Hacking a Pax around a corner

So, me and my girlfriend bought a house which had a closet built into the wall of the bedroom. Because it wasn’t IKEA we (obviously) had to get rid of it and replace the built-in closet with nice and tall Pax-units.

There was only one tiny problem: the recess of the old build-in closet could easily fit four Pax-units, but for a fifth one to fit, it had to be narrower and go around a corner in order for the door to remain the same width as the rest of the units:

the corner

The only solution I could think of was to ‘improve’ one of the Pax-units and cut out a corner, both in all the shelves as in the right side and the back. So – as we say in the Netherlands: “Meten is weten” (to measure, is to know) – I took some measurements and a plan came together:

the plan to hack a Pax around a corner

Then came the easy part: cutting all the involved parts of the Pax-unit to size:

Cutting the PAX wardrobes to the right measurements

Cutting the PAX wardrobes to the right measurements

Cutting the PAX wardrobes to the right measurements

Cutting the PAX wardrobes to the right measurements

Cutting the PAX wardrobes to the right measurements

My plan was to use only IKEA parts and not simply nail or screw the parts together, so I had to recreate all the clever cut-outs, holes and special bolts that IKEA uses (you know, the small round nuts that you tighten with a screwdriver). Furthermore, as the smallest of the two parts of the right side of the Pax would have to support the door, I had to create a few new ones to give it more strength. Fortunately, IKEA provides free spare parts nowadays, so I drove to my local IKEA to get some extra nuts and bolts.

Handy tip: you can use the old parts as a mold or template:

Use old cut out as mold
Making the holes for nuts and bolts
Making the holes for nuts and bolts

After I got the spares came the hard part: drilling (a lot of) new holes and creating a few new points to attach the parts to each other:

Making the holes for nuts and bolts

Making the holes for nuts and bolts

Making the holes for nuts and bolts

Making the holes for nuts and bolts

Making the holes for nuts and bolts

Making the holes for nuts and bolts

As it turned out, the modified parts fitted together quite nicely (and looked kinda funny):

Assembled

Assembled

With all the shelves fitted, I was confident it was strong enough and put it into place:

Hacking a Pax around a corner

It fits!

With the door re-attached you wouldn’t know that there’s only 75% of a Pax-Unit behind the door until you open the door:

hacking-a-pax-around-a-corner

Overall a very rewarding project. Up to the next!

~ Wouter van der Boon, the Netherlands