The base of this closet is made up of Ikea Pax frames, shelves and drawers. By adding trim and a beautiful decorative crown moulding, I made this Ikea Pax closet look custom made.
This closet remodel was part of our Fall 2022 One Room Challenge. It is a part of our primary ensuite and after our house flood, we had to be rebuild it.
I took this as an opportunity to improve the areas that bothered me after I built it the first time.
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Before: Primary ensuite closet
When we bought this house all of the closet had wire shelving. Mike and I were shocked to find that not a single screw was placed into a stud. Every screw was held in by drywall anchors.
First Initial Ikea Pax Closet Installation
Our closet was one of the first projects we tackled after we moved in. We had built our closets with Ikea Pax frames in our last house. Moving in to a new home with very little organization quickly took its toll.
Mike realized he had a lot more shoes than he thought. After the flood we installed a couple more Ikea shoe trays for his side of the closet.
I was very happy with everything I had done on my side to organize my space. I like to fold my jeans on shelves and hang up my slacks and skirts on hangers. There was also plenty of space for all of my shoes.
If I didn’t need all of the drawer space I would have preferred hanging my pants and skirts on the top closet rods and the shirts on the lower rods. This would have made the space appear cleaner because the bulky shirts would be lower and less in view.
What did we Change on the Next Ikea Pax Install
Removed dead space and dust collectors
We realized, very quickly, that we did not use the space we left open on the top of the Ikea Pax frames between the crown and the ceiling. I decided I would close that in to avoid all the dust that accumulated there.
Fine tuned trim work
The area that I store my dresses and jackets felt a little bit off. I wanted it to appear like it was planned rather than an after thought. I hid the fact that it had a dropped ceiling by making it look just like the Ikea Pax frames.
The baseboards had to be reworked. The new floor is lower than the previous floor. I added some lattice trim and shoe moulding to our baseboards and now it is a three piece continuous baseboard.
Added Dentil Crown Moulding
When we raised the height of the Pax closet frames I added crown moulding around the entire perimeter of the room rather than just over the closet frames. In order to continue to crown without interruption I moved the wall hvac register down about 6″. Then I made a decorative register cover for it.
Added extra shoe storage for Mike
We added two more shoe trays to Mike’s side of the closet. It looks so much more balanced.
Support the Drawer Fronts for Shoe Drawers
My shoe trays needed added support to hold a drawer front, so I created these cute brackets that I installed with pocket screws and glue. The slab drawer fronts are attached via pocket screws into the brackets as well as into the lower tray.
Paint it all the same
We love a moody vibe and what better way than to paint the ceiling, trim and closet frames all the same color. This color by Benjamin Moore called Carolina Gull is a beautiful green with just the hint of gray. It brings drama and a little bit of masculinity to a closet that would normally feel very feminine.
Closet Sources:
Some of these items are no longer available, every effort to find a similar replacement has been made
Check out some of our other posts in this series: Primary Bathroom Reveal or Installing Baseboards
Big wow! Beautiful. The only things that I would suggest to make it better might be treating yourself to some new flat hangers. They make some pretty and/or sleek and they take the bulk out and the clothes hang nicer, IMO. You could replace and/or pull the rods up a bit and it would give more open area under the clothes.
I am completely stunned that this is the same closet, though. You just upped your house value with this detail,I think. Or at least an “over the top” item for a buyer…. oh, but the closet on that one…. well done!
Thank you! Such great ideas too!
Fabulous closet design! What are your closet dimensions? Thanks for the inspiration!
It’s just under 10’ x 10’ with one area (where my dresses are) that’s 22” deep and 4.5’ wide pop out
Incredible.
How did you paint the frames and drawers? Did you prime first, and did you use a sprayer or roller?
I primed them with INSL-X STIX primer. It can be cleaned up with water but dries rock hard, sticks to everything and sands smooth. I sprayed it on but it can be applied with a brush or roller. I use it on all my Ikea projects that need painting. Thank you for asking!
Also I forgot to mention – I didn’t paint the drawers themselves, just the drawer fronts that I added on top of the existing drawers.
Great, thanks for the info!
Sorry – one more question. How is it holding up with traditional wear and tear? I’d love to do this to my pax closet but I’m concerned about chipping/wearing of the paint over time.
