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January 26, 2018 By Brandy 52 Comments

Home » Home & Garden Projects » Cleaning & Organizing

DIY IKEA Built-ins for Storage

Filed Under: Cleaning & Organizing, Home Decor Projects

These IKEA built-ins were created by using a combination of wardrobes and bookcases. A place for everything and everything in its place.

Come see what we did for our living room to store toys and media in lieu of a large entertainment center! Another IKEA hack using Billy bookcases and trim!Create a wall of custom bookcases my customizing wardrobes and bookcases for a beautiful wall of IKEA built-ins. Its perfect for maximizing storage in a den, office, or bedroom.

When we moved into our home last summer we quickly realized that we would need to come up with some creative storage solutions for a home that was built for 4 people—not 7. We unpacked the bedrooms and living room and put everything else in the formal dining room. Now, many families actually utilize their formal dining rooms, but we never have. We eat in the kitchen dining area and so this space was just an open room for us.

Create a wall of custom bookcases my customizing wardrobes and bookcases for a beautiful wall of IKEA built-ins. Its perfect for maximizing storage in a den, office, or bedroom.

We went back and forth about what we should use the room for and ultimately decided that it needed to be a storage room with lots of shelving. The room where we kept all of our games, DVDs, and craft supplies. That’s a tall order for a single room. Especially when it is the FIRST room that you see when you walk into the house.

A lot of IKEA billy bookcase hacks use open shelving. I could have simply bought a bunch of Ikea Billy bookcases and added the glass doors that they offer (I believe it’s glass top and wood bottom), but I didn’t want to see inside the cabinets. These are meant for hidden storage. I think what we came up with is a good balance of decor on the side shelves and functional base cabinets storage hidden behind the wardrobe doors.

How to decide which items to purchase to make IKEA built-ins for an entire wall.

I spent hours designing a space with semi custom built-ins that I hoped would work for our family. IKEA’s DIY design program has a lot to be desired. It’s about as helpful as some of the instructions for assembling some of the other IJEA products. It froze on me a couple of times and I had to start over completely. It also doesn’t have the capability of letting you mix and match items that should be in separate rooms. ie: I wanted to use bedroom wardrobes mixed with office bookcases, but it didn’t let me combine both items into my digital design layout.

When everything was all said and done, I had a hodgepodge layout of what I wanted, and my husband got started on the building process.

Every room is different, but I’ll share the products we used for our IKEA built-in hack at the bottom of the post so that you can mix and match them to fit your space!

How to customize IKEA DIY BUILT-INS from wardrobes and bookcases.

Create a wall of custom bookcases my customizing wardrobes and bookcases for a beautiful wall of IKEA built-ins. Its perfect for maximizing storage in a den, office, or bedroom.
He built a platform for the wardrobes and bookcases to stand on so that he could frame them out and add trim.

Our unit does not go all the way to the ceiling. There wasn’t enough room to add any other type of cabinet or storage so I found some wire baskets from Target and will use those to store fabric and other items. This option preserves the crown molding already installed near the ceiling.

Create a wall of custom bookcases my customizing wardrobes and bookcases for a beautiful wall of IKEA built-ins. Its perfect for maximizing storage in a den, office, or bedroom.
Then he put everything together and attached them to the platform. We added drawers, wire drawers, bookshelves, and doors.

When all was said and done we had 2 large wardrobes, 3 narrow wardrobes, and two narrow bookcases. We added doors and handles and Derrick finished the trim along the sides with caulk, wood filler, paint, and added baseboards to the front.

Here are the finished custom IKEA built-ins.

Create a wall of custom bookcases my customizing wardrobes and bookcases for a beautiful wall of IKEA built-ins. Its perfect for maximizing storage in a den, office, or bedroom.
(2019 update: You can see what our Pax system unit currently looks like here with baskets and a new wall paint color in this photo on Instagram.)
The wardrobes are deeper than the bookcases, so they are better for storing games and bigger items. You can also put solid doors on them vs. the half glass doors that were offered for the bookcases. This is why we did not use bookcases for the entire wall. The bookcases are shorter than the wardrobes, but you can buy an extension kit and that will bring them right up to where the wardrobes are. As you can see, our bookcases don’t come out as far as the center wardrobes, and I like the depth that it adds to the look of the room.

