well, if you drill a hole, you ruin the finish, bcs you've made a hole in it. But if you want the hook there bad enough, then what do you care? It won't show until you remove the hook. And as long as the wood that you drill the hole in is thick enough--i.e., 3/4 inch or more--it ought to hold just fine without damage to the surrounding wood. If you want to drill a hole and mount a hook in THIN board (say, 3/8 inch or less), then you should probably reinforce it in some way--cut a 1x4 to fit across the unit, and glue it in place across the back side of where the hook will be; then the screw will have something to bite into, and the stress will be distributed across the wood panel instead of concentrating right at where the screws go through (bad for thin wood). I have used the 3M Command removable self-adhesive hooks with quite a bit of success. When they're removed properly, they leave no damage behind. However, if they get pulled away IMproperly--they get tugged off bcs stuff that's too heavy is hung on them, or someone brushes against them too hard--then they will peel the top layer of paint or varnish away. I always round way up for the weight I need, and I don't use them in passageways. I think these removable self-adhesive hooks would only be a problem if they're attached to really shoddy lower-than-particleboard stuff with a thin, thin paper coating that might easily become detached from the substrate. I can't remember the PAX system, but I think the finish on most Ikea stuff is strong enough to hold up.

Realize this discussion is a bit old but we are in the process of putting together an Ikea Pax wardrobe. We selected this mainly because we really liked the cool sliding doors with aluminum frames and pale green frosted glass. Fortunately our GC's crew assembled that for us--I would NOT have wanted to attempt it. Unfortunately we chose the white laminate cabinets which have the basic cheapo look of much of Ikea's lower end furniture. The "birch" (although also laminate) would have looked much nicer, especially when used with the birch innards but our architect talked us out of that as the "birch" I originally wanted would clash with the other wood details in the bedroom (!!!). The painful part is that the price would have been exactly the same. One other note: it's a bit of a pain putting together and installing the interior fittings (which we're doing ourselves) but I think it will be worth it once finished, and for the most part the cabinet is hidden when the doors are closed.

We just ordered elfa for the Master and Guest closets. We finished our whole house remodel in Aug, but didn't do closet interiors (I replaced the closet doors, tracks, baseboard, and trim). In the process of turning our compartmentalized 1960 ranch into "open concept," adding essential space in both bathrooms, and adding a wet bar we actually eliminated 6 closets in our remodel. Whereas before it didn't matter that we only had poles and a shelf in these closets (we could just pile in our junk) now the closets need to work a lot smarter. Like many people I suppose, I always viewed Container Store's elfa system as overpriced (which is my view of this store in general)--"the same can be bought at Home Depot for 1/3 the price you know..." Well anyway, I've changed my tune. Did some measurements at home yesterday (after I noticed TCS had a sale that was ending today) and went over there last night. A wonderful woman spent at least 2 hours with me designing the closets, explaining options, working around my architectural issues and running different pricing based on different finishes. I left the store with a folder full of all the information I needed, renderings of the closets and pricing and info to show the DS. We went back this morning and got another hour or more of a very helpful guy's time making some tweaks and last minute items. Both closets will be delivered and installed in less than two weeks. The entire experience was pleasant, easy, and satisfying. This weekend I also installed ClosetMaid shelving that I bought from Home Depot in my hall closet for shoes. What a difference. The ClosetMaid stuff may look like elfa, but it's not. Spend any time with the two products and you see everything from the BigBox line is inferior quality-wise. It doesn't fit as well, it's not as sturdy, it's flimsy, etc. elfa is coated in a nice enamel. ClosetMaid is coated is some kind of sticky epoxy. elfa can be specified with well fitting acrylic mats that set on top of ventilated shelves to provide an even surface that's easy to dust. elfa has covers for unsightly and sharp edges. elfa has endless options, including a 22" chest of drawers that are interchangable--exactly the size I needed and couldn't find a similar item at Depot, Lowes, or IKEA. It's just a different product; elfa is made in Sweden, ClosetMaid is made in China. It shows. Additionally, I needed to cut down some shelves from the size sold at the Depot to fit my closet. Depot told me to buy $50 bolt cutters and cut the shelves myself. A lot of sweating later (it's more work than it looks) these shelves are installed and are a very functional shoe rack, though I suspect the sitcky epoxy coverings will eventually get quite dirty. I believe TCS will cut elfa for you if needed without charge (you should confirm). But I can't imagine having to do this kind of work on my own for the much more complex bedroom closets. The Depot staff are clueless, the store is a mess, and it's very hard to find any information about how everything is supposed to work or find the parts you need. I think the Rubbermaid isn't much better. Certainly not very nice when compared to elfa--I've had some of these shelves before and actually used their parts for the track that holds the ClosetMaid shelves as it looked slightly sturdier. I do think their system works better than ClosetMaid and have read about people who have succesfully used (abused) the free TCS design service and recreated an elfa solution with Rubbermaid products so that may be an option for some. The only budget DIY system I looked at that I care for for use in my bedroom closet is Space-Pro Flex sold at Lowes. The problem here is that there are extremely limited components available so I would have been required to cut the shelves down, live with dinky little drawers, and waste at least 2 feet of my small Master Closet because no options were available for certain spaces. And it was only a few hundred $ less than elfa. Plus with elfa I get cool extras like Valet Rods and Glide Out Tie/Belt Racks. You get what you pay for. Part of what you pay for at TCS is the great knowledge from the closet designers and their valuable time. I got this whole closet thing sorted in 1 day without pouring over catalogs and making inventory lists. And the installation is several hundred $ but it's quite reasonable considering they remove the old closet stuff and patch and paint your drywall (and it's optional). Our last home had California Closets installed by previous owner and they were wonderful. elfa is not quite that wonderful (no good laundry hamper like the last house), but it's mid-grade, not high-end as far as pricing goes. Overall, I'm generally thrilled to have this over with and have completely wonderful, functional closets showing up shortly that I'm confident will last. No Bolt Cutters required. Another nice thing, since elfa is terribly customizable I'm not stuck with the layout in the Guest room if that ends up turning into a nursery in the future. I think that the cheaper big box stuff is fine if you just want some wire shelves to hold paper towels and supplies. But when you want to combine storage with clothes, really use your space and need a lot of choices to do that properly, want flexibility to make changes in the future easily, and just want a nicer looking sturdier product, elfa is worth the extra cost. Good luck to all in their search! PS -- we bought during the elfa shelving sale which is 25% off except the drawers (I know, weird). The better sale starts Christmas Eve through Jan-Feb and it's 30% off everything. We could have saved several hundred, but I didn't want to wait until after the holidays. For those that missed this one, get designing now so you can put your order in right away. I understand the 30% sale is a lot like the IKEA kitchen sales (i.e. bedlum). This post was edited by ChrisInSD on Mon, Oct 20, 14 at 12:53

I love Pax and IMO there is not really any other system that is comaprable . Does Ikea have at least the boxes / Then you can design and do the install of those and wait for all the rest . I use Pax a lot and have always loved the whole system. You could try to go with tall pantry caibinets from Ikea for what you are planning but again the boxes maybe but doors and inserts could be a wait. This is going to be an issue with any type of cabinets during Covid.I am not sure about where you are in FLa but Jackson ville seems to have the Pax boxes in stock.