The Ingenious IKEA PAX Hack You’ve Likely Never Seen Before (I’m Shocked!)

For 10 years, content creator Alexa Priego has shared a one-bedroom, 525-square-foot apartment with her three children. Over the years, it’s safe to assume that she’s picked up a few tricks to maximize a smaller space shared by four people (three of which are young kids!). 

In small homes, much like Alexa’s New York City apartment, furniture often needs to have two characteristics: It needs to be customized to fit the space and be multi-purpose. After installing a traditional-looking custom IKEA PAX wardrobe in her kids’ bedroom and seeing an inspirational video, she had a lightbulb moment of how that same system could be configured to suit her needs better. 

Using the custom PAX planner program from IKEA, Alexa designed a similar wardrobe to the one in her children’s room but decided to cut it in half after seeing the other content creator’s video. “Cutting it in half benefited me because the PAX drawer system is meant to be a wardrobe closet, which means it has bigger drawers,” she explains. “I needed the most space possible, and a traditional vanity desk didn’t give me enough storage space.” 

Alexa worked with a professional to saw off the top of the wardrobe using an electric saw. She then purchased an MDF board and had it cut down to match the desk’s measurements. Lastly, Alexa painted the top of the desk cream. Each PAX system was around $500 and was big enough to store the four people’s things.

“My favorite part about the PAX system is the custom part, and how I can pick exactly what I want for the drawers and also how big the drawers are,” Alexa explains. “Living in a small space, I need all the storage I can get, and the PAX drawers are a great way to maximize the space!”

To see how Alexa shares the space with her family of three, visit the full House Tour.