It took a couple of weeks, working here and there, for Derrick to put everything together and then I spent an ENTIRE DAY filling them up and organizing everything.

Create a wall of custom bookcases my customizing wardrobes and bookcases for a beautiful wall of IKEA built-ins. Its perfect for maximizing storage in a den, office, or bedroom.
It feels like such an open space when the doors are closed, but we all know how much stuff is hidden behind those doors. Mission accomplished! As you can see, the kids have had their way in the game cupboard and it doesn’t look as tidy as it did when we finished this project 4 months ago, but that’s life. At least it’s all hidden away once the doors close, right?

Create a wall of custom bookcases my customizing wardrobes and bookcases for a beautiful wall of IKEA built-ins. Its perfect for maximizing storage in a den, office, or bedroom.
Ahh! Cue the choir of angels. EVERYTHING fit with room to spare in these IKEA built-ins. It’s my favorite room in the house. I love that the handles are high enough that the baby can’t reach them so when the doors are shut, everything is tucked inside and out of his grasp.

Create a wall of custom bookcases my customizing wardrobes and bookcases for a beautiful wall of IKEA built-ins. Its perfect for maximizing storage in a den, office, or bedroom.
 

Create a wall of custom bookcases my customizing wardrobes and bookcases for a beautiful wall of IKEA built-ins. Its perfect for maximizing storage in a den, office, or bedroom.
We added a small IKEA desk off to the side for our computer as a small home office area, and our old dining table is being used as a homework and game table. I may end up adding a bench seat in between the windows for more storage.

Create a wall of custom bookcases my customizing wardrobes and bookcases for a beautiful wall of IKEA built-ins. Its perfect for maximizing storage in a den, office, or bedroom.
It was a TON of work to customize these IKEA built-ins, but worth every bit of effort. Here’s a quick before and after…

Create a wall of custom bookcases my customizing wardrobes and bookcases for a beautiful wall of IKEA built-ins. Its perfect for maximizing storage in a den, office, or bedroom.

Items needed to make IKEA Built-Ins to cover an entire wall:

2 Large Pax Wardrobes

3 Small Pax Wardrobes

7 Doors

Wide Shelves and Narrow Shelves

Mesh Baskets

Drawers

2 Narrow Billy Bookcases

2 Bookcase Extensions

Handles from Lowe’s (but you can find handles and knobs any home improvement store or Amazon)

Dining Chairs from Walmart (out of stock right now)

With lumber, hardware, and trim, our grand total to make these IKEA built-ins was around $1300.00.

It was an investment for sure, but one that will pay off. This was a game-changer for our storage problem and will be a selling feature someday if we move.

If you have any questions and making our semihandmade IKEA built-ins I’ll do my best to answer them!

You might also like these organizational projects…

Add storage to your living room by by making IKEA built-ins

Built-In Living Room Storage with IKEA Bookcases

 

Tiny and Tidy Closet Nursery

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About Brandy

Welcome! I'm Brandy, mother to 5 darling kiddos and a cute black lab named Toby. My husband is in the Coast Guard so we've lived all over the place, turning each house into a home. I love baking, sewing, making cute things with my kids, and sharing what I've learned with all of you!

Disclaimer: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com without any additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Comments

  1. Kamala says

    May 29, 2023 at 12:27 am

    Great project and your husband must have spent a long time building. We did a similar thing with Ivar shelving since we lived in a rental. We slowly added bit but bit pieces in our living room until we had wall to wall shelving. Not as polished as yours but super handy when moving and they just came out with Ivar doors if you need extended shelving elsewhere or garage .

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      May 29, 2023 at 10:17 am

      Thank you Kamala! And totally, I love the IKEA options because it adds so much functional space and the doors hide everything! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Amy says

    January 14, 2022 at 2:25 am

    We have such limited storage in our house, and a space where this would be perfect. Looking in your comments I think I have 6” less of wall space. I notice you said you had some extra space around, but I’m assuming 6” is enough of a difference that we should figure out a different configuration? Also did you use the 79” tall or 93” tall Pax wardrobes? I have planned to do this for like 6 months and think I’m finally ready to pull the trigger. Although I think all the Pax items are out of stock now 🤪 thank you for sharing this!

