Unless you're willing to stack your clothes, sheets, etc in one pile behind another, go with the 14". The extra 8" won't really accomplish anything. The 14" accommodates folded clothes as well as linens. And most kitchen items.

If pax, of course use 22in or you can't use hangers. o.o Unless you go shallow on the short wall and deep on the brick, which will let you obscure that corner box. Pax can be v versatile and nice-slookng, just... don't look forward to taking it with you, dissassembling is awful and unfun yet necessary since the back is not rigid.

(Down with exposed brick! :p)

I would go with the 93" Ikea Pax wardrobe. There are so many styles and configurations, it's easy to customize. You will also have room left on top for storage boxes/baskets. It's also easy to add additional units if you decide you need more space. Have you considered putting floating shelves above the "box", between the new wardrobe and the wall, to add more storage space?

I have an Ikea pax wardrobe that came with my apartment, and it has this crappy plastic backing. You could take that off, or cut it so you could nestle that little white box inside the wardrobe and use the hanging space above it for shirts. that way you wouldn't be sacrificing that extra little space!

I'd choose the 22'' Pax system because you can customise the interior with drawers/shelves/rails/younameit and thereby optimise the use of space. With Aspelund you get "just shelves" - good for sweaters and sheets but not for odd-sized items.

I'd put as many Pax'es on the brick wall as there is room for and then keep the small wall free of heavy furniture. Maybe there's room for a dresser?

As for the white box - embrace it. Put a nice piece of wood on top, add a plant, a lamp and hang a small mirror or picture above it.

Just something to keep in mind - it looks like you have white walls in your rental, so adding an entire wall of white wardrobes might result in a very blank room. You could always add art or decoration to the front of the wardrobes, but covering the brick with flat white furniture might eliminate some of the warmth and variety in your apartment. Maybe that's the look you're going for, but I think you'd be better off covering up blank walls with blank furniture and keeping at least some of the brick exposed for contrast and texture.

Also - if you add the wardrobes to that brick wall, a plant in that corner is likely to suffer from lack of light. Might be best to use that spot for a standing lamp or lighting feature that will brighten that side of the room.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80162003

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90148356

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90155040

Before you buy search Ikea and formaldehyde. Best be informed, especially as you say you have a small space.

I have a 2 door aspelund in my NY apartment with crooked floors and it's fine, except that since it sits crookedly on my crooked floor, and it's a cheap peice of furniture, the doors WILL NOT hang straight.

Be sure to check craigslist for IKEA wardrobes. It will save you so much time putting stuff together...and money, of course. Pay one of the craigslist movers $100 to pick them up and drop them off!

I have the same problem. I spent all weekend at Ikea trying to figure out the solution. I ended up over at Home Depot and bought the Closet Maid system instead (http://bit.ly/gaJylC) at the suggestion of a recent Apt Therapy post. It let me maximize the amount of storage space since I could start higher on the wall. It's not as aesthetically pleasing, but I am planning on hanging a curtain from the ceiling with pretty fabric to cover it up.

Have you thought of using the stolman system?
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/bedroom/19087/
you wouldn't have to worry about your floors as it uses tension posts.

On my honeymoon we had an open closet type system behind the bed and I would love to replicate it someday.

I have used PAX wardrobes on several occasions. The insides are easily customized to hold items of different shapes and categories. The sliding doors are especially space saving. I also would cut out the back of one wardrobe to make space for the white box. This also works great for outlets and light switches in bookcases. Go with the tallest model and leave the other wall open. If you wanted a freestanding solution, look at ELFA. You could do either a ceiling mounted sliding door or a curtain treatment to shield it from your eyes.

Thanks for all the feedback. I'm the one who asked the question. Larua E. (first response) brings up a good point. Does anyone with the 22" D Pax find it too deep for most clothes, towels, etc?

When I visited Ikea last weekend the sales associate I spoke with in the Pax section more or less wrote off the 14" Pax b/c it has few interior fittings. I was also surprised the store only had one 14" D wardrobe on display. It's NYC, who has room for gigantic wardrobes? The 14" deep has the unconventional clothes rail, I imagine that could be a little annoying, but any other complaints? Does anyone with the 22" deep Pax find its too much?

