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Forum -> Household Management -> Organizing
IKEA PAX or another closet for toys



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amother
OP


 

Post Wed, Jan 06 2021, 11:54 am
Need to buy a closet for my toys.

Which would you suggest?

I was looking into the PAX from Ikea, but I get so confused with ikea stuff. I don't know what is customizeable and what to buy to customize it.
Any advice?

Or is there another great closet you can recommend?
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amother
OP


 

Post Wed, Jan 06 2021, 11:56 am
Also, whats the benefit of having drawers in a toy closet? (Pax has drawers)?
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HakolTov




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jan 06 2021, 12:13 pm
Sorry, I am not a help. Was actually looking for the same type of thing except my budget is under 300$ and need a storage closet that could contain both books and sterilite type of containers filled with toys.
Following.
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amother
OP


 

Post Wed, Jan 06 2021, 12:20 pm
I need for books too, but was thinking just to get a bookcase so I have enough room for both
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amother
Cyan


 

Post Wed, Jan 06 2021, 12:38 pm
I got this closet from Lowe’s. It’s officially for a wardrobe but we didn’t put in the rods and got extra shelves. We store our toys in there in clear sterilite containers.
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amother
OP


 

Post Wed, Jan 06 2021, 12:44 pm
Thank you! How do I put shelves in? We aren’t the handy type
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amother
Sienna


 

Post Wed, Jan 06 2021, 1:58 pm
We got the pax a while back. We bought the largest sized frame possible, then bought doors that fit. We personally just bought 5 shelves. Don't look at the different options for already built wardrobes-you want to look at the basic frame. Cost us about 70 for the frame, I think we chose the 60 dollar doors, not the cheapest at about 40. Each shelf cost I think 10 each, and you can choose how many. Was a lot cheaper than the others we were looking at.
Advantage of the ikea pax over buying a wardrobe and putting in shelves is that the holes for shelves are already there and it's designed to be very versatile.
Dh built it himself (with some help from yours truly). Wasn't very complicated to built, even I could put a shelf on. And I got cheap clear boxes for all the different toys.
I think what people mean by the drawers is you can get instead of the shelf, you can get a drawer that goes the width of the closet. The advantage of this is there isn't the wasted space between boxes.
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asmileaday




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jan 06 2021, 2:34 pm
The advantage of Pax is that it has multiple size options in width, depth and height. It's relatively cheap.
Like another poster said, don't go with the package options. Choose the frame size you want and whatever type of door you want. Then get just shelves.
You do not need drawers in a toy closet. It'll be easier to organize with bins and baskets on the shelf.
If you want an even cheaper ikea option, I'm very happy with their stuva series. But it only comes in 1 width and depth option. You can buy a few and place them side by side.
Add it to your cart to see which final option will be cheaper for you.
For books, the best thing is their billy bookcase. You can choose with doors or without.
When it comes to books you don't want something deep. That's why the billy bookcase is perfect. Comes in multiple width options. We got the narrowest and placed 4 of them side by side. I find that the narrower shelves keep the books neater.
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asmileaday




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jan 06 2021, 2:35 pm
amother [ OP ] wrote:
Thank you! How do I put shelves in? We aren’t the handy type


All ikea furniture needs to be assembled, so you need to be a little handy.
All their systems have peg holes already made for the shelves.
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gande




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jan 06 2021, 3:02 pm
I like the ikea trofast its very space saving. but it is open bins on tracks. you can also put in shelfs for books and big toys
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amother
Sienna


 

Post Wed, Jan 06 2021, 3:09 pm
gande wrote:
I like the ikea trofast its very space saving. but it is open bins on tracks. you can also put in shelfs for books and big toys


I used to have it, but I got so tired of all the boxes being emptied, that I gave it away and that's when I bought the pax. I also put a lock on so I can control how many toys are out at one time.
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SnowLeopard




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jan 06 2021, 5:32 pm
I like having drawers in the toy closet because it's harder to dump everything out and the kids have to pick and choose what to take out. It's a much smaller mess.
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seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jan 07 2021, 2:25 am
I have an Ikea Pax for my toys. I had originally bought it for clothes but I ended up finding something I liked better for clothes (a different Pax setup that someone was selling before they moved) so I moved it to a different room and repurposed it, and I love it.

