My closet obsession

I have to admit, I have been hit with the closet obsession bug.

wallpaperedcloset

{Source unknown? Please let me know if you know publications, blog or designer for above photo}

Years of living in old houses with little storage have finally taken their toll. I’ve gone crazy by actually visiting IKEA on a Memorial Day weekend to look at closet systems. I never thought I would desperately want something from IKEA with every fibre of my being (okay maybe that is a bit extreme and NO I am not pregnant and nesting) but there is something quite psychological that takes place in a woman’s brain when she rounds the corner of the IKEA and sees over the little flag of her cart the perfect closet, with dressers smushed together to create an island. Not that I have room for an island in my kitchen much less the closet but its fun to stand there and dream! So I have been doing a little closet research and apparently IKEA really does have it down in this department. THE BILLY and THE PAX for starters. I will be honest I am not impressed with the rods on their ALGOT system (which is actually what I think is shown in the closet in the fab photo above) but let me know if you think different. Because really we all know dream closets are not made of rods and drawers anyway right? They are made of WALLPAPER!

Seriously unless you have a huge closet or very few items to store, wallpaper may not be practical. Apparently what is important and what involves math skillz is the dimensions!  I have 63″ to work with in my proposed closet space… an IKEA PAX unit is 23″ deep (they also make a shallow 14″ version…i was excited when Carmen at Ikea told me that bit of PAX trivia).  In case you don’t know about the PAX it is the closet wardrobe system at IKEA? A lot of people put them out in bedrooms and hack the doors in brilliant ways and add trim to make them appear like built-ins (apparently HACK is the term for taking from IKEA and making it more interesting more unique). You may have heard of Jenny Komenda and her Domino hack….I adore the color and hardware. It looks amazing. Click here to see more on her blog including a post on how to kilz and paint IKEA furniture.

 littlegreennotebookpax

Link to the Jenny’s article in Domino affectionally called ODE TO PAX. Love it!

My friend Lauren P (who is classy and smart AND loves IKEA) turned me on to the idea that the PAX could be used inside a closet with no doors and the unit would cover a door (old house with unused door to tiny closet long story;) and provide an amazing base for rods and drawers.  She also pointed out that using the PAX with no doors is much cheaper and feasible (basically $90 a shell)..apparently the doors and the ugly shoe trees are where things add up.  She had me hooked.

And like I said you can do so much with PAX, add drawers and cubbys for shoes and bags, even wallpaper the back. I think this pinned photo is from IKEA themselves?

ikea photo

My proposed space is 10’6′ x 5’3″ and it has windows and doors (like I said one of the doors goes to a tiny old closet in the room that is now a larger closet, you gotta love old houses) so its a funky space but i love that it has windows and isn’t teeny tiny. I know my sketch isn’t totally accurate so need need to email;; I am not really worried about the length of the room, I know a combo of Pax of Billy units will almost entirely cover the walls and go to ceiling (I may trim out), what I am concerned about is walk space or lack of between rods and or units. SO here are the options;

Master all pax

What I am trying to decide is if 26-29″ is enough space between units for walkway.  I know I know there are bigger issues in this world but this is just my little closet fun.  Other people watch reality TV or play golf I do this.  SO if I use Billy bookcases it gives me 3″ more…I just dont know if that is worth it. THREE INCHES?  if 26″ is too narrow then 29″ might be too.

MasterPaxandbilly

But honestly in looking in my Mom’s closet and other real life closets the walkspace in small walk-ins is often only about 24-26″ (even the owner of California Closets told me this). It will like look very similar to this (a reason to just do rods and not units like below)

sosupersam

Love this image from SO SUPER SAM

If I can’t  or don’t do Pax on both sides (wide on one side and shallow on the other) maybe I just do nothing on other side (short side with door)? After all I will have ten feet of double rods and drawers and shelves (that is lot for this girl) and I could make it end in an L shape on far wall. I could do that with corner piece to “kill” unit (which I can’t draw but its nice) and then use the wall opposite the Pax units for mirror and hooks and not try to do hanging on both sides.  Does any of this make sense.  Again, first world problems I know.

Mastercloset L shapes

Is your head hurting, anyone still reading? lol.  Good think I have weeks to figure this out;

Apparently Sarah Richardson’s sidekick the ultra chic Tommy Smythe has also used the PAX in his chic man closet. With doors of course!

tommysmythe

Link here on Tommy’s article. It’s good.  I love his use of color and hardware..love the PAX with surrounding dark walls..In fact, I am really on a dark closet, dark bedroom “kick.”

So there you go, the possibilities are endless. No wonder they call it the PAX…hello PAX ROMANA..if you can have a great closet there will be PEACE..peace PAX get it..anyway it all made me go to IKEA on a saturday, Memorial Day weekend Saturday and it was educational. Also the blog Drive by Decor has a great review of the PAX system and what components to avoid (the cute wire baskets apparently) its a great post!

drivenbydecor

It may turn out for me and others that the PAX “case” just takes up too much space/footprint.  You may just want rods and shelves and drawers and if so apparently ELFA is the way to go (or you can do Algot system from IKEA like the top photo combined with other Ikea pieces for drawers).  Elfa  ooks great in Lauren Leiss’ closet here below (this may be her old closet in previous home?) Link to post here.  People who buy Elfa at  Container Store LOVE IT..I read so many RAVE review online but silly me it looks very similar to some of the systems at Lowes and Home Depot…but apparently the quality is tip top and its very flexible you can arrange it and add to it. I would love to know the dimensions of this closet I think its similar to what mine may be.  I may have to go with Elfa (or a plain rod from Lowes and a few Billy bookcases because apparently Elfa can really add up $$$) but for now I am dreaming big.

laurenleisscloset

Yep dreaming of gray painted closets with plenty of storage and organization. PAX = dark paint!  I am thinking Amtherst Gray!

