We’re big fans of Ikea for it’s endless options and budget-friendly prices. Where else can you redesign your kitchen, stock up on new linens, and binge on Swedish meatballs all in one place? Despite its huge variety, sometimes Ikea products just don’t compare to home goods from West Elm or Pottery Barn. They’re chic and blend effortlessly with our home design, but also happen to cost ten times the amount we’d spend at the Swedish retailer. Enter the Ikea hack. With minimal effort, a simple, inexpensive Ikea product can transform into a chic item that could resale for two or three times the original cost. Below we’ve rounded up our 15 favorite hacks that transform ordinary Ikea products into drool-worthy, chic items for your home. The Bekvam Stool from Ikea is a fan favorite for children’s rooms, storage closets, and kitchens. With a little paint and finish/stain for the wood, DigsDigs transformed the basic step stool into a functional and fashionable side table.
The Rast dresser is one of Ikea’s most popular bedroom items. We love how Hawthorne and Maine turned the common item into a modern, boho-chic staple. DigsDigs altered Ikea’s Besta cabinets from a storage unit into a rustic seating area with very little effort. Sometimes all you need is inspiration. This $10 Fintorp kitchen rail was repurposed by One-O into an industrial light base for the home. Stream Edison bulbs, not pots and pans, for a more industrial look. Another popular bedroom staple, the Tarva dresser can be transformed by simply adding a new wood stain, and replacing the door knobs. CleverBunny did the impossible — turned an ordinary hamper from Ikea into a side table to envy. By looking at the object’s foundations and seeing the greater picture. Think before you throw away! The team at StyleMePretty noticed a trend of paint-dipped furniture popping up and decided to make their own! All you need is paint, tape, and Ikea’s $20 Skogsta stool.
Saavy Mom had the Mongstad mirror from Ikea for awhile before she decided to refurbish it into something more country-chic. It was only after a trip south that she realized she needed a little more style in her home, but on a budget. “I was on a mission. A mission to make my house look like a million dollar rustic home without actually having to spend it.” Another method to get the distressed look is to use a simple wood stain and sand paper. The Rast dresser is back, but this time is almost unrecognizable. The team at Vintage Revivals transformed the ordinary wooden dresser into a stand-out pink side table. One of our favorite transitions of the group is of Ikea’s Method cabinet. Originally designed as a wall cabinet, Arty Home DIY-ed the item into a mid-century wall cabinet, complete with contrasting handles and legs. Ikea’s 2012 PS Side Table got a makeover from Kristi Murphy using simple spray paint and contact paper to mimic a marble finish.
A side table to envy. The Kallax cabinets are arguably one of Ikea’s most popular items. The team at Surznik Common Room amplified the already classy shelf with a little elbow grease, and legs purchased from Home Depot. A quick, and classy win. Contact paper is a great choice for those who want to mimc the look of an expensive finish without having to splurge. Poppytalk amplified their Docksta table from Ikea with the marble finish, creating a more modern look. We always come back to this DIY project. The team at Sugar and Cloth really transformed their Malm headboard from Ikea with easy sticky wood strips to create a more rustic finish. The sticky wood adds diversity, so you can mix up your patterns how you see fit. Petite Apartment, like most of us, wanted to create a midcentury modern theme in her apartment, but didn’t have the budget to buy all new furniture. Her old Ikea Besta cabinet quickly transitioned into a midcentury masterpiece using simple contact paper and wood.
