Finish an IKEA PAX to measure, or get a real made-to-measure cabinet?
The question we get most often. The honest answer is that a PAX is sometimes the better choice, and we say so. Below is when it is, when it is not, and what it costs.
- A 2.5 metre PAX with doors: 800 to 1,500 euros, assembled yourself
- Our 2.5 metre built-in, installed: 5,200 to 7,000 euros
- Straight wall and temporary: PAX. Alcove, slope or high ceiling: custom
When PAX is enough
Straight walls, a ceiling of 2.40 or higher than 2.36 metres without wanting to go up to it, a standard width that fits, and a budget under two thousand euros. If you move within two years and want to take the wardrobe with you, PAX is the logical choice too. A 2.50-metre PAX with doors costs roughly eight hundred to fifteen hundred euros, assembled yourself.
When custom wins
An alcove, a sloping wall, a three-metre ceiling, a wall out of true, or simply the wish that the cabinet looks as if it belongs to the house. A PAX stops at 2.36 metres and always leaves a gap at the side; everything you do afterwards to hide it costs time and money and rarely looks right. A custom cabinet fills the space to the ceiling and side wall, with filler strips in the same finish.
What both cost in practice
A 2.50-metre PAX with doors, a filler strip, a plinth and a carpenter for a day quickly comes to two thousand to two and a half thousand euros in The Hague. Our 2.50-metre built-in, 2.60 high, with hinged doors, installed, is on the site at 5,200 to 7,000 euros. The difference is the layout, the Blum drawers, the doors to the ceiling and a ten-year warranty. Whether that difference is worth it depends on how long you stay and how visible the cabinet is.
The middle way: finishing a PAX to measure
Sometimes a PAX is already there and almost fits. Then we can finish it with filler strips to the ceiling and side wall, a plinth, and new fronts in one of our finishes. That costs less than a new cabinet and looks built in. We do say: the inside stays PAX, with its shelf thickness and drawers.
Our advice in one sentence
Straight wall and temporary: PAX. Alcove, slope, high ceiling or staying long: custom. In doubt, send a photo via WhatsApp and you will hear within a day what we would do, even if the answer is IKEA.
Your price estimate in one minute
Four choices, an instant range. Then we call you to plan a measuring visit, if you want us to.
Give us a call. Within five minutes you know what your cabinet costs.
The estimate above is a range, because we have not seen your wall yet. On the phone we ask three questions and then you get a price you can count on. No sales talk, no emails back and forth.
- A price within five minutes instead of a range
- Planning benefit of up to 250 euros if you are flexible on the installation day
- A measuring appointment straight away, usually within three working days
Available on weekdays from 8:00 to 20:00 and Saturdays until 17:00.
That planning benefit is not a sales trick. If we are already working in your neighbourhood that week, it saves us travel time and half a day of setting up. We pass that saving on, up to 250 euros. Tell us on the phone that you are flexible with the date and we will see what fits the schedule.
Frequently asked questions
Can you install a PAX for me?
Only as part of a made-to-measure finish. Just assembling we do not do; there are cheaper parties for that.
Is a custom cabinet always more expensive?
With an alcove or sloping wall usually not. Everything you have to adapt on a PAX to make it fit there often adds up to the same as custom.
Can a custom cabinet move with me?
The cabinet itself yes. The filler strips are made for this house and are cut to size again in the new one.