How to makeover your IKEA furniture
IKEA is known as the ultimate destination for affordable home decor, but it can also be the perfect place to start when you’re looking for something a little more custom. With some rudimentary DIY skills, you can upgrade even the most basic IKEA pieces into a future family heirloom. Here are the best IKEA hacks to get you started:
Deconstruct & reassemble
The Swedish brand offers a ton of simple chests, drawers, and storage solutions that can be reconfigured to best fit your space. Stack them up to suit your dimensions, and remove or swap their faces to suit your style. Side tables can serve as the sides of a custom desk or a media console as the base for the bench in a mudroom.
Paper & paint
Classics like the Paxton closet system or Ivar cabinets leave plenty of room for imagination. These plain or unfinished styles can be dressed up and personalized with a quick stain, a trending color from Instagram darling Backdrop Paint, or even covered in a textured wallpaper for an extra luxe look.
Spray paint can give metal headboards, desk chair legs, and rolling carts an instant fix.
Hardware
One of the best parts of IKEA’s assemble-it-yourself nature is how you can fine-tune the details of every piece. Love the shape of an item but wish it had more vintage finishes? Simply switch out the modern hardware for something with a bit of age. Prefer knobs to handles? Drawer pulls to flush designs? With a few Amazon or Etsy searches and an electric drill, you can completely change the look of some of IKEA’s kitchen cabinets, desks, and more.
Legs & pegs
At this point, design companies understand the IKEA draw. And they’re even getting in on the action by selling parts that fit some of the brand’s most popular items. Swedish Pretty Pegs makes it easy to enhance the look of sofas, coffee tables, and more by swapping IKEA’s standard legs and pegs for their design-forward counterparts.
With Nordic, Mid-Century, and Art Deco-inspired replacements, your aesthetic options are increased exponentially.
Upholstery & Covers
Found the perfect couch on sale but it’s the wrong color? Fabric brands like Bemz can provide added flexibility with slipcovers designed to fit dozens of IKEA sofas and cushions, as well as armchairs and bed frames. Choose from chic bouclé, playful teddy, or classic tweed fabrics (all sewn to order in Europe) to take a Karlstad three-seater from basic to brilliant. Best of all, they’re machine washable!
Elevate the affordable
No one likes a limited budget. Fortunately for you, with the help of IKEA and these innovative DIY hacks, you can get the look you love (for less). Start mood boarding, your newly designed future awaits!
References
- “The 37 Absolute Coolest Hacks for All of Your Favorite IKEA Products,” House Beautiful, Dec 23, 2020.
- “The Best Ikea Hacks All In One Place,” Ikea Hackers, n.d.
