One evening (Feb 18), I received a message from a friend who said he was getting rid of 5 Ikea PAX units and wondering if we could use them? Each unit came with a slide-out coat rack and a drawer.
We said “YES! We’d love to take them.” We figured that if we couldn’t use them, we would sell them on kijiji, and split the profits with our friend.
So the next morning, we made 3 trips to bring home the units – they live a few blocks away.The sunroom after our trips.Then they lived in Neil’s office / maker space for a week on their sides (they’re too tall for the basement) while we figured out where we could use them.
We eventually came up with the plan to use 3 of the units for organization in the maker space in the basement, and 1 each for the boys in their shared bedroom.
This means the 3 units destined for the basement had to be cut down so they would fit. Lara helps Neil to muscle one unit at a time outside.
After cutting, it heads back to the basement.
One done! This was a nice demonstration of a practical application of the Pythagorean theorem, to work out the minimum amount to cut off so that the shelves could be tipped up to vertical without hitting the ceiling.Three done!They are then secured together.Then the cut pieces are shaved, removing the flange off the back edge, to be used as shelves in the units themselves.“Shaved” in the literal sense!!The cut-offs from shortening the cabinets were almost the perfect size to use as shelves. They’re about 1cm too narrow, so they had to be screwed in from the outside. If we’d thought it through we would have made the cabinets 1cm shorter, making the cutoffs 1cm longer, and then we could have used standard IKEA shelf hangers!
Maker space storage units in Neil’s office / maker space. A small scrap of wood hot-glued onto the top prevents them from being able to tip over.Felix’s unit.Nolan’s unit. Behind the top of each of the boys’ units is a scrap of baseboard as long as the cabinet is wide, screwed into a stud. This provides a way to secure the cabinet to the wall to prevent tipping.
Based on Ikea’s website, the total cost of the units we inherited was roughly $625 + tax:
$125 * 5 frame
$10 * 5 clothes rail
$30 * 5 drawer
$5 * 5 shelves
Our outlay based on the configurations the boys and Neil wanted was $250 + tax:
a door and required hardware
6 more drawers
8 more shelves (in addition to the 6 free shelves we got by re-using the cutoffs)
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3 thoughts on “New storage on the cheap”
Hey Grandpa! In the last picture, the one in my room, notice that on my desk, to the right of the cabinet, is the game jacks that you gave me for my birthday. 😁
Hey Grandpa! In the last picture, the one in my room, notice that on my desk, to the right of the cabinet, is the game jacks that you gave me for my birthday. 😁
Nolan, you might need to repaint those walls soon…
Good use of PAX units, I have several too. They are almost eight feet high.
I will send photos.