Have you hacked Ikea? Share your creations below! IKEA is a majestic place, packed to the rafters with anything and everything you'll ever need to furnish your place. The problem is—since everyone knows that—our apartments all embarrassingly end up filled with the exact same EKTORPs and POÄNGs. To help ensure your place doesn't fall victim to such trouble, we've rounded up 12 brilliant and (mostly) simple ways to put a fresh and unique spin on your IKEA bedroom furniture. Materials Needed: KALLAX shelving unit, KOMPLEMENT clothes rail, DIODER LED light strips How It's Done: Rather than completely assemble the KALLAX, just put together the outer frame and a single row of cube shelves along the far left and bottom. Fasten the clothes rail along the upper edge of the empty space, line the underside of the top with the DIODERs, and you'll be set up with a multi-functional open-air closet with space to stash your hanging wardrobe and shoe collection. Materials Needed: HEMNE 3-drawer chest, 2 adjustable curtain rods, thin metal rods
How It's Done: Assemble the HEMNE as usual, then install adjustable curtain rods along the upper edge on either end of one of the drawers. Then cut and curl the edges of the thin metal rods to fit like hanging filing folders around the larger rods. After, organize your tees and tank tops as if they were hanging file folders. This way you'll be able to pull out just the one you want without fishing around and wrinkling everything else. Materials Needed: SORTERA recycling bins, LACK shelf How It's Done: Unfortunately the recycling bins pictured here are no longer produced, but you can create the same effect using SORTERA stackable bins. Stack the 10- and 16-gallon versions as high as you'd like, then top the whole spread with a wall-mounted LACK shelf to create a handsome and space-saving spot for socks, underwear, tee shirts, etc. [See more] Materials Needed: KALLAX shelf and casters, 16 DIODER LED strips, 16 kitchen shelf organizers How It's Done: Assemble the KALLAX as you would normally, then affix the casters to the bottom.
Install the DIODER strips along the top back edge of each cube (feeding the wires through the back through small drilled holes). The raised shelves pictured inside each cube here are no longer carried by IKEA, but many cabinet organizers from other retailers should work fine to showcase your kicks. Materials Needed: 6 MOLGER benches, wooden dowels How It's Done: Ditch the cheap-looking wire shelving in your closet for a more sophisticated system that involves stacking MOLGER benches atop each other. To keep them stable and strong, you'll need to bore holes into the feet and surface where they connect, and slip in appropriately sized dowels to secure them to one another. Materials Needed: RAMSÄTRA shelf, DIODER LEDs and fabric (optional) How It's Done: Rather than splurge on a pricey headboard, you can create one with built-in storage for alarm clocks, books, phone chargers, and the like, by mounting a media cabinet to the wall a few feet above the bed. If you're feeling ambitious, go ahead and tack on a strip of LEDs underneath to create convenient reading lights, and drape a wide piece of thick fabric behind.
Materials Needed: LÄMPLIG trivet How It's Done: Find a bare piece of wall inside—or just outside—your closet and mount the LÄMPLIG so that the bars run horizontally to create an instant tie rack. Materials Needed: KALLAX shelf leftovers, 4 furniture legs, 1 oak panel, 2 surface hinges, 1 magnet catch, a door knob How It's Done: If you're tackling hack #1 above, you'll have some extra unused KALLAX shelves laying around; don't let them go to waste. You'll want to cut all the boards to size to make a cube, using the finished edge when possible for the shown sides. Cut the oak panel to fit and hinge it to the cube as a door (complete with the knob and magnet catch). Then, attach your four legs and voila, your new bedside table looks like it was plucked straight off the set of Mad Men. Materials Needed: TARVA bed, salvaged weathered wood How It's Done: First, assemble the TARVA bed normally. Next, cut and arrange the salvaged boards in an interesting manner that suits your style, making sure they stretch the width of the TARVA's headboard.
When you're happy with the mocked up look, go ahead and screw each piece permanently into place atop the existing headboard and you've created yourself a sleeping setup that would have easily cost $1,000 more at West Elm. Materials needed: 8 STUVA shelf units, SULTAN LADDE slatted bed base How It's Done: Assemble the 8 STUVAs as you would normally, arranging three per side with one each at the head and foot. Fasten the slatted bed base to the surface to keep the whole setup in place and top it with your mattress. Materials Needed: 2 31.5-inch BILLY bookcases, 4 15.75-inch BILLY bookcases, murphy bed frame and mechanism, 8 casters, plywood How It's Done: This one's admittedly a little more complicated than the rest, but a huge help if you're regularly hosting guests in a tiny apartment. First, you'll assemble all 6 BILLYs, attaching the two wider versions to one another at their sides with screws, and the four narrower ones back to back (such that their depth is doubled).