We had a bedroom like this when we build our addition, and we split into one main closet with double doors and one secondary closet with a single door. It worked well for a child’s room, as we put in basic shelves for the secondary closet for you storage, and dedicated the main closet for clothes.

I think it’s a good idea to do something like Pax - our last house had similar wasted space in our closet and it drove me crazy. Google ‘built in Pax’ to see how great they can look (& function)

I am outfitting my new house and master closet with Pax units. I like the functionality and flexibility. Great idea here and getting them to look built in (as suggested) can be a very high end look! (and everything is accessible)

Also - lots of saved floor space by not having the double doors.

What age and how careful are your boys? Said differently, how long do you think the Pax units will last compared with the double door reach-in closet?

@Virgil, they are 7 & 8 and about as careful as other boys their age--not very careful at all unless it is protecting their lego creations. LOL. Durability is one of the reasons I was asking the question. I haven't been inside an ikea store in probably 5-6 years (3hr drive), so I'm uncertain of the quality/durability of Pax. I LOVE the idea of the organized storage you can create with Pax. With 3 young children, it is a necessity in my house. However, to your point, I'm certain they will not last as long as the reach-in closet and probably not as long as the hollow double doors, which is why I was asking if I'd regret it. I'm curious, are you questioning the durability of all wardrobes, or just the Pax?

I think your best bet is to do4 doors at 2'-0" a piece (two pairs of 2'-0 doors).

For three guest bedrooms' closets, we considered PAX however opted for sliding doors. After failing to get 10' sliders (2 x 5') for 10'x2' built in closets, I had closet fronts re-framed for 6' sliders instead and ordered them. The interior will be nothing fancy, just a simple long shelf and hanging rail below.

My experience with IKEA furnishings is that they initially look great but don't necessarily hold up well with extended or heavy use.

If it was my closet, I'd probably compare the IKEA cost with installing four doors and some closet organizing items from one of the closet specialty retailers and see what made the most sense in my situation.

Good luck on your project!

I can't speak to the durability of PAX but they do look great and the organization system is fantastic. Whatever you decide, I think a reach-in closet will be a better use of space. Either large sliders or a double french door and a single door to help divide up the space.

The units are large and the sliding doors can be heavy. I would be concerned with boys. It's just us old adults for me, and we're slow and careful with pretty much everything. LOL

We have one bedroom in our new build that has a closet like this. we are framing the opening much larger and going to use hanging panels probably from IKEA. it is my 11 year old's bedroom and will become and office one day.

I had a closet like Alison describes growing up - hanging in the middle with shelves on the ends where there wasn't door access (the shelves faced in toward the rest of the closet, not to the front). It worked well for storage of things I wasn't using imminently, like out of season clothes and sports equipment, toys I wasn't playing with but wasn't ready to pass along, hand me down clothes I was waiting to grow into, etc.. That's probably your cheapest solution, if you have a use for that sort of space.

Thank you all for the advice. After thinking about it some more, we decided to stick with the closet. I think my boys might be a little to rough on the Pax. We were going to go with the two 4' doors, but the framers work at lightening speed and already framed it out for a 5' French door. We will have a final walk through with them before they leave the job site & I might have them change it to two sets of 4' french doors. While we wait, I'm going to look at other closet systems to see if I can get a nice setup to work as-is. I have to keep reminding myself that the boys don't need 10' of closet space (nor do I want that much laundry!), so we don't need a perfect system for all 10'.

Ikea really is varying levels of products and some are wonderful.

You're confirming my suspicions. I've only bought a few pieces from ikea & they've held up great. However, they were all at a much lower price range, so it was worth the gamble. The Pax system isn't cheap & would get a lot more use, which is why I was asking. I still might use them inside my walk-in closet, just not the boys' closets.

I have had Pax closets for 10years. I don't have doors on them but I have taken than apart and rebuilt them several times as I did things in the closet. I would never use a normal closet versus the Ikea Pax. California Closet is very expensive and less flexible in my opinion. I would use one of the Italian systems from Minotti but those were about half the value of my house:-) My master closet is a galley with two 6foot long sections with 24" deep by 96" tall Pax systems. They hold a ton of stuff. There are similar sized systems in the other bedrooms. I have kids that spend the summers with me and they have never damaged these systems. The drawers pull out easily and I have added some updates like the valet rods and Hafele pull down closet rod. I love the pull out shelves for my shoes. I have a small number of shoes:-) The other update I was looking at is some interior lighting for the units using LED strips.

I know you decision is made but there is some misinformation about the PAX system.

There are a ton of door options and even inserts from non Ikea sources. At roughly $90 for the box, it really can't be beat for value. There are some size constraints but most closets can support the Pax units.

Some Pax fronts that are super cool:

SuperFronts

From Remodelista

Good luck!

I love the Pax system and it stands up very well or IKea would have long a go taken out of their line up. For kids it is perfect the interiors can be changed as the kids age with many choices .

Kids need space. A closet needs space … and efficient space at that. i would lose the French doors … those are going to take up so much room in a smallish space. Get bifold and a closet organizer company. It doesn’t have to be Pax … but Pax but they are good and will certainly help as the boys grow.

I just used Pax for my new master bedroom closets and I LOVE it. I have 10ft (2 big units and 2 small ones) on my side, and then I have a medium unit facing the other way for a bedroom on the other side of the wall. My closets are so organized, and easy to access. I custom built mine in so they are flush with the wall.

I used 2ft of an adjoining bedroom and built a new wall/framed where my closets were going.

You can see I built a platform under them, and then framed out the top of them so the drywall would be flush.

What they look like now.

Here is what my plan looks like so you can see how I the did the smaller closet opposite.