If it were my situation I would go for a total utilitarian look in my apartment and not buy any bulky cabinets. I would use bogen or similar photographer's tension poles with crossbars cut to the size I require. Then hang my clothes in white canvas garment bags and store other items in boxes that match. This way I own items that I can easily take with me when I move.

Emma--

If you're going to hang clothes and expect to have doors to cover them, you need the 22" deep PAX units.

I'm not sure if I'm visually getting this right, but if you are planning on having the wardrobe make an el shape, could the long segment be 14" deep and the short one 22" deep? Then you have room for clothes, but you chew up less floor space.

I had an aneboda in my last apartment and was very sad it wouldn't fit in my new one. I wasn't sure about the quality at first, but it held up beautifully to daily use. The white is very chic, but if you're concerned about the white on white walls, it's super easy to paint and also looks great in white with decals.

I do remember it being a bit narrow though. I used it primarily as a utility closet and didn't have many clothes in it.

I like the suggestion of using stolmen or a similar system. Perhaps instead of covering up the brick wall, you could use the stolmen shelving to create a divider between the sleeping and living areas.

If you're storing skis also...that may be your measurement guide. The skis have to fit after all.

Bepsf,
what's wrong w/the 14" clothes hanger? Does it not work very well? I cant' find any reviews that talk about the 14" clothes hanger. I'm curious because I'm starting to think the 14" D was a better option to minimize eating up the room (it's only 11' wide), but if it doesn't work very well, then I doubt it's worth it.

Anyone, any thoughts on the 14" D ?

Brooklyn Alice,
Ideally I want to the wardrobe to make an el shape, whether its with 22" D or 14" deep or one of both. I'm just not sure what would work best. I've never bought a pax wardrobe before, or seen any pax wardrobes in crooked oddly shaped apartments like mine.

A hanger is typically 16-17'' wide, i.e. it won't fit "sideways" in the 14'' wardrobes. You can get pull-out rails for the 14'' wardrobes (front faces outwards) but then you waste a lot of space on each side when the shells are 39'' wide.

As someone who owns both PAX and elfa, I'd also like to encourage you to research the elfa system at Container Store. All components are currently 30% off.

Benefits of elfa over over PAX:
1. Customizable dimensions (they'll custom cut shelf lengths for free and then your corner white box becomes a non-issue). Easily configures into L-shape. More components available than with PAX.
2. Easier to re-purpose if/when you move.
3. More aesthetic options (as other readers suggested, you can expose some storage and/or install drapes over storage; you can use IKEA's gliding curtain panel system with any fabric--easily updated and it curves around corners for your L-shape).

I love my 22" deep PAX for clothing storage (I use pull-out drawers to get to items easily), but it takes up serious floor and wall space. If your heart is set on PAX then you might consider getting the plain hinge doors to cover with wallpaper or fabric. I covered doors and sides with my favorite, if ubiquitous, tree wallpaper from Walnut. A benefit to hing doors (versus sliding doors) is that you can add hooks, rails, pockets, etc. to the inside of the doors to create even more storage for lightweight items.

Whatever depth(s) you go with for PAX, include/hide the corner with cabinets (or curtain panels if elfa fits the bill), an exposed corner between big PAX cabinets could look busy and draw the eye to the storage. And try to leave some of that great brick exposed!

@cbaitz
re: stolmen, uh, sure, it uses "tension posts", but you are supposed to screw those suckers in, so not so much.

@emmab07
(Are the unconventional clothes rails you speak of perpendicular to the door? ... that would be annoying... I never really bothered to look and see what they were doing.)

I second the Stolmen idea for a couple of reasons:

1) It is cheaper and more flexible than the wardrobes. The big cost with the wardrobes is the doors.

2) When the time comes to move and sell the wardrobes, you will get a better purchase price on the Stolmen relative to cost. It is also easier to move and, because they are metal, harder to damage. With the wardrobes, you risk damaging the units when you move them or take them apart, and that could impact the resale value.