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      January 14, 2022 at 10:02 am

      The extra space that we had around was about 3″ on each side. It worked out perfectly to have enough room to slide the unit in and then add some trim work. We used the 93″ tall Pax wardrobes and still had room to later add metal baskets across the top of the entire built in for fabric and notion storage! It’s a big commitment, so I completely understand taking your time pulling the trigger. the IKEA room design app was awful (maybe they’ve improved it since we made this) so I had to basically do all of the measurements on my own and find items to fit, but it was definitely worth it! Good luck!

      Reply
  3. Dri says

    August 12, 2021 at 11:20 pm

    LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this setup – so much so that I think we’re going to start this weekend! Same scenario here – a den right when you walk in our front door, and an unused dining room on the other side. Storage is needed so desperately to clean up the first impression! Quick question – I noticed the Billy bookshelf (even with extension) is about 1/2″ taller than the PAX – did you do anything to try to even them out, or did you just let them stay slightly different? It’s such a small difference, didn’t know if it was really noticeable at all? I can’t tell in your photo at all. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      August 14, 2021 at 8:41 pm

      We didn’t do anything, you literally can’t tell! 🙂 Good luck! It’s been such a game changer in our home!

      Reply
  4. Myranda says

    March 7, 2021 at 2:10 pm

    Did you anchor the units to the wall at all?

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      March 7, 2021 at 7:34 pm

      Yes, they are anchored. I can’t remember if the cabinets came with hardware already or not, but they are secured!

      Reply
      • Robin says

        March 20, 2021 at 12:13 am

        How did you attach the shelves to the wardrobes? I can’t tell if they were already set up for shelves or you had to prepare them some how.

        Reply
        • Brandy says

          March 20, 2021 at 1:30 pm

          Hi Robin! They come with a few shelves and you can purchase extras. They attach on pegs like bookshelves.

          Reply
  5. Breanne says

    August 5, 2020 at 1:42 pm

    I am not seeing the shelves on the ikea website for the 13″ depth, just the 22″. Do they actually have the 39″ wide shelves with the 13″ depth?

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      August 5, 2020 at 2:01 pm

      You should be able to toggle between to two using link. Click on the right side of the page where it says “size”, and it will give you all of the options. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/komplement-shelf-white-00277989/

      Reply
  6. Kristen Abrams says

    July 11, 2020 at 3:12 pm

    Hi there, We are loving the DIY Built-Ins and are considering doing this in our playroom for hiding toys and extra storage. I just wanted to ask why you did the bottom plywood part? To make it look more custom? We have tile and just curious if we should include this step. Looks beautiful nonetheless! Love that I came across on Pinterest.

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      July 11, 2020 at 5:04 pm

      Hi Kristen! I’m so excited for your new toy storage! We added the base so that we could trim out the bottom. You can totally set up this system without it on tile flooring.

      Reply
      • Kristen says

        July 28, 2020 at 9:37 pm

        We finished the project this past weekend and it’s so beyond perfect!!! Thank you thank you for posting!!!

        Reply
        • Brandy says

          July 29, 2020 at 10:42 am

          Yay!!!! I’m so glad you finished it! I’ve received lots of comments from those who planned to do it, but this is the first time anyone has come back to let me know how it turned out! Ours is invaluable. So functional!

          Reply
      • Rodney says

        August 26, 2020 at 1:28 pm

        Is the base on top of carpet? Can’t tell for sure from the photos.

        Thanks.

        Reply
        • Brandy says

          August 26, 2020 at 2:42 pm

          Hi Rodney! Yes. He built it right over the carpet.

          Reply
  7. Jody says

    April 30, 2020 at 7:38 pm

    Hi from Australia!!!!
    This is great and exactly what I’m looking to in my too large dining room.
    May I ask what the length of your wall is??
    And given it’s been broken in for a few years now, is there anything you would change if you had to redo it? More drawers? Less shelves? More wire baskets?

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      May 1, 2020 at 2:10 pm

      Hi Jody! I’m still as in love with it today as I was when we built it. For us, it’s the perfect amount of shelving and drawers. I bought a few extra shelves in case I wanted to add them over the years, but never ended up using them. The length of our wall is 174″ and there was about 2″ on each side that was open. This made it easier to slide everything in place and add trim to make it look like a built in.

