I had the privilege of getting our new closet system this past week.  Let me share some tips should you be considering a new closet system.

Poor Husband.  The closet system fell heavily on him.  (As has the whole building project!)  He hates going to Ikea, but the very reasonable cost of the system enticed him to brave the crowds.  I did due diligence beforehand to sweeten the chore.  Altho technically challenged, in the end, I was able to design a closet system configuration on the Ikea website.  I was able to lay out exactly what I wanted to fit my closet’s dimensions.  The extra cool thing is that from my design, the Ikea software calculated the price, how many of each component we would need and. . . Ready?  Where exactly those components were in the store.  Bingo!  I could assure reluctant Husband that we wouldn’t even have to go into the store itself and its mazes.  We could go straight to the bins and get what we needed.  Now here is an insider tip.  Shhhh.  Don’t tell them that I told you.  You can go in the Exit past the check-out and Presto!  You’re right there at the bins.  You’ll need a big, low cart which unfortunately is stored at the entrance to the Bin area when you enter from the right direction, from the store.  But no problem.  Just a little extra walk.  Now that you have the cart, pull out the copy you printed out from the website or use your phone.  Each component is listed with the quantity needed and the exact Aisle and Bin number as well as the dimensions, which days it’s expected to be in stock, and the price.  Slick system.  Worked like a charm except one component was listed as in stock, but wasn’t.  Fortunately, it was the one item we could do without.  Even Husband admitted it wasn’t as terrible as he had anticipated.

So did we find the components as easy to assemble as they were to shop for?  Yes!  We didn’t have one item that didn’t fit.  The quality control was exceptional.  All the small pieces were there and fit together perfectly.  Not a glitch.  Except that I asked for several components to be moved, the whole thing went together quickly.  I really like that I could change my mind about the arrangement.  Husband not so much.

You may be wondering about the price.  Husband felt that he couldn’t have built the number of shelves that we got for any cheaper.  And we both really like the baskets that pull out and the shoe racks that we couldn’t have purchased anywhere else for the low Ikea price.

All together, for twelve feet of shelves, rods, shoe racks, and pull out baskets the price was about $300.  In our opinion, the ease of installation (tools needed: level, screwdriver, and some wall anchors), the flexibility of arrangement, and quality can’t be beat.  We are lucky enough to have an Ikea within driving distance.  Less than an hour.  If you don’t, you’d have to factor in shipping costs.

It sure feels good to have a place to keep our clothes accessible and neat!