Ikea BREIM Wardrobe Impressions: A frame with a shell?

My tastes are ever changing, requirements are ever evolving, and urge to not care ever expanding. The wardrobe I bought a long time ago, an Ikea ANEBODA, sits practically unused these days. It's still in pristine condition but only holds a few items. The primary clothing storage item now is a simple rack consisting of a couple metal poles that probably set me back CA$ 25 a few years back -- it wasn't from Ikea. I was perusing the Ikea.ca website recently and found something that could maybe compete with my existing poles so decided to check it out in a bit more detail: the Ikea BREIM wardrobe.

Inside my Ikea ANEBODA wardrobe years ago

Disclaimer: I had not had any firsthand experience with any BREIM products when I wrote this piece. Details were quoted from the Ikea United States website or Canada website in mid March 2017. Details on this page are NOT guaranteed for accuracy.

Ikea BREIM Wardrobe First Impressions
According to the Ikea.ca product page for the BREIM (302.889.53 in black), the wardrobe appeared to be a simple rectangular frame with a cloth shell that could be sealed by a zipper. The "Assembly instruction" document was available on the page and it helped to shed some light on the interior -- the product photos weren't completely clear to me. In it, I saw an interior frame with two shelves on the bottom and one clothes rail across the top. It also looked like the shell slipped over the top of the frame in the document. Assembly did not seem to be extremely difficult due to the relatively small number of parts. However, I've put together furniture consisting of metal tubes before and haven't had the best experiences (e.g. telling tubes apart, screwing metal to metal). Another detail that I found attractive was that the lowest shelf appeared to have some floor clearance.

When I checked the BREIM's product page in March 2017, three color options were available: white, black, and blue. Black seemed like a dust magnet, and the lighter shade of blue looked difficult to match to a room. That left white which I thought would blend into a light-colored room well or accent a darker room. Speaking of dust and a shell, my CA$ 25-ish rack became more of a $50 rack after I draped shirts over the top to keep dust off the clothes. And still on the shell: I don't see myself using the zipper on the front of the BREIM's shell and would probably leave it open 99% of the time.

The newer rack I got after my ANEBODA overflowed.

Size-wise, the measurements on the site said the BREIM was 80 cm x 55 cm x 180 cm (width x depth x height). I roughly measured my ANEBODA with a ruler and it was about 80 cm wide. Height and depth appeared to be comparable using the power of guest-imating. The ANEBODA was okay for my purposes since I only had enough clothes for a week or two worth of outfit rotations. I can't say it had that much room though and would expect a similar experience with the BREIM. On the bright side, the price for the BREIM wardrobe was "only" CA$ 39.99 in white when I wrote this and a set of two side by side seemed like it'd look okay.

Under the "Product description," the words "steel" and "polyester" stood out for me. Another interesting detail was the weight listed under the "Package Information" showing "20 lb 13 oz" in white. Not that light but I'd manage it easily if I were shopping alone.

Final Thoughts
Cheap, simple, and functional. Exactly what I'm looking for in something I buy these days. I'd seriously consider buying an Ikea BREIM wardrobe if I had the space and needed a new wardrobe. And despite the price, I think it could be a pretty long-lasting piece of furniture due to its simplicity and weight. A relatively cheap, 100+ pound wood or fiberboard wardrobe would probably get left behind in a move, assuming it could survive a move. But a 20-ish pound metal frame with a cloth shell? Assuming it held up over time and being disassembled, I'd take it with me.