[fanwinston]

Hi there--

We are a day away from finishing our Ikea-heavy kitchen renovation. We are now thinking about buying two 24-inch wide/88-inch tall high cabinets from Ikea's kitchen line and turning them into a coat and shoe closet. Our front door opens into the dining room, which is open to the kitchen, so we thought it would be cool to continue the look of the kitchen (Abstrakt white doors) in the dining room.

My questions are: 1) Does Ikea have a coat rack rod that will fit a 24-inch cabinet? 2) Will the two support shelves get in the way, making it impossible to hang coats in there? (i.e., will there have to be a shelf smackdab in the middle of where coats would normally go?) 3) Do they need to be mounted to the wall? We'd like the cabinets to appear flush with the wall, less like furniture, more like a built-in.

That's all. Thanks so much in advance for your advice!

[DesignDiva]

Have you considered using a Pax wardrobe? They are designed to be used as closets and come with all sorts of cool internal fittings. I'm sure you could find a compatible doorstyle to go with your Abstrakt. The Pax comes in 19 and 39 inch widths so with the wider one you'd get more efficient storage since there would be no central obstruction. You can mount the closet pole whereever you like and use a couple of the wire basket style drawers at the bottom for shoes.

[sxpert]

the Pax Lomen doors are a perfect match for akurum abstrakt white.
you can also use a komplement wooden clothes rail that you cut to fit
IKEA | Wardrobes | PAX/KOMPLEMENT system | KOMPLEMENT | Clothes rail

[fanwinston]

I've considered the Pax, but am worried that the shiny white doors they offer aren't rounded like the Abstrakt series. I know they're similar, but do they look practically identical? And I've also heard from an Ikea salesperson that the pantries are more durable than the wardrobes.

Thanks for all your help!

[sxpert]

yes. faktum|akurum/abstrakt white and pax/lomen look exactly the same, and are rounded alike, with the same kind of decor sheet
the faktum|akurum structures are built in the same exact material as the pax structures. Also, they are designed in a similar fashion (aka the back is 3mm thick medium and the grooves where they fit are of similar manufacturing). also the same mounting hardware is used (the metal bits are the same type)
I am personally even using faktum|akurum shelves inside the pax, as they are cheaper, and the metal bits are sturdier than the plastic thingies that come with the pax ones

[DesignDiva]

I like Pax as much as I like the Akurum line...and Komplement is as fantastic as Rationell for the interiors!