It looks like it came this way ☺️
Wow, this is gorgeous. Do you have a drawing of the floor space as it sort of looks close to what my closet is and I’d like to try this? Do you know roughly what it cost to build? TIA
Send me an email and I can forward you our layout ☺️ jhambel@hambelsgetreal.com
Gorgeous! We are working on a dyi pax project in our mudroom. Hope it turns out half as beautiful as this one!! Great work!
Thank you so much! I’d love to see it!
What type of wood did you use for your drawer fronts? Thanks!
It’s 1/2” mdf strips I cut from 4×8 sheets with my table saw, thank you for asking!!
I am in absolute awe of your woodworking skills and your design visions! I can only hope to make our next walk in closet this stunning. My husband and have built and installed a few walk in closet IKEA PAX systems and love how they turned out. Such a great product by IKEA. In our new home, I would like to take it to the next level by trimming everything out, top and bottom. (I’m even trying to convince my husband that with your other tutorial, we could attempt making our own doors for the Sektion cabinets we will put in the laundry room.) My question is this… Did you build a 2×4 frame for underneath all the PAX systems (and other IKEA cabinets) so you could then add baseboard molding?
I use the sektion cabinet feet to elevate the boxes and then add on my own trim for a toe kick or I hack the existing ikea toe kicks and add additional trim. I have a whole tutorial just on sektion toe kicks on the blog, https://hambelsgetreal.com/diy-custom-toe-kicks-on-ikea-sektion-kitchen-cabinets/
For the pax closet I didn’t raise the base up at all, I just added trim. If you look closely you may notice the baseboards go up a little higher than the base of the pax. Pax base is about 4.25” to the top of the bottom shelf. I used 3.5” baseboards instead of the 5.5” I used throughout the house. In our closet I layered that in front of a piece 1/4” trim and 1×2 trim. The 1×2 trim made the pax look more like inset cabinetry because it installed flush with the trim I put on the sides between units.
The first time we did this closet, I build a 2×4 base and raised it and attached 1/4” trim and 5.5” baseboards, however the second time through I decided not to. In the end it just depends on how you’d like it to look. If you want a taller base you’d need to raise it. On a wall of Billy I’ve elevated them with 2×4 bases and drawers and cabinets with doors…I’ve turned them upside down built my own base and used the Billy base as a backing for crown moulding…I’ve gone every route-it really comes down to the final vision. You can’t go wrong either way – as long as you plan it out and commit ❤️ hope that helps and I’m happy to answer any questions you may have along the way.
Wow, this looks AMAZING! What are the measurements you used for the drawer fronts for the longer drawers (I think they’re the 29.5″ Komplement drawers)? How did you get them all to look so flush?
Hi! Thank you for asking! They are the 39” komplement drawers (which are actually only 36 1/2” wide because they fit in the 39” pax). The drawer fronts are just 1/2” mdf that I cut into strips from 4×8 sheets. They’re 37 1/4” wide. To get them to install so flush I worked from the bottom drawer up. Installing the bottom drawer front first using a couple of washers under the front and clamps to hold the drawer front in place while I secured it with screws. After I got the top drawer in place I put the shelf that goes on top of the drawers and last piece of trim back in place. Hope that helps!
Beautiful 😍 where is that mirror from?
Thank you! It is just one of those inexpensive Costco mirrors they have from time to time. I bought it used for $20 on Facebook marketplace and the tag was still on it 😂
Beautiful! I am getting ready to tackle my daughters closet and she picked out a sage green for the entire closet. Did you put the backer board on the pax units or just use the wall for the back? How did you secure to the wall? You did an amazing job! Can’t wait to get started after seeing this!
Thank you so much! I put the pax backs on. They are secured to the wall the same way ikea recommends with 3” screws. The cover plates and shelves totally hide it
Thank you for answering! One more question – how long did you leave the primer on before painting?
It took me all day to prime it so I didn’t paint until the next day, but you can paint INSL-X Stix primer about 3-4 hours after
Gorgeous closet!
I like putting shoes in drawers. What did you use to make your shoe drawers? I see the scalloped sides attached to the drawer front, but what is the bottom of the drawer…an Ikea product?
Thank you so much! It’s one of the pax products – the komplement pull out tray ☺️
Thank you! I wondered if that’s what it was. I’m currently working on my closet using the Pax, this idea is perfect. Hiding the shoes will lesson the “noise” in the closet…not to mention, reduce the need to dust. Win, win. 🙂
☺️ definitely.