The Ikea hack that will give you a custom walk-in wardrobe for a FRACTION of the price

Yes, please.

If you have been dreaming about your very own walk-in wardrobe, but have not quite had the budget stretch that far – this might be what you need.

Chris and Julia Marcum, the couple behind the popular blog Chris Loves Julia (a must-follow if you are obsessed with interiors), recently revealed how they managed to built a walk-in wardrobe that looks entirely custom-made – using nothing but the Pax wardrobe system from Ikea.

Her is how they did it:

By building bases for the IKEA cabinet boxes to raise them up to the height of their skirting boards, and then attaching MDF crown molding at the top, the cabinets no longer look freestanding.

They then splurged on good paint, covering the entire wardrobe system in Farrow and Ball's Lamp Room Grey.

The couple added thin pieces of wood to the fronts of the cabinets to cover all the seams and level the boxes with the top and bottom moldings. “They make all of the shelves sturdier, like one solid piece of wood,” Julia explains.

For the drawers, they cut brand-new fronts made from simple pinewood (another upgrade from standard IKEA drawers) and finished them with brass knobs.

Another clever way the crafty couple hid every sign of their wardrobe originally being an Ikea free-standing wardrobe? They covered up all the pesky rows of holes that line the inside of each wardrobe.

“They actually make plugs for these, but they’re still pretty visible,” Julia explained.

So instead, couple opted to use wood filler, which they let dry overnight before sanding down, before painting over.

Speaking to Domino on some of their design decisions, Julia explains her idea of adding lots of hanging space and a “denim bar” on her side :

“I pick out my jeans before the rest of my outfit,” she says. “Now I have them hanging at eye level, right where I can see every detail.”

Chris, on the other hand, chose mostly closed storage, while the section with floor-to-ceiling doors hides luggage, extra hangers, and a laundry hamper. To complete their wardrobe, Chris and Julia splurged on a luxurious ceiling light, a vintage rug and a 360 degree rotating mirror.