I used the Pax system and Komplement drawers from Ikea and spent a total of $575 + tax. {If you want the full breakdown with links, it’s in the full post linked above.}
Once I added my clothing to the new organizer, I realized I had two awkward spaces.
The area on the far left could totally fit one more mesh basket. And the plain front drawer area could fit one more drawer. Ikea also had the large shelf I needed back-ordered until November… so I figured when the shelf came back in stock I’d also order the other items.
It took much longer than expected. First, one item would be available for pick up… but then the shelf would be out of stock. Then, the next day the shelf would be in stock… but the mesh drawer would be out of stock. I left everything in my online Ikea cart and would click over daily until finally over Thanksgiving weekend EVERYTHING was in stock at once!
I arranged for a grab and go pickup for Sunday, drove out to Ikea and back and immediately grabbed my tools and got to work. Since I had already installed mesh drawers, shelves and plain front drawers, it was much easier than when I originally put everything together.
Just the addition of the three pieces (total additional cost $68) made a HUGE difference in everything looking much more *done* then before when I had the open spaces.
Here is the finished product:
I love that I gained two more drawers of space that would have otherwise been wasted. And that white drawer is HUGE too. Right now, it’s empty, but I think I’m going to use it to pack away my ‘in between weather skirts and dresses that I can’t wear with tights for the winter’ items.
This still isn’t the total FINISHED Walk-In Closet. So, there will still be more updates coming. It looks like we will be starting our bathroom project in the new year, so once we build in a bathroom and add another wall it will actually become a real walk-in closet.
Right now, I’m thinking once we have the new wall, I will either add a Pax box or two along with my existing shoe organizers. Or, I might just add a regular wire clothing rack for part of the area. Or both? Guess we’ll find out in 2022!
It is a baby boom up in here with first my brother and wife’s baby (now 1), then my sister Katie and her husband’s baby (born over the summer) and now my sister Kelsey and her husband’s baby (December due date). I shared the Adorable Personalized M&M Favors I did for Katie’s baby shower back in June. Well, now it’s baby shower favor time for Kelsey’s jungle animal themed shower!
I’m pretty sure Kelsey isn’t a regular blog reader, but if so… LOOK AWAY from this post!
I wanted to do something edible and also tie in the jungle animal theme, which brought me to animal crackers. I mean, they’re perfect! I got a gigantic tub of animal crackers at Costco and also ordered cellphone baggies and some animal themed stickers off Amazon.
I made about 30 baggies of crackers and also mixed in a box of Zebra cakes, just for funsies. I mean, LOOK how cute they turned out:
I was going to use the same basket that I had thrifted for Katie’s shower favors, but needed a bit more space. So, I repurposed this green rope basket that I bought when Jack was a little baby to hold all the treats. The fun green colors also tie in well with the jungle theme.
And with that, I think I’m DONE on baby showers for a while. However, I’m just getting started with all the baby snuggling!
Disclaimer: This post contains an Amazon affiliate link. This means that clicking on a link may help me earn a small commission at no cost to you.
When I shared my plans for my walk-in closet (find it here Walk-In Closet in Progress: The Before & My Plans), I had left myself with a ‘to do’ list for the room. Let’s start with a status update on each item and then get into the fun stuff like how much it cost and the finished product!
To do list status:
Task
Status
Remove border
Done! This was a huge pain in the butt because while some of the border came off easily, other bits came off in little chunks of paper.
Pick out paint color
Done! I ended up choosing Greige from Behr. I bought 2 gallons and have about ½ gallon left for when we build a new wall into the room.
Sand tops of walls
Done! After removing the border there was a ridge between the unpainted and painted area. I spackled any holes or large divots and then sanded everything nice and smooth.
Move the cable modem setup to a different room
Done! I was able to move this whole setup to our living room, which is much more convenient.
Paint the walls
Done! This took a few hours of work and I did 2 coats on all the walls in the room.
Get rid of everything I don’t want to live in the room
Done! The old hallway carpet went out for trash, the small TV area of stuff went into the basement and I went through an old tub of office stuff that was literally 90% trash.
Build the Pax system
Done!
Live out all my organizing fantasies
DONE!
Here are some in progress photos from removing the border and painting the room:
On to the Pax System.
