Cube storage is the most-copied piece of furniture on earth, and the two names that keep coming up in English-language comparisons are not equally easy to buy depending on which side of the Channel you happen to live. That is not a detail. On a flat-pack unit, delivery and availability are half the decision.
In brief
- Kallax: 13 kg per shelf, stated by IKEA for the whole range.
- ClosetMaid sells through B&Q, Robert Dyas, The Range, Wayfair and Amazon in the UK.
- The cube module decides which baskets fit. Measure before you buy boxes.
- Either unit gets anchored to the wall. This is not optional.
Where you can actually buy each one
Start here, because it settles the question for a lot of readers before any comparison of finishes.
IKEA needs no introduction and, since May 2022, there has been a store at Nice Saint-Isidore, out by the Allianz Riviera and off the A8. Kallax is a permanent line, stocked in several sizes and finishes, and spare parts and matching inserts are on the shelf next to it.
ClosetMaid is an American company, sold by Emerson to Griffon Corporation under an agreement announced in September 2017. Its UK arm lists Wayfair, Amazon, B&Q, Robert Dyas and The Range as its retail partners, and it names Home Depot, Lowe’s, Walmart, Target and Canadian Tire among its international channels. France is not on that map. For a reader in Britain or a reader shipping from the United States, Cubeicals is a normal purchase. For a reader in Antibes, it is a shipping exercise on a bulky, low-value item, which is rarely worth it.
The numbers that decide what you can put on the shelves
Cube storage fails in exactly one way: someone loads it like a bookcase.
IKEA’s own customer service is blunt about the limit. The shelf load on all Kallax is 13 kg per shelf. That is generous for folded clothes, board games, baskets of toys and a decent run of paperbacks. It is not generous for a serious vinyl collection, and this is the single most common Kallax disappointment: the internet decided Kallax was the record storage unit because the cube happens to fit an LP, and physics did not get a vote. Spread the weight, keep the heavy cubes at the bottom, and do not treat the top surface as a shelf for anything substantial.
ClosetMaid’s Cubeicals sit in a lighter class. They are laminated boards designed around fabric drawers, and they behave accordingly: fine for a nursery, a craft room or the inside of a wardrobe, less convincing as a standalone piece carrying real weight in a living room.
| Criteria | IKEA Kallax | ClosetMaid Cubeicals |
|---|---|---|
| Stated shelf load | 13 kg per shelf, whole range | Varies by model, check the listing |
| Best use | Living room, room divider, structural piece | Nursery, wardrobe interior, light storage |
| Accessories | Inserts, doors, drawers, legs, all in store | Fabric drawers and bins, sized to its own cubes |
| Buying it in France | Straightforward, Nice Saint-Isidore since 2022 | No French retail channel listed |
| Replacing a damaged part in year four | Realistic | Depends entirely on the retailer |
The safety part, which is short and non-negotiable
Both of these are tall, light, hollow boxes with an open front. A child climbing the shelves converts one into a lever, and the consequences are the reason IKEA runs a permanent campaign on the subject.
IKEA’s Secure it! guidance is that furniture must be attached to the wall using the tip-over restraint supplied in the box and the right fixings for your wall type, that nothing heavy should sit on top of a unit not designed for it, and that children should never be allowed to climb or hang on shelves. Replacement restraint kits are free on request. The same logic applies to any cube unit whatever the badge on it.
One local wrinkle worth naming: in older buildings around here, plenty of internal walls are hollow plaster or thin brick, and the plastic plug that comes in the packet is designed for something more solid. A hollow-wall anchor rated for the load costs a couple of euros and is the difference between a fixing and a decoration.
Three habits that make cube storage work
- Measure the cube before you buy the baskets. Both brands sell inserts sized to their own openings, and third-party boxes are a lottery. Take the internal dimension with you, not the external one.
- Mix open and closed cubes. An entirely open unit shows every bit of clutter; an entirely closed one becomes a wall of doors. Roughly two-thirds open, one-third closed with drawers or inserts, is the ratio that looks deliberate.
- Decide early if it is a divider or a wall piece. Used as a room divider, a unit gets seen from behind, and the back panel on flat-pack cube furniture is not designed to be looked at. Plan a finished back, or accept it and face the unit against a wall.
What I get asked most
Can I stand a Kallax on its side? Yes, the square configurations are designed to work either way up, which is what makes it such an adaptable piece. Horizontal with legs it becomes a low sideboard, and horizontal without them it makes a bench once you add a cushion. Assemble it in the orientation you actually want, because the wall fixing follows the orientation.
Are Cubeicals and Kallax interchangeable in the same room? Not really. The cube openings differ, so drawers and inserts are not swappable between them, and the finishes rarely sit happily side by side. Pick one system per room.
Which is easier to put together? Both are consumer flat-pack with everything included. Kallax is heavier to manoeuvre and takes a little longer, largely because there is more board in it. Give yourself a floor, not a carpet, and a second pair of hands for the last stage.
What if I want something neither of them makes? That is the moment to stop shopping and start building. A hacked or custom unit lets you set your own cube size and your own load rating, and I went through the trade-offs of doing exactly that in my comparison of the IKEA Billy hack against Lerberg shelves.
Nothing off the shelf fits your wall?
Then make the shelving to suit the wall instead of the other way round.