First of all, it's the shallower frame, it's exactly the right depth for the shoebox-sized (6L?) sterilite containers. Don't ever go deeper or you will have a black hole.

I have drawers on bottom and shelves on top because that's how I had it set up for clothes. I like the drawers - not sure how other people store random stuff but I can't have a separate sterilite container for every single thing. One drawer is muktza toys like Bop-it, Simon, remote control car, another Bop-it, I don't remember what else but I don't know what would happen to that oddly-shaped one-piece miscellany without a drawer. Another drawer is non-muktza funny-shaped things that won't go well in a box or shelf - Find-it and the like. Another drawer is things that I leave face up in open containers - a box of card games (all card games lined up standing in a shoebox so you can see all of them at once and easily remove/reinsert one) and a similar setup for puzzles (remove from box, put in ziploc bag with just the picture from the box, and stand them up in a shoebox).

I removed the bottom drawer and have sterilite containers on the bottom of some heavier toys like magnatiles. Pax shelves have a tendency to sag if overloaded so you don't want heavy things on shelves. I think the drawers are sturdier so you don't have to worry as much about what you put in them. On the shelves I have games in the boxes they came in. You want a bunch of shelves so they're not spaced too far apart - first of all this prevents the overloading/sagging, secondly it is easier to manage taking out and putting away the games when they aren't piled too high. I also have more sterilite containers up there - one with all the play-dough toys, one with all the little brainteaser things (think rubiks cube, thinkfun toys)

I like the ability to customize but you don't have to get complicated about it. Because of the adjustability system you can change the height of the shelves if needed.

Regarding DIY - yes you need to build your Ikea stuff but it's not nearly as DIY as making anything from scratch. You don't need to figure anything out, it's all set up for you, everything is the right size, they give you the right type of screws, it would take me years of fails to get that all at Home Depot or whatever. To date I have not yet succeeded in firmly hanging a floating shelf on any wall of my home, and yet I enjoy putting together Ikea pieces. Like very large arts n crafts. If you can't handle it, maybe you have a friend...

Remember to anchor everything to the wall! You never know if a kid will decide to climb the shelves instead of shlepping over a chair! (btw did I mention I love that Pax is available in very nearly ceiling height? Maximizes space and you don't need to dust on top.)
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amother
OP


 

Post Thu, Jan 07 2021, 10:46 am
thank you all so much for your help with the pax!!

really helpful

trying to figure this all out. how do I know how many shelves I need/will fit properly?

I understand what one poster said about the pros of having drawers... what does everyone think, worth it?

any other suggestions give em now! might run over to ikea today to buy it
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amother
Sienna


 

Post Thu, Jan 07 2021, 11:29 am
amother [ OP ] wrote:
thank you all so much for your help with the pax!!

really helpful

trying to figure this all out. how do I know how many shelves I need/will fit properly?

I understand what one poster said about the pros of having drawers... what does everyone think, worth it?

any other suggestions give em now! might run over to ikea today to buy it


How many shelves, depends on the size of your boxes. I worked out the size and height of the boxes and then how many shelves would be needed for the height (or rather dh did the math). We got I think it was 5 for the full height pax.
Re the drawers, you have to think what would be easier for you to tidy and put things away. Also will you have lots of odd sized toys that don't fit well into boxes? Like the baby toys which are often fairly bulky, fit a lot easier into a drawer than a box.
Personally, I would say a mix of the two works the best. Drawers for some toys and boxes for others. But that's what works for me. You might find differently.
If it's not a pain for you to get to ikea, I would suggest you underbuy and get a couple of shelves and one drawer. Then see which you prefer, and go get more.
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amother
Sienna


 

Post Thu, Jan 07 2021, 11:32 am
Btw forgot to add when we got ours, online it said exactly the stock level in our nearby store, and which aisle and shelf to get each of the different parts, which saved running around the store, trying to work out where each part was.
We went with the wood color which I think looks nicer than the white which I see most people with.
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seeker




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, Jan 07 2021, 2:01 pm
There's an online planner on their website to help you visualize what arrangement works for you and the costs. Definitely use it, and then it gives you the exact shopping list.

Personally I have 5 shelves and 4 drawers but to each their own. if you have more things that go in sterilite bins I'd trade a drawer for another shelf, and if you have larger things on bottom then subtract a drawer there too. I would err on the side of too few because you can always add and the drawers raise the cost pretty quickly.
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