So what fits in the Ikea ALEX? a review...

 

What a strange year, no bathing suit, no beach and the year is almost over.  After my gravity feed iron slid off my ironing table and shattered across the floor, I decided it was time to get serious about getting things in my workspace organized and replacing those things that aren't working.  I had purchased some very cute rolling filing cabinets at an estate sale a few years ago.  What I had not noticed....the smell of mildew coming out of the cabinet.  Please if you buy things at thrift stores, estate sales, smell them before bringing them home.  Any item that gets put in them adopts that smell.  My last resort, is taking them apart, and spraying them inside and out with polyurethane to see if that takes care of the issue.  If it works, I will use it in another room  In the meantime.... those are getting rolled into the bad corner, the ironing board, I've had since college was left at the dump.  

Off I went to IKEA!!  The plan was to purchase two ALEX rolling cabinets... the more I thought about it, the more I thought, maybe one to start.  Everyone seems to have them in their sewing room make overs.

It wasn't too difficult to put together, and mercifully I have a few bits left over.  That is better than being short and driving another hour for a teeny tiny piece.  It consists of 6 drawers, it has rollers that work pretty well (hope they don't attract thread snips), the drawers do not pull out all the way, be forewarned.  It is finished on the back, so they can be used in the middle of a room.

The inside dimensions

scant 16 3/4" x 23 1/2"  Opened measurement is 8 1/2" which means half of the drawer remains in the cabinet.  They claim this is an anti tipping feature.  

The drawers are two different heights, the inside heights are  2 1/2", the taller ones are  3 1/4"

The drawers will be good for larger things, definitely not for smaller, as each time you try to reach for something in the back, you'll have to move things out of the way.  

Still, let's work with that, if I keep my smaller thread spools in a box, I can access them easily.

 Once assembled, I ran around the workspace looking for items without homes.

A beading project on a tray.

A cross stitch project

Rulers are a big one for me, so now they have a home, except for the longer ones.  

Thread cones.... I can't believe the larger ones don't fit standing.

While not ideal, they will fit lying down.

Ikea has another cabinet, the taller version, which may be a better choice for tall thread cones.

It has the same "anti tipping" system, and I'd rather the drawer pull out all the way, so we'll keep on looking.

It's a work in progress...