Sarah is a staff writer at Apartment Therapy. She completed her MA in journalism at the University of Missouri and has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Belmont University. Past writing and editing stops include HGTV Magazine, Nashville Arts Magazine, and several outlets local to her hometown, Columbia, Missouri.
Those Swedes sure do love to organize. Flip through any edition of the IKEA catalog, and the first impression you’ll likely get is: a place for everything, and everything in its place. But don’t our cluttered, modern, go-go-go lifestyles make it seem impossible to live up to this standard? Most especially in that most dreaded place in our homes — the closet. Chances are, if you’re a Curbly reader, you love organization just as much as we do. And you may need a little help figuring out how to make your closet system work for you. That’s why today we are talking all about how to design the closet of your dreams using IKEA closets.
We’ll go over the entire range of IKEA closets, plus real-life examples of how they are used, hacks, tips for installing an IKEA closet, organizers, and more.
Let’s whip those IKEA closets in shape!
IKEA makes it easy to stay organized with their large range of closets. From wardrobes; to children’s closets; to totally customizable, open clothes storage systems; and more organizing accessories than you can count, they’ve got everything you need to turn your closet into your favorite part of your home.
Let’s start with their simplest system first: wardrobes.
Possibly the biggest conundrum a renter or homeowner can face when struggling with storage is: no built-in closets. The worst! Thankfully, IKEA has lots of options if you’re looking to buy an inexpensive, fuss-free wardrobe to create, or add to, your clothes storage.
Check out these IKEA wardrobe options:
Best higher-end wardrobe: TYSSEDAL, $399
White and classic with a traditional build, this wardrobe features two mirrored doors, a clothes rail, shelf, and one drawer. The ledge on top prevents items from being pushed off when you’re grabbing things in a hurry.
Best bang for your buck: BRIMNES, $129
With two doors for hanging clothes, a full-height section for shelves, and a mirror, the BRIMNES provides the most clothing storage space in its budget. And it comes in black, too.
Best kids’ wardrobe: STUVA, $229
The STUVA is geared towards children and preteens, with its colorful FRITIDS doors available in blue, pink, red, or white.
Best compact wardrobe: TRYSIL, $199
The sliding doors of the TRYSIL make these IKEA closets a good choice for tight spaces.
Best temporary wardrobe: BREIM, $29.99
If you need something temporary, or to store off-season clothes in a spare room, the BREIM is super affordable at only 30 bucks!
Sometimes a wardrobe is just too bulky for your room. Enter the freestanding closet system! A mix of open and closed storage is the key to keeping this type of closet organized and beautiful. That way you can display the pretty things, and hide the clutter.
Naturally, there is a wide range of modular IKEA closets to choose from:
Forgive the upcoming gushing, it’s just that I’m a little in love with IKEA’s ELVARLI line. Those clean, minimal lines all in white just make my organization-loving heart race.
The ELVARLI was designed to be completely customizable, so while you can choose one of the pre-made options from the website, you can also build your own using the ELVARLI planning tool. I’ll go into more detail on IKEA’s handy planners below. For now, just know that the sky is the limit! (Or your budget. Your budget is the limit).
Think you’re too messy to make open storage work for you? Take a look at how much clothing Igor from Happy Interior Blog stuffed onto his ELVARLI:
It works, right??
Or, check out how to turn your ELVARLI storage unit into a standing vanity with tons of drawer space:
And I’m dying over designer Sam Szabla’s walk-in closet using ELVARLI!
The ALGOT series is one of IKEA’s most modular storage systems. Think of it as the ELVARLI’s more affordable, and more flexible, predecessor. Once you’ve attached the upright brackets to the wall, the shelves can be easily rearranged using the pop-in brackets, without tools. It’s very inexpensive, too; the configuration below costs only $152.50, and look how much clothing you can store!
IKEA’s ALGOT closet is a fabulous solution for small closets because of how much you can store in just a simple setup.
The ALGOT system is great for children’s closets, too!
Here Abby from Just a Girl and Her Blog breaks down how she designed a closet for herself and her husband. And she even shares how to measure for an IKEA ALGOT closet system:
Related to the ALGOT system, the ANTONIUS wire frames and baskets can be used in addition to an ALGOT closet, or as an entirely separate closet organizer, as in this storage idea from Personally Andrea.
Those homemade chalkboard labels started out as wall plate covers!
If you’ve never heard of PAX…you are in for a treat.
The PAX is IKEA’s luxury closet line that starts at budget prices. And as always, it’s completely modular and customizable. We are talking OPTIONS. So many, in fact, that it can be a bit overwhelming to shop for a PAX system. So let’s break it down!
The PAX is a customizable closet system that can be used to organize an existing closet, as a stand-alone closed wardrobe, or as an open clothes storage solution (like in that stunning example above).
Okay, so you’ve decided you want to organize your life with a PAX closet system. Now what? Here are some key things you need to know to get started:
Now that we’ve covered the very basic basics, let’s design an IKEA PAX closet!
IKEA loves making things easy for us. That’s why the brilliant minds behind the home furnishing giant created online planning tools for its storage systems. So we, too, could have a place for everything, and everything in its place.
