The IKEA PAX system is popular for good reasons. It is affordable, widely available, modular, and the internal fittings are well thought out. For a great many bedrooms it is a sensible purchase, and anyone who tells you otherwise is probably selling something else.
It is also a modular system working to fixed dimensions, which means there are rooms where it cannot do what bespoke joinery does. The honest answer to this comparison is that they suit different situations, and the room usually decides rather than the budget.
This guide sets out what each does well, covers the assembly and fitting realistically, and explains the hybrid route that sits between them.
Written from over 20 years of building fitted wardrobes across Jersey.
Side by side
| Modular flat pack | Bespoke | |
| Sizes | Fixed widths, heights and depths | Made to your room |
| Carcass material | Usually faced chipboard | Ply or MDF, specified per job |
| Joints | Cam locks and dowels | Glued and jointed |
| Fit to uneven walls | Packed and filled | Scribed to follow the wall |
| Gap above | Whatever the ceiling leaves | Closed, becomes storage |
| Finish | Factory range | Any colour, sprayed |
| Internal fittings | Extensive range, well designed | Made to what you own |
| Assembled by | You, or a fitter | Already built in the workshop |
| Available | Immediately | 4 to 6 weeks |
| Typical cost, 3m wall | £600 to £2,500 for units | £4,000 to £9,000 |
| Realistic lifespan | 7 to 15 years | 25 years and beyond |
Where the modular system genuinely wins
Cost. The gap is substantial and it is not a trick. A modular wall of wardrobes costs a fraction of bespoke, and for households where the bespoke figure is simply out of reach, this is the decisive point.
Availability. You can buy it this weekend. Bespoke takes four to six weeks from survey to installation, and if you have just moved in with everything in boxes, that matters.
Internal fittings. The range of internal accessories in modular systems is genuinely good and genuinely well designed. Pull-out trays, drawer inserts, trouser hangers, shoe shelves, integrated lighting. A bespoke maker can match all of it, usually by buying similar components in, but the modular systems have done a lot of thinking here and it shows.
Flexibility to change later. Modular means modular. You can add a bay, swap internal fittings, or reconfigure the inside as your needs change, without remaking anything.
It can move with you. Not easily, but a modular wardrobe can be dismantled and reassembled elsewhere. A fitted bespoke run cannot, because it was scribed to specific walls.
Low risk. If you are not sure how you will use a room, committing a few hundred pounds rather than several thousand is sensible.
Where it performs best: modern bedrooms with flat walls, square corners, a ceiling around the standard height, and wall lengths that work out reasonably against the available module widths. In that room, honestly, the case for bespoke is much weaker than the industry would like you to believe.
Where bespoke earns its cost
Walls that are not straight. This is the main one, and in Jersey it applies to a great many properties.
Granite cottages, farmhouses, converted outbuildings and older townhouses commonly have walls that bow or lean by 20 to 40mm along their height or length. A rigid modular carcass against a wall like that will either rock, sit proud at one end, or leave a tapering gap running floor to ceiling.
Modular systems handle this by packing out and covering with trim or a filler panel. It works, in the sense that the wardrobe stands up and the doors close. It is visible, particularly on a bedroom wall you look at every day.
Bespoke handles it by scribing: the end panel is made oversize, offered up to the wall, and the wall’s actual profile is transferred onto it with a compass and cut. The panel then follows every bow and sits flush along its whole height, with no gap and no trim.
The gap above. Modular wardrobes come in fixed heights, so whatever your ceiling leaves above them is empty. On a 2.4 metre ceiling that is often 200 to 400mm, which becomes a dust shelf.
Extension units are available in some systems and help. They are still a fixed height, so unless your ceiling happens to match, a gap remains.
Bespoke runs to the ceiling, whatever the ceiling is, and that space becomes storage for bedding and luggage.
Awkward wall lengths. Module widths are fixed. Your wall is whatever it is. A wall of 3.4 metres filled with 1 metre and 0.5 metre modules leaves gaps that have to be filled with panels.
Sloping ceilings. Loft and attic rooms are where modular systems struggle most, because nothing full height can go near the low perimeter. Bespoke follows the slope.
Chimney breasts. The recesses either side are rarely the same width as each other and rarely match a module width.
Non-standard ceiling heights. Low cottage ceilings or high Victorian ones.
Finish. Modular doors come in a factory range. Bespoke can be sprayed in any colour matched to a paint code, including matching existing woodwork or an adjacent room.
Lifespan. Chipboard carcasses absorb moisture irreversibly, and cam lock fittings gradually loosen in chipboard as the holes enlarge. A bespoke carcass in ply or MR MDF, glued and jointed with every face sealed, is built for a different timescale.
This matters more in Jersey than inland. Higher ambient humidity, salt air, and carcasses frequently sitting against cold granite external walls. An unsealed chipboard back in those conditions swells sooner than the same unit would in a modern mainland house.
The assembly and fitting reality
This is the part most comparisons skip, and it affects both cost and outcome.
Assembling the carcasses is achievable for a patient person with a square and a weekend. A single wardrobe frame takes perhaps an hour. A wall of them is a long two days.
What tends to go wrong:
- Overtightening cam locks, which crushes the chipboard around the hole and leaves the joint permanently loose
- Assembling out of square, since without checking diagonals a carcass can end up slightly parallelogram and never sit right afterwards
- Fixing the back panel carelessly, which is what holds the carcass square under load
- Not fixing to the wall properly. Tall wardrobes must be fixed into studs or masonry, not just plasterboard
The fitting is the harder part, and it is where modular systems most often disappoint. Levelling across a floor that falls, packing out a bowed wall, hanging doors with consistent gaps and dealing with the gap above are skilled jobs. The units are designed to be fitted by anyone, and in a square modern room that works. In an older room it genuinely does not, and plenty of people who happily assemble the carcasses end up paying a joiner to deal with the fit.