      Reply
  8. Nicole says

    March 22, 2020 at 6:53 pm

    This is exactly what I’d like to do in a similar area of our home. Curious how high did you space your shelves on the right side. Im struggling with figuring that part out. Yours look great!

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      March 23, 2020 at 11:25 am

      Hi! The bookshelves or the right cupboard? The bookshelves are adjustable so I move them around, depending on what I’m displaying on them. But they are all about 12″ apart. In the right game cupboard they are 12-14″ apart.

      Reply
  9. Lisa says

    December 17, 2019 at 1:55 pm

    This is EXACTLY what I’m looking for to create a built-in pantry in our den. Right now we have open shelves and it just looks so cluttered. I was worried that since the PAX wardrobes are designed to hold clothing that weight might be an issue. Do any of your shelves sag under weight?
    Also, do you know whether the PAX wardrobe systems ever go on sale?

    Thanks for your help!

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      December 17, 2019 at 3:43 pm

      Hi Lisa! We love our PAX systems! They have held up great and are as sturdy as the billy bookcases that we have from IKEA. Our game closet shelves have started to bow, but it was totally my fault for piling up like twenty board games on each one. Once I thinned out our collection it was much better! I’m not sure how they’d do holding a lot of canned goods. I haven’t ever seen them on sale, but that’d be awesome!

      Reply
  10. Amber says

    August 30, 2019 at 6:13 pm

    Hi Brandy!
    We are doing an office reno and are copying your system! We are pretty excited! How many of the wide and narrow shelves did you order and what where their dimensions?
    Thanks so much for the inspiration!

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      August 30, 2019 at 8:48 pm

      Hi Amber, YAY for organization! We used 2 of the wide PAX wardrobes and 3 of the narrow ones. The 2 wide ones are on the end with the 3 narrow in the middle. All covered by doors. And then the Billy bookcases on the end. Here are links to the PAX wardrobes with the dimensions! Wide: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00214572/ Narrow: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40214565/

      Reply
  11. Kippi says

    January 27, 2019 at 11:49 am

    Wonderful! Totally jealous!!! Looks pretty and that mega storage is so nice. Happy Crafting, Kippi #kippiathome

    Reply
  12. Donna @ Modern on Monticello says

    January 22, 2019 at 9:38 am

    This is a great project and inspiration for my basement projects. Thanks for sharing. Visiting from Project Inspired linkup. Pinned this for later.

    Reply
  13. Brittany Snyder says

    January 22, 2019 at 7:15 am

    Wow! The built-ins have me drooling from storage envy 🙂 This looks like it was a huge project, but turned out amazing! I love the handles you selected and the white makes the room so bright and airy, thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  14. Sandi Magle says

    January 20, 2019 at 1:25 pm

    At this point, we have something from IKEA in every room of our house including a brand new kitchen. I can’t say enough wonderful things about their construction or hardware—and the adaptability of pieces for every room. You did a great job! And, when we had a house of growing boys–we did pretty much the same thing from scratch in our basement. Accessibility is HEAVEN in a busy, creative home. Grins!

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      January 20, 2019 at 7:24 pm

      Yes, it is! Love having everything right there where we need it! IKEA is awesome, they are opening one 30 minutes away—-we had to go 3 hours for the supplies when we built this so this is very exciting!

      Reply
  15. Tricia says

    January 20, 2019 at 12:47 pm

    No doubt…I could use all that storage. What an amazing transformation!

    Reply
  16. Sofia says

    February 22, 2018 at 10:47 am

    Wow. Gotin a hurry. IKEA.
    And color usedon walls

    Reply
  17. Sofia says

    February 22, 2018 at 10:46 am

    Absolutely love tIKA wall of storage in diningroom.!! Have just e-mailed to my husband.

    What brand and color is the grey you used. Very soothing, light, and clean.

    Thank you for your fabulouse blog

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      February 23, 2018 at 4:31 am

      Thank you very much! It is Sherwin Williams “On the Rocks” 🙂

      Reply
  18. Amber Ferguson says

    February 6, 2018 at 7:55 pm

    Fabulous post and just what I have been wanting to do in my craft room! I will be featuring you at Thursday Favorite Things this week!

