Fitting IKEA PAX wall to wall: frame widths, fillers and the 75 cm frame

Short answer: measure the wall, keep at least 20 mm at each end for scribing, and fill the rest with frames. PAX frames are sold as 100, 75 and 50 cm wide but measure 998, 748 and 498 mm, so do the sums with those. Whatever is left becomes a filler at each end, cut to the line of the wall.

Measure skirting to skirting

Take the width between the skirting boards, not between the walls above them. The skirting is the narrowest point, and the frames stand on the floor, so that is the width that decides what fits. (More on that in my tips.)

The sums for common walls

The frames that leave the least filler, keeping at least 20 mm at each end:

• 1800 mm: 100 + 75 = 1746. Filler 27 at each end.
• 2000 mm: 100 + 75 = 1746. Filler 127 at each end.
• 2200 mm: 100 + 100 = 1996. Filler 102 at each end.
• 2400 mm: 100 + 75 + 50 = 2244. Filler 78 at each end.
• 2600 mm: 100 + 100 + 50 = 2494. Filler 53 at each end.
• 2800 mm: 100 + 100 + 75 = 2744. Filler 28 at each end.
• 3000 mm: 100 + 100 + 75 = 2744. Filler 128 at each end.
• 3200 mm: 100 + 100 + 100 = 2994. Filler 103 at each end.

Your wall will not be one of these exactly. That is fine: the fillers take up the difference.

How big should a filler be?

• At least 20 mm at each end. Walls are rarely straight, so a filler is scribed: I hold it in place, run a school compass down the wall to copy its line onto the board, and cut to the line. Under 20 mm there is nothing left to cut.
• Up to about 150 mm at each end looks right. Past that it starts to look like a gap that has been filled, which it is. Swap a frame for a wider one, or add a 50.

Before and after the fillers, in Finchley. Same frames, same doors.

The 75 cm frame

IKEA makes no hinged doors for the 75 frame. It is meant for sliding doors. In a run of hinged doors it gets a pair of MDF doors made to measure, ready for your decorator, and the rest of the run can keep IKEA's doors.

It is often worth it. On a 2400 wall, 100 + 75 + 50 leaves 78 mm at each end. Without the 75, the best fit is two 100s, which leaves 202 mm at each end: a lot of filler.

Close the ends and the top

A filler alone does not finish it. If the side of the last frame shows, it gets an MDF end panel from the floor to the ceiling, so the frame and anything above it disappear behind one face.

The top needs closing too, with a top box or an infill strip. Which one depends on your ceiling: which PAX height fits your ceiling.

In an alcove, check the depth as well

A PAX frame is 58 cm deep before the doors. Measure the alcove's depth to the wall itself, not to the front of the skirting: I take the skirting off the back wall before a unit goes in, which gains its thickness. Still not deep enough? Then the alcove wants a made-to-measure wardrobe.

Let the planner do the sums

The wardrobe planner in the brief on Plan your project has a Fill my wall button that does exactly this. Pick IKEA PAX built in, type your wall width, and it picks the frames, shows the fillers at each end and draws it all to scale. You can add, remove or swap frames and watch the fillers change. Rough sizes are fine: I measure properly on the free visit.

Already designed it in IKEA's PAX planner? Send me the design code instead: where to find it. Want to see one finished? A five-door PAX wardrobe in Finchley.