Ikea BRIMNES Wardrobe Impressions: ANEBODA alternative #2?

Bla bla bla, I was looking for wardrobes at Ikea similar in price and look to the ANEBODA. The BRIMNES was one of them. And I actually had an ANEBODA for probably close to a decade. It was a wood-like color bought years ago, I forget exactly when.

Fully Loaded Ikea ANEBODA Wardrobe

Disclaimer: I had not had any firsthand experience with any BRIMNES products when I wrote this piece. Details were quoted from the Ikea United States website or Canada website in mid April 2016. Details on this page are NOT guaranteed for accuracy.

First Impressions: The Ikea BRIMNES Wardrobe
Coming in at CA$ 149.00 (US$ 129.00), the BRIMNES wardrobe was noted to have the following dimensions on the Ikea.ca website: 78 cm x 50 cm x 190 cm (width x depth x height). The terms that got my attention under "Product description" were "Particleboard" and "Fiberboard." And under "Good to know", the following was noted, "1 stationary and one adjustable shelf included."

From the photos on the product page, I saw a lot of white. What came to mind was that the BRIMNES wardrobe looked like an ANEBODA without the windows on the two front doors and minus the four legs. Really, the door handles and grooves on the BRIMNES reminded me of the ones on the ANEBODA. The interior storage compartment of the BRIMNES appeared to sit slightly off the floor. There also appeared to be one clothes rail near the top and a small two-spaced cabinet to one side of the bottom of the wardrobe. It looked like the rear panel was a solid white color.

Again, allow me to pull out the essential details of the ANEBODA wardrobe. According to the ANEBODA's product page, not the one I had, the wardrobe stood at 81 cm x 50 cm x 180 cm (width x depth x height) and there was supposedly "1 adjustable shelf included."

For about CA$ 50 (US$ 30) more, the BRIMNES appeared to provide a different interior style of shelf, the removal of the doors' plastic windows, and no feet or legs. The two only appeared to be available in white. I got the feeling that the translucent windows on my ANEBODA were a cost saving measure as much as a design choice. Only clothing that was pressing up against the window could really be seen on the other side. Otherwise, translucent plastic didn't really seem that attractive to me.

The dimensions of the two items appeared very similar aside from the height difference of 10 cm in favor of the BRIMNES. It looked like the ANEBODA's legs gave the interior of the wardrobe a bit more floor clearance than the base of the BRIMNES as well but I couldn't confirm. Combine the 10 cm height difference and that clearance, and the BRIMNES appeared to have a slightly taller interior. I would prefer the legs since I used that area under my ANEBODA to route some cords -- it got really dusty though.

The small shelf or cabinet on the BRIMNES didn't make much sense to me. A look at the assembly instructions on the product page suggested that the adjustable shelf was the middle shelf inside the cabinet. The shelf found on the ANEBODA that went across the width looked like it would be more useful. This design in the BRIMNES appeared to allow for more height-clearance for longer items. I didn't have any long dresses or coats in my wardrobe so it wasn't a likely issue for me.

Final Thoughts
What I took away from the BRIMNES was that it was a nicer looking and slightly bigger ANEBODA without legs. Did that look like it was worth the CA$ 50 (US$ 30) premium? To me, not really, but I used my ANEBODA for probably close to ten years, so what is CA$ 50 (US$ 30) over that much time? The other difference worth a mention appeared to be the shelf designs in the two. I was more sold on the ANEBODA's but the BRIMNES shelf didn't look that objectionable.