Room Divider Living Area Experiences

Kallax is simply significantly cheaper, whereas Metod is more versatile with drawers, doors, inserts, dimensions, etc.
As always, it’s a question of "What do I want" and how much it may cost or what my own effort can be; and ultimately it should be nice, in the living area, that would be my top priority.
If Kallax is supposed to be affordable, then I have seen it boldly painted or designed with spray paint, etc., then in the end you no longer think of Kallax.
Imagination far beyond the hardware store/furniture store is enormously important in this.

The plain carcasses are also not expensive at Metod. The drawer systems and fronts are just expensive. But you can either buy them gradually or enhance them creatively yourself (take the cheapest front and paint it). I think the biggest advantage is that you can design the shelf division more flexibly. With Kallax, only these squares are possible and they are fixed.

I think investing the money in METOD would be sensible and also cost-effective. With DIY panels, you can get by relatively cheaply. For a prefabricated panel wall of just 1.2m, you sometimes already pay 500€. With MDF panels from the hardware store and cutting them yourself, you come out significantly cheaper, especially since I don’t need the full height and can cut the panels myself.

The pure carcasses are not expensive at Metod either. The drawer systems and fronts are just expensive. But you can either buy those gradually or enhance them creatively yourself (take the cheapest front and paint it). I think the biggest advantage is that you can make the shelf division more flexible. With Kallax, you only have these squares and they are fixed.

I agree. With a total length of about 1.2m, the front for 2 or at most 3 carcasses won't kill me. Definitely cheaper than what you could do otherwise :)

I also imagine a stepped system like that... e.g. 40x60x80 and then graduated with a height of 40 going lengthwise... similar to the picture. But I need to measure everything on site again exactly to see what makes the most sense.

If the cabinets are supposed to support the construction, I definitely wouldn't use Kallax or something like that. It's half air inside and occasionally has a honeycomb structure - it doesn't hold anything. Metod is designed for a lot of weight, it's still made of continuous particleboard.

Kallax is definitely flimsier.

No, it isn’t, or at least not less so than other Ikea products. We have built Ikea kitchen(s) and have variously used Kallax for the children, nothing is flimsy there. Of course, as always, it depends on the context or the overall project whether something fits or is liked. I have seen Kallax painted with gold paint or even tiled or covered with textured paint, as I said, "hacks" give hints in case one’s own imagination reaches its limits. Most recently, for example, we integrated a Pax into the kitchen due to certain requirements. Open systems (Haller/Kallax to mention two price extremes) have the advantage that you can use/fill them from both sides halfway/full and don’t need an extra panel for the back like with Metod/Pax etc. As I said, stability is not an issue (depending on requirements) or not more or less so with these models. I have many ideas about it, but I also believe that Prager91 already knows what he wants.