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Updated: Oct 24, 2022 by Kris Jarrett

Coat Closet Created Using IKEA Wardrobes!

Want to create a coat closet where there is none? I’ll show you how using IKEA wardrobes!

There are so many things to love about having an older home but ample closet space is unfortunately not one of them! We’ve never had a coat closet and have relied on just a few hooks by the front door which doesn’t work so well when we have guests or in the winter when we have big winter jackets to hang up. I was determined to find a way to create a coat closet and turned my scheming to this little nook with open shelving in our laundry room. The only “before” pic I have of it is this one that I took when we first looked at our house – the previous owners used the open shelves to store extra kitchen items on the top and shoes on the bottom. The shelves only went half way up the wall so it definitely wasn’t the most efficient use of space:

The "before" of the space that became our coat closet

(post includes affiliate links; full disclosure statement available {here})

It’s a really shallow space (only about 16″ deep) so I couldn’t turn it into a traditional coat closet with a rod because there wasn’t enough depth for it. I wanted something more functional than simple hooks and after lots of looking I finally found a solution I love – it was IKEA to the rescue! IKEA has so many creative solutions for small spaces and I was able to use their PAX wardrobes to create the new coat closet I’ve been wanting for years – I’m so, so happy with how it turned out:

LOVE the built-in look of this open coat closet and drawers with shoe storage - made with IKEA PAX wardrobes!

It’s a SUPER challenging space to photograph since there’s hardly any natural light and I have to jam myself in the doorway to photograph it but hopefully you can still see what a huge change it is! Our new coat closet and shoe storage is directly across from our washer and dryer – that side of the room is currently a work in progress that I’ll be sharing soon so forgive the mess but this pic should give you a better idea of the space (the light fixture is {this simple flush mount fixture} in warm brass – it’s the same one that I used in our guest bathroom):

Progress on adding IKEA cabinets and a coat closet to our laundry room

And here’s a look at my newly transformed nook-turned-coat-closet from the other side:

LOVE how she used IKEA Pax wardrobes to create this coat closet with drawers for shoe storage!

I designed our new coat closet using three of {these IKEA wardrobe frames} that are 19 ⅝″ wide and only 14″ deep. The three frames are freestanding but are anchored to the wall in the back and bolted to each other. I was lucky with their size – they filled almost the entire nook, leaving only a few inches on each end between the wardrobe frame and the wall. To make it look more built in, we added filler strips to fill that gap and also added a piece of crown molding at the top. I then caulked and painted the fillers and crown molding to match the white paint of the IKEA PAX drawers and frames (more on that at the end of the post).  I was originally planning to add doors to each of the three wardrobes but then decided it would be so much more functional as an open closet so I left off the doors and prettied everything up with some gorgeous pulls and baskets. Here are the details on those and some of the other customized elements we added…

How to Customize IKEA Wardrobes for a Coat Closet

IKEA offers quite a few options for accessories to put in their PAX wardrobe frames including the KOMPLEMENT pull-out clothes rails that I put in each one of mine. The genius behind them is that you can hang coats in the opposite direction from the way that a typical rod would run which is exactly what I needed for this shallow space! And the rods can be telescoped out which is really nice since we can use that extra space to hang air dry items coming out of the washer:

Love the clothes rail in this IKEA PAX coat closet that pull out for extra hanging space!

I installed the clothes rails high enough that our long winter jackets will fit and then I put a pair of {these KOMPLEMENT shelves} in each wardrobe frame – one above and one below the space for coats. On each top shelf, I added a woven basket where I put gloves, scarves, and hats (I placed one on the lower shelf in the pic below just to photograph it so you could see it better):

Pretty woven storage baskets for hats, scarves, and gloves in our coat closet.

Then at the bottom of each wardrobe unit, I added three of {these KOMPLEMENT drawers} with {these acrylic pulls} in the Golden Champagne finish in the 5 1/16″ size (they’re also available {here}):

LOVE these acrylic and brass drawer pulls so much!

The pulls aren’t cheap but they sure make these inexpensive IKEA drawers look like a million bucks! If you’ve been following my projects for a while you might remember that I was thinking about using them on our kitchen island drawers for our kitchen remodel last year but I ultimately decided that one long pull would be better than two shorter ones so I’m thrilled that I found a place to finally use these beauties! We use all of our drawers for shoe storage – they’re small but the girls and I can fit several pairs in each of them. If you don’t want to stack or nest your shoes, you can comfortably fit two pairs of women’s shoes:

IKEA PAX coat closet with KOMPLEMENT drawers for shoe storage!

(These are two of my favorites by the way – my blush espadrille sandals can be found {here} and slip-on sneakers {here}.) If you want to nest or overlap shoes you can fit several more pairs:

Shoe storage in IKEA PAX wardrobes with KOMPLEMENT drawers!

