well, if you drill a hole, you ruin the finish, bcs you've made a hole in it. But if you want the hook there bad enough, then what do you care? It won't show until you remove the hook.

And as long as the wood that you drill the hole in is thick enough--i.e., 3/4 inch or more--it ought to hold just fine without damage to the surrounding wood. If you want to drill a hole and mount a hook in THIN board (say, 3/8 inch or less), then you should probably reinforce it in some way--cut a 1x4 to fit across the unit, and glue it in place across the back side of where the hook will be; then the screw will have something to bite into, and the stress will be distributed across the wood panel instead of concentrating right at where the screws go through (bad for thin wood).

I have used the 3M Command removable self-adhesive hooks with quite a bit of success. When they're removed properly, they leave no damage behind. However, if they get pulled away IMproperly--they get tugged off bcs stuff that's too heavy is hung on them, or someone brushes against them too hard--then they will peel the top layer of paint or varnish away.

I always round way up for the weight I need, and I don't use them in passageways.

I think these removable self-adhesive hooks would only be a problem if they're attached to really shoddy lower-than-particleboard stuff with a thin, thin paper coating that might easily become detached from the substrate.

I can't remember the PAX system, but I think the finish on most Ikea stuff is strong enough to hold up.

You might look at the Kitchen board for the IKEA fans. I believe that you'll need to put a cross of masking tape over where you intend to drill to prevent the plasticy outer surface from cracking. And maybe use a very small drill bit first.

I have drilled through the side of an IKEA kitchen cab, but I was doing it inside and didn't care if it had a small crack in it - but I'm pretty sure that the finish did crack a bit around the screw. Oh, and if you screw the screw too tight, that also causes cracking, so don't overtighten.

Having drilled through laminate-coated kitchen cabinets, I can tell you this:

If you REALLY don't want the laminate finish to crack, tape will NOT be enough.

You need to get a piece of scrap wood to clamp to the back. Otherwise you'll get a big "exit wound."

I found I didn't need anything on the FRONT--it may have been that I had "pilot point" drill bits, with a different design to the very tip. I also used a dry-wall screw to tap a tiny hole right exactly where I wanted to drill; that may have helped a little bit, too.

If you are hanging the hook with the right screw length you shouldn't have an "exit wound." Pilot hole and tape are correct.

Glad to see PAX wardrobe still going strong after 17 years since this thread. Just bought a 39” and 29” wardrobe. Not confident in the clothing rod strength for my wife’s 100 lbs of clothing. Thinking of drilling a hole through one side and lacing a solid birch rod through to an anchor with a hole for it on the inside of the other end. My concern is integrity of the stressor points for where the rod will sit and how the cabinet walls will hold up over time.