Kids Room | IKEA PAX cabinet layout tips (+ example!)

Whenever I visualize the wardrobe in the girls’ nursery, questions always arise. That’s why I decided to get behind my keyboard and share our IKEA PAX closet layout tips with you. Including example photos of both our wardrobe wall and the children’s IKEA PAX wardrobe! Are you watching?

Wardrobe for children’s room

When we moved in together in 2015, we decided to install a large cupboard wall in the bedroom. At first we oriented ourselves to the options of having it made to measure, but this comes with a hefty price tag. Soon I spotted IKEA’s PAX series. The PAX cabinet system is a more than complete product series with which you can design your own cabinet according to taste and style. I will come back to this later, but we decided to go for this and we have absolutely no regrets to this day. Our bedroom has been adorned with a 7-door IKEA PAX wardrobe ever since and because we are satisfied users, we decided to also purchase this as a wardrobe for the children’s room when Suus was ready for a toddler’s room. With a sister on the way, the baby room remained standing at the time and Suus moved to a new bedroom. Over time, Niene has also become a big sister and she also received such a cupboard. I always get questions on Instagram when I picture the closet, so I decided to dedicate a blog to it. I tell you how to put together an IKEA PAX cabinet and give tips for an IKEA PAX cabinet layout based on our own experience. Of course I will also show pictures!

Assemble IKEA PAX wardrobe

I remember that assembling an IKEA PAX wardrobe can feel quite overwhelming from when we first faced this job. There are different basic elements, doors and handles and when you have determined the basis, you can supplement this with the separate elements from the KOMPLEMENT series. Then you should think of shelves, drawers, wire baskets, clothes rails, trouser hangers, shoe racks and so on! You can arrange your closet exactly the way you want (although there are some things to take into account, but I’ll tell you about that later in this article). But, and here comes the first question, what is practical? My first advice is to pay a visit to IKEA and thoroughly orientate yourself in the PAX cabinets department. Pinterest also brings a lot of inspiration and tips, but once you’ve seen the cabinets ‘in real life’, you already know much better what you’re talking about. We then had a preliminary design for our IKEA PAX cupboard layout made on the spot in the PAX planner (which you can also use at home via the IKEA website) by an employee, took it home with us and measured everything again. Tip: measure the ceiling height carefully! The employee told us that some options that we wanted, such as a drawer unit, were not (fully) possible due to the hinges. We were immediately told the other possible options and were able to view them on the spot. Super efficient! There are also many example cabinets on display, which is very nice to support in the selection process.

IKEA PAX wardrobe tips

We have taken a number of things into account when compiling both our wardrobe and for the children. I’m just throwing in my IKEA PAX closet organization tips right now random order in this article, who knows, you might benefit from it!

• Distribution hanging area/shelves:
  • Do you hang your pants or fold them in a pile? And what about outerwear? It is good to think in advance how much space you estimate you will need, based on the way you ideally prefer to find your clothes in the closet.
  • In our closet we have one hanging section in a 50 cm wide element, two clothes rails in the corner element and a 100 cm wide clothes rail with a drawer unit with jewelery drawer underneath. Take into account what kind of clothing you want to hang (for example long dresses or rather blouses / jackets and the like).
  • In the children’s closet we have taken a clothes rail with a width of 100 cm. On one side there is a fixed drawer unit with wire baskets underneath. Shelves are mounted on the other side. We can adjust these shelves over time in terms of height. We bought the closet when it was still mini clothes, but we want to enjoy it for years to come. We have taken this into account in the design. So when the kids get older and their children’s clothing larger, the longer items can hang on that side of the cabinet.
• Check carefully the height of the ceiling of the room where you want to place the cabinet. That has to do with putting it together. If you assemble the cabinet lying down and want to put it upright somewhere in the process, sufficient space is necessary. Make sure you have extra hands when putting it upright; you are not the first whose IKEA PAX cabinet got damaged during assembly (read: breaks when standing up…). Another option is to assemble the cabinet upright (also with extra hands!). The high version fitted in Suus’s room, so we were able to place an extra shelf above the clothes rail when compiling the IKEA PAX wardrobe. Here I often put newly bought clothes that are intended for the upcoming season. For example, in the winter at WE Fashion I scored a nice summer coat in the sale, which I then put down so that I ‘keep it in view’. This way I prevent myself from not remembering what I bought again and about my child benefit budget go! At Niene we opted for the low version, so there was no room for an extra shelf. However, she does have some storage space in the STUVA cupboard in her room, so I use that for that.
• Drawer units: both the children and we have them in the closet and I really recommend them! We ourselves have a drawer unit with 3 wooden drawers and a wire man, the children have a block with 4 wire baskets. I find it ideal for socks, pajamas, swimsuits, underwear and bedding.
  • TIP: take into account the door hinges! Not only in the design, but also during the assembly of the cabinet.
• When I went looking for IKEA PAX wardrobe tips at the time, I read two different depths are available: 35 and 58 centimeters. Our cupboards are all 58 centimeters deep and the shelves therefore fit two piles of clothing one behind the other. I also find this easy to store seasonal items: in the winter the summer stuff goes to the back of the closet and I bring my autumn items to the front, vice versa in the spring.
• Shoes: I took much into account storage space for shoes, which I arranged in special boxes (available at IKEA) in the closet. In retrospect, this took up a lot of space in my IKEA PAX closet layout and I would not have made this choice again. I now use one compartment for storing shoes, as well as the shelf above the clothes rail in the 100 cm wide section. I have already gone through my shoe stock quite a bit, but it has now been replenished reasonably well. Well, a woman can never have enough shoes, right?
• The IKEA PAX wardrobe for children’s room? I have a additional shelf in the cupboard for clothing intended for playing outside and at the daycare/after-school care. Such a shame when that one new shirt accidentally comes home full of stains because dad didn’t know what clothes to wear. That’s why I already have everything on the special shelf, can’t go wrong in any case. Now that they’re getting bigger, they already know it: ideal during the weekend, when they play outside a lot and have already put on their old clothes in the morning!
• Doors: in 2015 we opted for hinged doors with decorative frames. Fits perfectly chic in our rural decor, but after almost two years they started to fall apart. We then claimed our warranty and received a shop credit, which we used to purchase basic white doors. Still satisfied with this service to this day, because we got our purchase amount back. The new doors we selected were much cheaper. We then spent the rest of the amount on IKEA STUVA play corner for the children! Of course you can also go for a closet with sliding doors or even without doors, that seems great if you have a walk-in closet.

Enjoy it for years to come!

All in all, you can make your IKEA PAX cabinet layout exactly as you want and if it really disappoints, you can still adjust some things afterwards due to the separate elements. These cabinets are not cheap, but we think it is well worth the investment. By taking into account when compiling IKEA PAX cabinets, we have purchased wardrobes for the children that will last them well into puberty. Add to that the fact that both Suus and Niene had a new bed with drawers and do the math: they will enjoy this for years to come!

Do you already know this cabinet series? And do you have any IKEA PAX cabinet layout tips to add? I’d love to read your response in the comments or on Facebook or Instagram!