I ended up choosing the Pax System from Ikea due to price, the organizing options and the fact that I can always add more bits later. Here was my initial plan:
Source: Ikea.com
However, once I got to the Ikea store, I decided to add mesh drawers to the first box and another hanging bar to the second box.
Here is exactly what I bought:
1 Pax wardrobe frame 29 ½ x 79 ¼
3 Pax wardrobe frames 19 5/8 x 79 ¼
1 Komplement clothes rail 27 ½
3 Komplement clothes rails 17 ¾
3 Komplement shelves 18 1/8
3 Komplement drawers 29 ½
The total cost of the entire Pax system I purchased was $575 + tax. They were back-ordered on one shelf that will go above the three white drawers, so I’ll be picking that up in November. After loading the system with all my stuff, I will also be buying one more mesh drawer and one more white drawer to fill the open space so it’s not wasted.
Here are some in-progress photos of me building it.
I did make a mistake when building the third Pax box and accidentally put the backing on backwards. Rather than remove a bazillion nails and probably destroy the backing, I decided to just give it two coats of white paint. I built every single thing by myself with no help needed. However, once it got to the point of using the drywall anchors to secure each piece to the wall, I had my husband help because he’s taller. We did accidentally destroy one drywall anchor, so a few days later he picked me up a few options of toggle anchors which worked perfectly.
Here is the finished Pax before I added anything to it:
Now to the fun part… the organizing!
My clothing is all over the place — it lives in a small closet in my room + a small closet in my office + my dresser in my room. I think there is a storage bin under my bed too. My pet peeve is that since the closets are small-to-standard sized (with bi-fold doors), I usually pack away all my off-season clothes and store them in the office. So, if I ever need anything off-season, like a swimsuit, it’s a huge mess of having to dig through a bunch of stacked boxes in the office closet to find anything.
My plan with the walk-in closet is to have all my clothes in one place. I’m starting with this one wall of Pax systems, but after we build the bathroom and add a wall to the closet, I plan to relocate my current wire clothing rod to this area. I will also add my shoe storage and may end up adding another Pax box or two depending on how everything comes together. All this to say, that this is not all of my clothes. Yet.
Here is how I organized:
Pax 1 (far left) shelves: This is where I used my old FabFitFun mailing boxes and index cards to organize things that I need sporadically. There are boxes for: layering tank tops, summer tank tops, shoe care, Thinx, and tights. One box is currently empty so I have room to grow. In the mesh drawers are all my swimsuits/coverups (bottom drawer) and scarves/winter gloves (top drawer). As you can see, there is plenty of room to add a third mesh drawer… so I’m going to add one to fill the wasted space.
Pax 2 (second from left) clothing rods: This is where I have my toppers (cardigans, button up shirts and lightweight jackets) for work on the top. All my skirts are hanging on the bottom rod. This isn’t actually ALL my skirts, as summer skirts are packed away in the tub on top of the Pax system. I also have a few wintery skirts that are still living in the office closet for now.
Pax 3 (third from left) clothing rods and drawers: All my blouses are in the top section – solids first (tanks, short sleeves, long sleeves) and then prints (same). I also have my fancy Rough & Tumble bags hanging in this section. The drawers contain jeans (top drawer), sweaters/long sleeves (middle drawer) and empty for room to grow (bottom drawer). Since there is free space, I will be adding a fourth drawer and topping it with a shelf so you can’t see inside.
Pax 4 (right) clothing rods: This is my dress section. Once again, not ALL my dresses as I have summer dresses stored in a container on top of the Pax system. On the floor of this section, I have an empty laundry basket for my ‘to donate’ pile and two pairs of boots.
I mentioned shoes, but as you can see there are no shoe organizers in this room yet. Once we remove the elliptical machine, I will be putting my shoe storage against the wall under the window. I think I might also be adding a mirror to that wall at some point.
It took me almost a full week to organize my clothing into the Pax system because I was trying to be super strategic about what I added. For each section, I purged items that I no longer loved and either added them to my Poshmark closet or put them in my ‘to donate’ bag for the thrift store. Being able to see everything I have is really helpful in determining what I need. Or don’t need. I also like having that small laundry basket ready for any future donations. When you put on an item and it doesn’t fit, it’s super easy to just add it to the donate bin and move on.
It’s a work in progress, but so far, I’m LOVING it.
