by colors. Starting with color on the right and moved to blacks on the left. I did this throughout the whole closet with clothes and shoes! I wanted my shoes and bags to look boutique-esc so I tried to set those up like a store, a little staggered here and there with a photo and coffee table books here and there.
Ikea tips
- Go right when the store opens, especially for returns! The return process can be comparable to the DMV office. Not good. Also, there are usually two employees working in the closet design office, but the design process took up 2+ hours, so if you’re not first in line then…..
- Have a very detailed, fully measured picture/diagram of your closet with all windows and doors. The Ikea personnel are not architects and really work best with a simple square or rectangle space. Mine was not that easy! At all. My husband is an architect, so actually was able to use the software program to make it as perfect as possible.
- Hire TaskRabbit to do your install. They work with Ikea and you can choose someone that specializes in Ikea Pax install. Mine took over 12 hours and he was working very quickly! This was actually an expensive part of the process.