A beautifully designed wardrobe should do more than store your clothes. It should make getting dressed easier, bring order to your everyday routine and feel completely integrated into the room around it.
One of the reasons we love designing wardrobes with IKEA cabinetry is the flexibility it gives us. And while the PAX system may be the obvious starting point, it isn't the only option.
We regularly work with PAX as well as IKEA's METOD/SEKTION kitchen systems to create wardrobes, dressing rooms and walk-in closets. Sometimes, the most successful design uses both. With thoughtful planning and Fronteriors fronts, cover panels, fillers and finishing details, these familiar IKEA frames can become something that feels entirely different: refined, considered and beautifully built in.
Start with the way you want to use the space
Before deciding which cabinet system to use, we always start with function. Think about what you actually need to store. Long dresses require a very different configuration from folded knitwear. Shoes, handbags, jewellery and watches each benefit from their own type of storage. And if two people are sharing a wardrobe, their needs are unlikely to be identical.
The room itself matters too. Ceiling height, wall lengths, windows, doorways and awkward corners can all influence whether PAX, METOD/SEKTION or a combination of systems will give you the best result.
That is where designing beyond a standard wardrobe configuration becomes particularly interesting.
Why we love PAX for wardrobes
PAX was created specifically for clothes storage, and that comes with some clear advantages. Its proportions work naturally for hanging clothes, and IKEA offers a broad range of internal fittings for rails, shelves, drawers, shoe storage and accessories. This makes it relatively easy to create a highly functional wardrobe interior without having to reinvent the storage itself.
PAX is particularly useful for:
- Full-height hanging storage
- Long and short hanging sections
- Folded clothing and shelving
- Shoes and everyday accessories
- Straight wardrobe runs and dressing-room walls
Once the internal layout is resolved, Fronteriors doors and finishing panels can completely change how the system feels within the room. Rather than reading as a freestanding wardrobe, carefully planned fillers, cover panels and full-height fronts can help create a far more integrated, architectural appearance.
When METOD or SEKTION can be even better
Kitchen cabinetry might not be the first thing that comes to mind when planning a wardrobe, but METOD/SEKTION is incredibly useful for dressing rooms. Because they are designed around modular cabinets in a wide range of widths, heights and configurations, they give us another layer of flexibility when designing storage.
Tall kitchen cabinets can create beautiful wardrobe walls, while base cabinets and drawers can be used for lower-level storage, dressing tables or islands.
One of their greatest advantages is the drawer configuration. Deep and shallow external drawers are particularly useful for items that can become lost inside a conventional wardrobe: jewellery, watches, belts, scarves, sunglasses, underwear and other smaller accessories.
Kitchen cabinetry also lends itself beautifully to the built-in look. A run of tall cabinets finished with Fronteriors components, custom made to size where needed, will read like custom joinery rather than modular cabinetry. The result is clean, substantial and deceptively simple — you would never immediately assume the room had been created using kitchen cabinets.
The best solution may be both
You don't necessarily have to choose one system. In larger dressing rooms and walk-in wardrobes, we often find that combining PAX with METOD / SEKTION creates the most functional layout. For example, PAX can form the main wardrobe walls, providing generous hanging space for clothes, while METOD or SEKTION base cabinets can create a central island.
The island then becomes a natural place for drawer storage, keeping jewellery, sunglasses, watches, belts and smaller accessories organised and easy to reach. Add a beautiful countertop and the island also gives you a surface for laying out an outfit, folding clothes or simply creating a focal point in the centre of the room.
It is one of our favourite configurations because each IKEA system is being used for what it does particularly well.
The details make it feel built in
The cabinetry is only the starting point. What makes a wardrobe feel truly considered is often everything around the cabinets: proportions, fillers, side panels, plinths, door style, material and colour.
Taking fronts closer to the ceiling can give the room a more architectural feeling. Covering exposed cabinet sides creates continuity. Matching fillers to the doors prevents the IKEA frames from visually interrupting the design. Even something as simple as repeating the same material across a full wall can dramatically change the perception of the space.
Our curated collection of colours, real wood veneers, textures and door designs offer endless options to create a wardrobe that feels connected to the rest of your home. Custom sizing is also available when standard dimensions aren't quite right for the design.
Your wardrobe, your way
There is no single IKEA formula for creating a beautiful wardrobe. For some spaces, PAX is exactly the right solution. In others, METOD / SEKTION opens up possibilities that a conventional wardrobe system cannot. And sometimes, combining the two gives you the best of both worlds.
With the right configuration and carefully considered fronts and finishing details, modular cabinetry can create a dressing room that feels remarkably close to traditional custom joinery — while retaining the practicality and accessibility that makes IKEA such a useful starting point.
IKEA gives us the framework. Fronteriors gives you the freedom to make it your own.