    Reply
  19. Karlie says

    February 5, 2018 at 2:03 pm

    This space is awesome!! We also don’t use our formal dining room and I recently turned it into a homework room for my girls. I definitely could use some beautiful closed storage to keep my baby girl from getting into things. Love this space!

    Reply
  20. Christina Makri says

    February 2, 2018 at 2:09 am

    Your design is so functional and the final result is gorgeous! Thank you for sharing at Sweet Inspiration Link Party 🙂

    Reply
  21. Jan says

    February 1, 2018 at 4:36 am

    This is pretty cool and I may need to show Hubby and see if he’d be willing to tackle something like this! I would love for you to share over at the new Let’s Party! https://themarkandjanshow.com/2018/01/31/lets-party-6/ … we look forward to seeing you there!

    Reply
  22. Theresa says

    January 31, 2018 at 9:32 pm

    Loving your new built ins & slightly jealous of you awesome space. Thanks for sharing this at the Inspiration Spotlight party. Pinned & sharing.

    Reply
  23. Jess says

    January 30, 2018 at 6:49 am

    this looks wonderful! How neat!! 🙂

    I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/

    Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!

    Reply
  24. Keri says

    January 28, 2018 at 10:35 pm

    This system is to die for! We moved into a new house and it is seriously lacking in convenient storage. I am hoping to do something similar someday.

    On another note, I gave up on trying to design an IKEA kitchen after the site froze for the fourth time. The struggle is real!

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      January 29, 2018 at 6:44 am

      Keri, YES. So frustrating! But at least you know that this wall can be done…if you kind of sketch it out yourself, haha. Enjoy your new home!

      Reply
    • Geetha says

      February 5, 2022 at 10:49 am

      Hello! This is the most useful Ilea storage explanation that I’ve come across! Thank you so much for your time & generosity including all the details and answering all the comments. I read each and every one. 😁
      I’ve been wondering for a long time if it was possible to mix IKEA storage units and I just couldn’t visualize how the variations in depth would look. Thank you, this is so helpful.
      I have the same issue in an area off the kitchen. I have a mix of games, books, all my crochet yarn, and small appliances that need a spot. I was considering the Kallax but adding doors so the clutter wouldn’t be visible but it’s so recognizably IKEA, and the cubbies are all the same size, some games would stick out. I really would like it to looks more built in.
      And yes, I ran into the same problem with the ikea design program. Lol
      I like how you put the shallow bookcase on the ends, looks very balanced.

      Reply
      • Brandy says

        February 5, 2022 at 9:01 pm

        Thank you so much! I’m glad you found it helpful—-and yes, it’s hard creating functional storage for multiple things. Not everyone has space for a craft room, a game room and a storage room, haha. We have to multitask in one space!

        Reply
  25. Christine says

    January 28, 2018 at 7:23 pm

    You should be a designer for them. You did a much better job then that online system of theirs anyways. I hate that it won’t let you use different pieces from different rooms too.. Your built ins look amazing. All that glorious storage!

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      January 29, 2018 at 6:50 am

      Thank you so much, Christine! And yes, it’s so annoying. I think a lot of people would like to mix and match items and I just don’t see why that isn’t an option on the design program. Oh well, it still worked out in the end. Just took a bit longer!

      Reply
  26. Ashley Elizabeth says

    January 26, 2018 at 3:36 pm

    Brandy! These IKEA built ins are popping everywhere for me! I think the universe is telling me a I need a few… 😉 Thanks for sharing with us at #HomeMattersParty! Have a great weekend!

    Reply
  27. Maureen says

    January 26, 2018 at 10:10 am

    Brandi,

    This looks awesome and I am so happy for you! Keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll be able to do something similar soon.

    Maureen

    Reply
    • Brandy says

      January 26, 2018 at 10:33 am

      Thank you so much, Mareen! It’s been a huge game changer for us!

      Reply
      • Sara says

        April 27, 2019 at 2:20 pm

        What is the name of the ikea cabinents you used?

        Reply
        • Brandy says

          April 27, 2019 at 10:39 pm

          Hi! I used a combination of large and small PAX wardrobes with Billy Bookcases on the ends. Hope that helps! https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00214572/

          Reply

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