Men’s shoes are obviously a tighter fit – I can fit two pairs of Jeff’s shoes in a drawer when nesting them on their sides.

Covers & Plugs for IKEA PAX Holes

One of my tips for making IKEA PAX frames look more like custom cabinetry is to cover all of the holes. It’s amazing what a difference it makes! I used several different things as hole fillers. There were two tiny holes at the bottom of each frame that I simply filled with caulk. Then, for all of the holes that run along the edges of the PAX frames, I used IKEA’s VARIERA cover plates that you can find at IKEA {here} or for a few bucks more on Amazon {here}. It’s tedious work to cover each hole with a plug but worth it. I took a pic midway through filling the holes so you can see the difference it makes:

Using IKEA VARIERA cover plates to fill holes in PAX frames

There were holes at the top of the IKEA units that I filled too – I covered the IKEA cam lock holes with {these adhesive cover caps} and I covered the ⅜″ open holes at the top with {these hole plugs} – both were a perfect fit:

The exact plugs and covers to use to fill holes in IKEA PAX wardrobe frames!

You could also simply fill all of the holes with wood filler and sand and paint to match. I chose not to because… 1. that is a LOT of work and 2. I prefer to use removable covers to keep my options open for future customization.

Paint Color to Match IKEA PAX in White

As I mentioned earlier, we added filler pieces between the wall and the two end PAX wardrobes and also added crown above the PAX wardrobes that I painted white to match. I looked at LOTS of white color swatches to find a good match for the IKEA PAX frames and drawers but couldn’t find one that I thought would work well so the talented guys in the paint department at our local Ring’s End came to the rescue. They did a great job coming up with a close match! It’s mixed in INSL-X Cabinet Coat in Satin (it’s important to use this same exact base) – here’s the exact formula:

A great paint color match to white IKEA PAX wardrobes!

I think that covers all of the little details about my new open coat closet and shoe storage, but if I missed anything you have questions about, don’t hesitate to ask! I also used the IKEA PAX system for the new walk-in closet we added as part of our master bathroom addition – you can take a tour of our new IKEA PAX closet {here}. And if you want to see the rest of what we did to our laundry room including adding IKEA cabinets above our washer and dryer, check out our finished laundry room {here}.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone!

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Categories: Closets Tags: IKEA

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Brenda Gill says

    June 30, 2019 at 12:13 pm

    Brilliant solution and thanks so much for the how-to which is super nice of you to include!

    Reply
  2. Phyllis says

    June 30, 2019 at 12:58 pm

    This is spectacular in how functional and beautiful it looks. Those finishing details really add the wow factor. One question- do you have baseboards at the bottom behind these Pax? I’m trying to figure out how to anchor these to the wall in a room with baseboards. Thanks again for the inspiration!

    Reply
    • Sharon says

      June 06, 2020 at 2:15 pm

      A lot of Ikea bookcases come with a notch it the back to accommodate baseboards.

      Reply
  3. Julie says

    June 30, 2019 at 1:06 pm

    WOW this is so creative/beautiful and love what has been done!! Great resale for whenever the time comes to sell! =)

    Reply
  4. Jane says

    June 30, 2019 at 2:08 pm

    This is just gorgeous and sooo practical. Thx for sharing.

    Reply
  5. Sharon says

    June 30, 2019 at 4:29 pm

    WHAT????!!!! This is just amazing. Great transformation…can hardly believe my eyes. Bravo!

    Reply
  6. Misty says

    June 30, 2019 at 5:28 pm

    Looks fantastic! I love it!

    Reply
  7. Noél Nicklas Emswiler says

    June 30, 2019 at 6:28 pm

    Great use of space! The handles really make it feel upscale. Can you come put the plugs in my Ikea shelving in my office?! 🙂 I keep procrastinating about putting them in but they make such a difference.

    Reply
  8. Cindy says

    July 01, 2019 at 12:15 am

    Beautiful and very clever use of the space. I just love how it turned out. You did it again Kris!

    Reply
  9. Romeogirl says

    July 01, 2019 at 10:33 am

    That looks fantastic. Love the hole covers and put out rods!

    Reply
  10. Linda says

    July 02, 2019 at 8:58 am

    I saw your Instagram Stories regarding this new space. I love it ! You did a great job! Also in the Stories you started a story about reading Consumer’s Report about the Dyson stick vac but the story was cut off. Would you please, please do another. I, too am interested in getting one and just wanted to hear your opinion on it. Thanks so much! I so enjoy following your Instagram and just signed up for your emails. Have a beautiful Tuesday!

    Reply
  11. Mary W says

    July 02, 2019 at 9:33 am

    I just LOVE your new coat closet shoe space Kris! Your attention to detail is amazing and showing us how to achieve the same look with your step by step pictures and tutorials is so appreciated! Now if I could only get you on a plane to Miami to wave your genius design wand in my house ?

