Inexpensive RTA Pax Storage System from Ikea

Our house has a small sunroom located between the kitchen and the dining room. Because of its size and location we had no idea what to do with it so to my delight, my husband suggested we make it into the craft room I had always wanted.

The two things I needed most in a craft room was a great work space to spread out on and lots of storage for all my stuff. We solved the work space problem by purchasing a 9 foot piece of solid surface counter top and making legs for it out of metal pipes and assorted parts from the hardware store. I have several rolling plastic storage bins with drawers that slide under the work surface but I still needed more storage.

I was looking through the Ikea catalog and saw several items that I thought might work. I made a trip to the store to check them out in person and to see how well they were made. I had no idea that these units are actually sold as individual pieces and they can be mixed and matched to make exactly what you are looking for. I looked around and thought there was no way I was going to figure out all the parts that I needed.

I was approached by a sales woman who asked me if I needed help. She explained to me that in this section of the store, they are there to help you pick everything out and get it right. They walk around with you, show you all the options and write down all the pieces you need. When you have all the info, they take you over to a computer and type it all in. Here they check to make sure the warehouse has all the pieces in stock and it sends a picking ticket for all the pieces down to them. The sales person prints you out a piece of paper that you take to the cash register to pay. You then simply drive around to the loading dock where they have all the pieces waiting there for you to load up.

What I ended up getting was a basic Pax cabinet frame in the oak effect finish. The frame measures 39 3/8 wide, 25 5/8 deep and 79 1/8 high. To that I added 2 drawer units on the bottom that run smooth and have pull out stops. The drawers are nice and deep at 6 inches so they work really well for storing bulky supplies like craft punches. I picked doors with a frosted insert so the unit would have a lighter look but still hide my mess inside. I needed room inside to accommodate 12x12 scrapbooks so I added only 4 shelves inside of mine but the cabinet has predrilled holes every inch so you could add many more. When it was complete the final cost for all the pieces including the handles was $230.00.

Assembly took about 2 hours and was much easier than I expected. Since Ikea sells all over the world, their instructions are pictures that are easy to follow. I love my cabinet, it holds so much and is very sturdy. It was exactly what I wanted.