PAX is probably the least expensive.
Conestoga Wood Specialties, a high end RTA cabinet manufacturer, has tall cabinets (pantries, linen closets, etc.) available in a huge array of styles.
You can buy them prefinished or save about 20% by getting them unfinished which would make it easier to paint to match your walls or a contrasting . You can have the cabinets made of plywood (I would upgrade to flush sides for 3/4" sides) or particleboard (like PAX).
These are completely customizable to 1/16" of an inch for height, width or depth.
You can pick from several wood species for faceframes and doors. Picking paint grade hard maple is a good price point.
You can pick and choose among different types of cabinets. For example, they have some with three drawers at the bottom and BUTT doors at the top, so you can access undies, socks, etc., without having to open a door and pull out a drawer. You can also get a full length utility closet and install one or two clothes rods for full length or half length hanging clothes.
A typical cabinet takes about 30 minutes to assemble with glue and a finish nail gun, an easy DIY or have a handyman assemble and install.
These are priced between PAX and custom .
They use Blumotion drawer glides, Blum 6-way door hinges. Cabinet boxes have sliding dovetails joints.
Something to consider is the WEIGHT of clothes for the closet. Particleboard, whether PAX or CWS, is not structurally as strong as plywood. Not saying particleboard is a bad choice but you need to design within its limitations. A wide span with a heavy laden clothes rod may not hold up over time.
On the other hand, flush sides option with CWS gives you 3/4" thick sides and with two side by side fastened together that's 1.5 inches which is very strong.
Here is a pic of our pantry from CWS.
Together they are 68" wide, 24" deep and 84" tall. Each cabinet has 3/4" plywood sides and 1/2" plywood back. You can get a toe kick or have the bottom flush finished.
These pre-finished pantries had a total cost of about $2,900, but you also need to understand they have a total of 10 rollout trays which added probably $1,000 to the cost. So minus the ROTs and allowing a 20% discount for unfinished, your basic cost would be about $1,500.
In the big picture if you go with particleboard then I would probably go with PAX .
But if you are looking for something nicer but not as expensive as locally built custom I would consider CWS.
A good source of info that includes door styles and cabinet options is thecabinetjoint.com
Q