I hated the idea of exposed clothing, so I built a curtain wall to hide the storage in my bedroom. It was much, much cheaper than buying Ikea wardrobe doors. The wood storage next to the curtain storage area in the photo are actually Ikea kitchen cabinets, not wardrobes:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28955208@N05/3455293186/in/set-72157617367542131/

The only problem with the 14” clothes hanger is that the rail goes front to back vs. side to side. So you would only see what is hanging in the front. I know it slides out but you’re only getting 13” (the ikea website lists it at that but I believe the rail didn’t go that far back when I saw it on store) of hanging space. If you have a lot of things you need to hang I would get the deeper one instead. With the smallest wardrobe you would still get 19” of hanging space and you can see everything at once since the rail goes side to side. I would also recommend getting drawers to at least eye level for the deeper one. I did that for my 19” pax and everything has stayed nicely folded. The 22” pax are huge but you can put twice as much stuff in there so you might be able to save some wall space. Maybe tape off on the floor where the furniture would be so you can see if you can get around it comfortably. There’s no point in getting the bigger one if you feel like it’s too crowded. If space is an issue get the 14” for folded things and a garment rack for hanging stuff. I made due with a double rod garment rack until I saved up for my pax. It held just as much as my pax and added a lot of color to my room.

Another option is the Broder system. Very industrial looking, but lots of options for hanging and shelves. Would look cool with the brick. This would be excellent for your skis, bike, etc.
That having been said, I love, love, love Pax. I would have gone with those who recommended Stolmen, but the line has been cut back so much that there aren't as many options for what you are looking to do. Thus, I would say to do Pax, and add doors as you are able. I have both the shallow and deep Pax units in our bedroom (sliding doors on the shallow, and no doors on the deep because the unit is too narrow to have sliders and we don't have space to open the doors). The deep are ideal for clothing storage. The shallow are ideal for linens, shoes, and other such things. For your planning, start by listing every single item you need to store, i.e. 10 pairs of shoes, 5 pairs of boots, 15 trousers, 20 shirts, 3 sets of sheets, 8 washcloths, 4 hand towels, 4 bath towels...and so on. Then, write down your ideal storage for each of these items (hanging rods and how many, shelves and how many, shoe boxes, hooks, etc.). Once you have that basis, you will have a better idea of what you need to put all that in. Then, use the home planner on IKEA's website. You can build your units virtually. If you are really limited on space, leave the units open, or get sliding doors. You also may find that with the taller units, you may not need as many.
If you can get to the Elizabeth store in New Jersey, they recently remodeled the whole store. The Pax department is amazing. I think it would be more helpful to you to see than the one in Brooklyn, as far as inspiration.
Good luck!

Go with 22in unless every single article of clothing you own you want folded but usually there's going to be at least a few things you want on hangers.

i'm going with ikea's OMAR heavy-duty system, and configuring it into open closet space. for every TWO sets of shelves you buy, you can technically create THREE spaces for hanging full-length clothes (72" tall), or mix and match between full-length hanging space, half-length hanging space, and shelves to stack folded clothes. you would also be able to store your skis by slipping them into the wire rack to stand up straight. if you need further explanation, send me a message.

I have the deeper Pax, I have had it for 3,5 years now and I bought most of the elements used on ebay. Disassembling furniture is never fun, but it wasn't that big a problem and assembling is it quite easy - just make sure you have someone to help you because the wardrobes are so big and heavy to lift.

I love all the different elements I can buy for my Pax, and I also use it with boxes (for scarves, gloves, etc) or to store my gym bag in there. Behind the gym bag I store other bags I rarely use, so I don't mind the two rows and several layers.

IKEA have an online demo of a clever walk-in closet made of Pax. Basically, the wardrobe, without doors, is placed at right angles to the wall (would need to be secured). The back of the wardrobe is visible and needs camouflage but it's a great option.

You could save yourself some money & go w/ the industrial loft look (pipes from Home Depot)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/heathashli/5498357268/

Before you buy search Ikea and formaldehyde. Best be informed, especially as you say you have a small space.

free standing closet