IKEA Pax shelves, but the other way

March 1, 2021 4:44 PM

The world is flush with resources telling me how to hack my Pax wardrobe, but I’m not finding this one. I want to add shelves to the cabinet along the depth, that is the short ends of the shelves would be at front and back of the cabinet and the long end would be as deep as the cabinet is. I’m looking to store shoes and take up only about a foot of the cabinet’s width, leaving the rest for hanging.

There are peg holes a-plenty where I’d need them. What can I jam in those holes to support shelves, or where can I find someone else’s solution to what doesn’t feel like a unique request?

posted by OrangeVelour to Home & Garden (7 answers total)

I guess you could use L-brackets or a pair of shelf tracks attached to the side of the wardrobe and put your shelves on that. I would think the shelf tracks would work better but either way just having the shelves unsupported along the long edge on the inside of the wardrobe feels like it would fail at some point.

You might be better having two narrow strips of wood parallel to the side of the wardrobe with one towards the front and the other towards the back. You'd want to fasten them to the top and bottom of the wardrobe so that they don't go anywhere. Drill holes in them to match the ones on the wardrobe. Then insert the metal pegs in the holes at the same level and rest your shelf on that.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 5:31 PM on March 1, 2021 [1 favorite]

Would the KOMPLEMENT divider for frames solve your problem? Alternately, would a hanging shoe organizer work?
posted by Johnny Assay at 5:49 PM on March 1, 2021 [1 favorite]

Pursuant to APiaS above, It's been a while since I had a Pax system, but iirc their peg holes were something like 5mm -- I think they conform to what's termed "the 32mm system".

If so, you should be able to find L brackets and short but appropriately wide screws that would bite into the Pax hole (using it as a pilot hole). Screw L brackets in, one front back, each being screwed into at least two holes (long leg of the L bracket going vertical (vertical below the shelf that is), having at least two holes in it), lay wood of appropriate width on top, and you're done?

This has the drawback of making those Pax peg holes unusable for future Pax pegs, but using larger screws (like 6mm/7mm) would let you support the cantilever.

Total random side-bet: see if any of the Command Adhesive products work? It'd take a crapton of them, but some of their little hanger dealies might work for your shoes, and those things are completely removable but also strong.
posted by aramaic at 6:16 PM on March 1, 2021

I would suggest putting a rod across for hanging, and hang shoe organizers from the horizontal rods. Not quite fitting into the pax system, but if you manage to find some WHITE ones it wouldn't clash. Ikea has their own Skubb are available in 6 or 9 shelf versions.
posted by kschang at 8:58 PM on March 1, 2021 [1 favorite]

@Aramaic -- 3M command adhesive tops out at 16 pounds max load, and those are the picture hanging versions with super-wide contact area. If you are thinking hooks, max load is 7.5 pounds. IIRC.
posted by kschang at 9:04 PM on March 1, 2021

If you are thinking hooks, max load is 7.5 pounds.

I should perhaps have been clearer -- I'm suggesting using the hooks to hang the shoes (eg: via laces, eyelet, or whatever), not using the hooks to support a shelf.
posted by aramaic at 9:58 AM on March 2, 2021

I did something like this on the outside of the wardrobe to create a narrow bedside shelf unit. I used floating shelves and just drilled the holes I needed to fit them. No reason why you couldn't do the same on the inside of the wardrobe I think apart from it might be fiddly to access it.
posted by crocomancer at 12:27 AM on March 3, 2021