Budget for a fitter if your room is anything other than straightforward. Expect £400 to £1,200 for fitting a wall of modular wardrobes properly, which narrows the gap to bespoke somewhat.
The hybrid route
Worth knowing about, because it is a genuinely good answer for a lot of rooms and neither side of the industry advertises it.
The approach: modular carcasses, with bespoke doors and bespoke panels made by a joiner to deal with the parts the system cannot.
What that typically means in practice:
- Modular carcasses forming the bulk of the storage, with their internal fittings
- Sprayed doors made to measure, in any colour, sized to the actual openings
- Scribed end panels cut to follow the bowed wall, so the run meets the wall flush
- A bespoke top box closing the gap to the ceiling, finished to match
- A bespoke infill unit where the module widths leave an awkward gap
- Everything sprayed to one colour so the run reads as a single piece
What it costs: typically somewhere between the two, often £2,500 to £5,000 for a full wall, against £600 to £2,500 for the system alone or £4,000 to £9,000 for full bespoke.
What you get: the storage and internal fittings of the modular system, with the fit and finish of bespoke where it is visible.
What you do not get: the carcass construction. The boxes are still chipboard with cam lock joints, so the lifespan is still that of the system rather than that of bespoke joinery.
Who it suits: rooms with uneven walls or high ceilings where the fit is the problem rather than the budget, and anyone who wants a specific colour that the factory range does not offer.
One caution: not every joiner will take this work on, because it means building around someone else’s dimensions and tolerances. Ask before assuming.
Cost over time
| Modular | Hybrid | Bespoke | |
| Units and doors | £600 to £2,500 | £2,500 to £5,000 | £4,000 to £9,000 |
| Fitting | £400 to £1,200 | Usually included | Included |
| Realistic lifespan | 7 to 15 years | 10 to 15 years | 25 years and beyond |
Over twenty-five years, allowing for two modular replacement cycles, the totals end up closer than the initial figures suggest. Bespoke still costs more, and anyone claiming it works out cheaper is stretching. What it buys is more storage, a better fit and a longer life, which is a different proposition from being cheaper.
What the arithmetic misses: each replacement means dismantling a wardrobe full of clothes and living around it for a few days. Twice over twenty-five years.
How to choose
Five questions.
1. Are the walls straight and the corners square? If yes, the modular system will fit well and the case for bespoke weakens considerably.
2. What is the ceiling height? The larger the gap a fixed-height unit leaves, the more bespoke gains.
3. Does the wall length suit the module widths? Fixed modules against an awkward wall leave filler panels.
4. How long will you be in the house? Under five years, the lifespan advantage never gets realised.
5. Is it a main bedroom or a spare? Daily use justifies a lot. A room entered twice a year does not.
Mostly favourable to modular and buy the system, assemble it carefully, and pay a fitter if the room is at all awkward.
Mostly favourable to bespoke and the system will fight the room rather than fit it.
Split answers and the hybrid route is probably the best value available.
Buying the modular system well
If that is your answer, these make the difference between seven years and fifteen.
- Fix the carcasses into structure, studs or masonry, never just plasterboard
- Check diagonals on every carcass during assembly, and do not overtighten the cam locks
- Fix the back panel properly, since it is what keeps the unit square under load
- Seal cut edges, including any you make yourself, which is where moisture enters
- Keep the backs off a damp external wall if you can, or at minimum make sure the room is ventilated
- Pay a fitter for levelling, packing and the gap above if the room is not straightforward
Frequently asked questions
Are IKEA wardrobes good quality?
The modular systems are well engineered for what they are, with genuinely good internal fittings and sensible design. The limitation is the material and the joints: chipboard carcasses with cam lock fittings have a shorter life than glued and jointed ply or MDF, particularly in humid conditions.
Can modular wardrobes work in an old house?
They can, but expect packing, filler panels and a visible gap above unless a fitter deals with it. In a room with significantly bowed walls, the compromises are noticeable on a wall you look at daily.
Is it worth paying for bespoke wardrobes instead?
It depends on the room more than the budget. Where walls are uneven, the ceiling is high, the wall length is awkward or the ceiling slopes, bespoke solves problems a modular system cannot. In a square modern bedroom with a standard ceiling, the gain is much smaller.
What is the hybrid approach to fitted wardrobes?
Modular carcasses with bespoke doors, scribed end panels and a made-to-measure top box closing the gap to the ceiling, all sprayed to one colour. It gives the storage and internal fittings of the system with the fit and finish of bespoke, usually at a middle price.
Do I need a fitter for flat pack wardrobes?
Assembling the carcasses is manageable yourself. Levelling across an uneven floor, packing out a bowed wall, hanging doors with consistent gaps and closing the gap above are skilled jobs, and in anything other than a square modern room most people are better off paying for them.
How long do flat pack wardrobes last?
Typically seven to fifteen years, with the variance depending heavily on assembly quality, whether the carcasses were fixed properly and whether cut edges were sealed. In a humid coastal property, expect the lower end of that range.
Getting started
The most useful first step is looking honestly at the room. Hold a level against the wall, measure the width at floor and ceiling height, and see how much space a 2 metre unit would leave below your ceiling. Those three checks will tell you most of what you need to know before anyone quotes anything.
Davision Interiors Ltd has designed, built, finished and installed fitted wardrobes across all parishes of Jersey for over 20 years, with carcasses built to the room, end panels scribed to follow uneven walls and spray finishing carried out in house. If a room would be well served by something simpler, we will say so. Every project starts with a free design and survey visit, all work is covered by our workmanship guarantee, and we are fully insured. Get in touch to arrange a visit and a no-obligation quote.