    Reply
  12. Karen Bunch says

    July 02, 2019 at 11:35 am

    Oh my goodness! This is one of the best transformations you’ve done. I realize it isn’t like pretty rooms and art and such, but man what a great solution for the very inefficient area. It’s both pretty and efficient. Nice job, Kris!
    xo,
    Karen

    Reply
  13. GLADYS says

    July 04, 2019 at 5:30 am

    KRIS , I’VE COME TO LEARN THAT EVERYTHING YOU TOUCH JUST TURNS INTO GOLD. YOU’RE TRULY GIFTED AND A GREAT INSPIRATION. KEEP INSPIRING, FROM BOTSWANA ALL THE WAY IN SOUTHERN AFRICA.

    Reply
  14. Sarah Farley says

    July 05, 2019 at 11:45 am

    Is there a mention of the cost?

    Reply
  15. jean says

    July 06, 2019 at 1:24 pm

    I love how you change the whole look of the unit. I’ve never purchased from IKEA but will be looking at the site more since you brought this to my attention. I love those acrylic handles!!! They really add the WHOA!!!! factor. Kris, you really do a nice job and show us how to find anything we need to make our homes comfortable but budget friendly. Thanks so much for sharing and looking forward to the bathroom updates. I know it will be beautiful like the master bedroom turned out!!!! Have a great weekend.
    your blog friend,
    jean

    Reply
  16. John says

    July 11, 2019 at 2:34 pm

    That’s a hardwood floor I’m guessing (not a laminate or vinyl plank)?

    Reply
  17. Laura Killion says

    September 09, 2019 at 10:44 am

    Hi Kris,
    I love everything you do!! I’ve been looking for an older post about your daughter’s closet makeover. My daughters closet is very similar. Hopefully, after reading the post I will have the motivation and inspiration to get my daughter’s closet looking better.
    Thank you,
    Laura

    Reply
    • Kris Jarrett says

      September 15, 2019 at 9:45 pm

      Thank you so much Laura! This post has details and links to the makeovers I did on the closets in both of my girls’ rooms: https://www.drivenbydecor.com/closet-door-ideas/

      Reply
  18. Nippon says

    December 07, 2019 at 12:19 am

    Amazing work!! Looking for more from you.

    Reply
  19. Stacey says

    March 21, 2020 at 6:35 pm

    How did you bolt them together?

    Reply
    • Kris Jarrett says

      March 23, 2020 at 10:17 pm

      We connected them with screws and small nuts that went through the predrilled holes – we added one at the top and one at the bottom. Be sure and plan out where you are putting shelves, etc. in your wardrobes first though so that you know which holes aren’t going to be in use.

      Reply
  20. Lisa says

    July 06, 2020 at 4:02 pm

    Incredible! You have absolutely inspired me to finally add a “closet” to our entryway, currently a mess with shoes on the floor and jackets hanging on wall hooks. Definitely something I want to change before the heavy coats come back out this fall/winter! Based on the funny width of 53 inches, I am going to have extra wide filler pieces between the wall and the PAX system (along with adding crown above). Any tips on how to make this filler magic happen? Materials, etc? Thank you!!

    Reply
  21. Jenn says

    January 26, 2021 at 3:00 pm

    Which cabinets did you use on the opposite side above the washer and dryer?

    Reply
    • Kris Jarrett says

      March 08, 2021 at 10:10 pm

      You can find those details in this post: https://www.drivenbydecor.com/ikea-laundry-room/

      Reply
  22. Danielle Krawiec says

    April 05, 2021 at 10:44 am

    When did you buy the komoplement pull out clothes rail? I can’t seem to find it on the IKEA website and it is exactly what I am looking for.

    Reply
    • Kris Jarrett says

      April 18, 2021 at 7:37 pm

      I just bought these for another closet we redid less than a year ago but I don’t see them on their website anymore either – can’t believe they would discontinue those! I would give eBay a shot to see if someone is selling them there!

      Reply
  23. Jessica says

    August 29, 2021 at 7:52 pm

    Love this! Looking forward to using your pics as inspiration in my laundry room! Did you use the 79″ Pax frames? Or the 94″? Thanks so much!

    Reply
  24. MK says

    November 27, 2021 at 3:12 pm

    Where are the baskets from? What are their dimensions?

    Reply
  25. Michelle says

    January 13, 2022 at 9:57 am

    Beautiful! Do you have ideas on small entryway drop zones? I currently have 5 hooks and a shelf but it doesn’t look put together at all. I found ideas for board and batten with hooks but curious if you have any suggestions? Our space is about 5 feet wide x 9 ft tall with a chair rail in the middle.

    Reply
  26. Anonymous says

    September 09, 2022 at 2:00 am

    May I ask where you found the woven baskets? Super job, thanks for sharing.

    Reply

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