I leave you with this beauty from Hammersmith of Atlanta.  This is sooo custom and so very not IKEA but great inspiration for color.

hammersmithatlanta

What are your thoughts?  DO you like a white closet or a dark closet?  Do you think I should go with L shapes or do Pax on both sides, is your small walk in closet more than 29″ walk space or less? Any experience with Elfa, PAX or any of the other systems.  I actually talked with California Closets yesterday and will report more on that soon. In the meantime if anyone has figured out the IKEA online planning tool for PAX, email me; It’s beyond my skill level apparently.

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Comments

  1. You have a window in there! How wonderful! Go with the dark paint then. (I like that idea better than the wallpaper.) I can’t do dark since I dress and put on makeup and do my hair in my closet – and I am blind as a bat! (You can see our closet here: https://www.talkofthehouse.com/organizing-the-bedroom-closet-in-12-steps/ ) I would not advise the 3rd option since you lose so much storage in corner pieces. I measured and our walking area is 27 inches, and it would be no problem to lose 1 inch. You could easily do option 1 and put a full length mirror at the end opposite the window wall. I would love a pair of Pax units at the first few feet of our closet. Our boys’ closet looks VERY much like the one you shared with the luggage on top. Post on that coming soon. Have fun with your organizing!

  2. I love the L-Shape one!!!

  3. Leigh Ehrhardt says

    Holly, In my previous house, I had my master closet redone with ELFA and loved it! The lady at The Container Store spent a couple of hours with us designing the space. She asked lots of questions and suggested things we’d not considered, but never tried to up sell us or push us to buy what we didn’t need. I think using a real live person skilled and knowledgeable in the product is a huge part of ELFA success.

    Our closet space seem to almost triple once the ELFA was installed. It was amazing. It was so lovely I sometimes just took a stool in and sat in the closet and enjoyed it!

    So, I would encourage you to take your closet layout and dimensions to the container store and spend some time with a designer. They can store your plan in their computer; you don’t have to commit. They have a big sale starting just after Christmas. Design now and buy then!

  4. I did both my and my husbands closet in Elfa and LOVE IT. It is expensive but I bought it during their 30% off sale which helped. I don’t think you will be happy with the 26″ walkway. I would go with the 29″.

  5. So many great options, and BEAUTIFUL ones, at that! I can’t wait to see the final product. I know it will not only be functional, but stylish as well!!! And that dark wallpaper? Coveting.

  6. im a white closet girl bc we don’t have natural light in our closet. we had california closets installed in our master and i loved it so much i had it installed in my son’s closet. i love CC – they count your clothes and that sorta thing and design it for you & maximize the space. you are welcome to come take a look next time you are in the area.

  7. lee ashley says

    Haha…by the looks of your Pinterest feed I figured you were obsessing over closets! This is an interesting topic…and it’s nice to get the perspective from an interior designer. I can’t wait to see what you decide on!

  8. L shaped option looks most appealing to me!

  9. I think 29 inch is the smallest width you’d want to work with. It’s what I have and I can’t image losing 3 inches from that. Good luck can’t wait to see what you end up with.

  10. I recently installed Elfa in our master closet and I absolutely LOVE it. No regrets at all and it’s all customizable and interchangeable. It didn’t hurt that I got it during their annual 30% off sale too. It was between Elfa and something similar to the California Closet system and we chose Elfa because it felt more open and airy, less closed off.

  11. I love option #3. I don’t have a walk-in (a girl can dream), I did install an off the shelf system from Lowes or HD years ago & love it. Toatlly coveting the shoe storage in pic #2. Sigh.

  12. I personally like the “L” shaped option! If you go to your local IKEA and bring them your dimensions they should be able to help you figure things out! I’m in the process of adding the PAX systems to my master bedroom as well!! Good Luck!!

  13. mary john says

    the ELFA stuff is great–it really is much higher quality than loses/home depot. love the dark closets!

  14. CarrieGail says

    We just removed a pretty nonfunctional dresser from our master closet and added side-by-side Billy shelves, 15″ deep. I can’t begin to tell you what a huge difference this has made. The white shelves really lightened up a dark closet. We didn’t need any additional hanging space, but the storage for folded clothes, shoes, tote bags, purses, etc is amaxing. It was a cheap solution, but looks great. Best $160 I ever spent!

  15. Melissa Bock says

    Go for the ELFA if you move you can take it with you easily. The flexibility is remarkable as all ot the components are interchangeable. I did all of the closets in my home (a little at a time) and I continue to tweak them as I go. My husband who is very tight with spending any money loves them and agrees this was a good investment.

  16. With the window, my temptation would be to make it not so much a closet but a sweet little jewel box of a room and to have some fun with it (like many of us do with our powder rooms). So: wallpaper – yes! Dark paint on pax units – yes! curtains and/or blinds – yes! Bench, mirror, hooks – yes! That would make me happy every morning 🙂

  17. Girl, my indecision about how to redo my closet is what has held up an entire bathroom remodel. How sad is that? I’ve been considering all the options you mentioned, but my old organization skills haven’t kicked in strongly enough to make me feel good about proceeding. Not to mention I have way too many farm duties to overthink closet details and bathroom fixtures right now! Wink! xoxo

  18. Elfa was in my master closet when I purchased the house.I’m investigating changing from Elfa to IKEA Pax. I like the Elfa system but it doesn’t look as custom as I would like. In order to bring in the Décor wood pieces, you have to spend a lot of money. BTW, I recently spend $500 on new Elfa pieces and I have taken them all back until I make a decision. I will probably go with IKEA Pax and use Elfa in other closets in the house.

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