You can access IKEA’s PAX planner two ways: click “Customize this combination” on any PAX product page, or navigate to “Planning Tools” in IKEA’s footer.
You can find the ALGOT and ELVARLI Planning Tools on the main tool page, too!
Once you’ve launched the planner, you can choose an existing combination to customize, or “Create Pax from scratch” to design your own custom PAX closet.
Don’t forget to create an account so you can save your design!
The most fun part about designing your own closet is choosing interior closet organizers. These are the nitty-gritty organizing details that make me drool (yeah, I’m an organizing freak. You know you are too).
IKEA’s KOMPLEMENT series has every kind of closet organizer you can imagine to maximize storage space in your PAX.
But, my absolute favorite thing about IKEA’s planners is that once you are finished with your design, the tool will generate a shopping list and sort all the items by where they are located in the store. PURE. GENIUS.
So how hard is it to assemble your own IKEA closet system? Well, that depends a little on your level of patience. If there’s one negative association IKEA has, it’s that putting together furniture can be a pain in the [insert your favorite expletive here].
But remember, IKEA designs their furniture so that it can be assembled by absolute beginners, with a bare minimum of tools. So it’s really not THAT hard! In general, if you can follow directions, and know how to hang a picture with a nail and hammer, you can assemble an IKEA closet or wardrobe.
From my experience as a life-long IKEA fan, and frequent assembler of IKEA furniture, here is my advice on how to install all types of IKEA closets as painlessly as possible:
And don’t forget, if you feel stuck, you can always hire help through IKEA’s assembly services!
We love IKEA hacks around here! Here are some gorgeous PAX closet hacks to inspire your own closet makeover.
How to make a PAX wardrobe look built-in:
This hack is not for the faint-hearted — a custom PAX installed under roof eaves!
This PAX wardrobe was raised onto a custom wooden platform and finished with floating shelves. The chunky knobs add a stunning touch!
A wallpapered back, plus framing added to the doors, make this PAX look like a totally different piece.
Or simplify this idea with squares of paper added to one of IKEA’s PAX door options:
This idea works for drawers, too!
So you’ve seen how to use an ELVARLI, ALGOT, or PAX system to organize your bedroom closet. But if you are really out to DIY, check out these other ways you can use IKEA products to build a custom closet.
KALLAX closet hack:
BILLY bookcase closet:
IKEA RAST wardrobe hack:
We’ve rounded up one hundred IKEA hacks that prove you can have champagne tastes on a beer budget. Each of these hacks illustrates the power of transformation – basic warehouse pieces are cleverly altered in beautiful ways that make them feel custom. This round up has me feeling like Aladdin on a magic carpet ride – so come along with me! I can open your eyes, take you wonder by wonder, over, sideways and under on a magic IKEA hack ride. All hacks are listed in alphabetical order by their original IKEA birth name.
We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission.
Name: Aparna Sudhakar and husband, Simon
Location: Manhattan, New York
Type of home: Apartment
Size: 330 square feet
Years lived in: 2.5 years, renting
Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: My husband and I share this cozy little one-bedroom (almost like a studio) home in the bustle of the Big Apple. We’re both architects and love making custom things. The gloomy months of quarantine made us realize that our walls needed life and our tiny space as a whole needed a story. Starting with an organic growing living room wall filled with unique handmade art, craft, posters, and gifted items, our goal was to tap the maximum potential of every usable square foot in our apartment. A few months of layering our place with things we love and need gave it a warm makeover and became so personal to us. We love that we made our first apartment together as a married couple something beautiful, creative, and memorable!
We’re a couple that loves to design and make things. The artsy, crafty items that my husband and I made for our space that add more character outnumber the things we store-bought. A quick glimpse at any direction in our apartment will have at least one element that was made by us and naturally speaks about our interests and who we are as people. Walking into and waking up everyday in a space that reflects so much of ourselves inspires us to always keep creating things we love and things that make us happy! Our DIYs include our entryway, kitchen tiles/paint, wall art/craft, custom 3D prints, and our corner work desk space.
Describe your home’s style in 5 words or less: Creative, Cozy, Lively, Efficient, and Organized!
What is your favorite room and why? Our bedroom. This is the brightest room in our apartment and had the most potential for changing layouts. To make the most efficient use of space and to maximize room size, we made a corner work desk/window seat, which has been the best addition to our home so far! We dismantled our IKEA closet and re-used the panels to create a desk with a flip-open top and a connecting window seat. The L-shaped corner is now sun-drenched and is our creative work space.
What’s the last thing you bought (or found!) for your home? String lights! You can never go wrong with these, they will amp up the coziness of your home 10 fold.
Any advice for creating a home you love? Your home should be a place you want to come back to for respite at any point of time. Choose a room, corner, or even a small thing that you want as part of your home. You can build up eventually. The best thing about DIY is that it doesn’t have to be permanent, your home can evolve with your changing taste to best reflect who you are. Start making notes for yourself anytime you see something you like. I have a running list on my phone for all the things we want in our home but cannot have right now. If it is not possible right away, the right time for it is not far away!
This submission’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.
