Ikea Hack - Furnishly

The 100 Best IKEA Hacks of All Time

by Furnishly | Jul 13, 2022 | DIY, Uncategorized

We’ve rounded up one hundred IKEA hacks that prove you can have champagne tastes on a beer budget. Each of these hacks illustrates the power of transformation – basic warehouse pieces are cleverly altered in beautiful ways that make them feel custom. This round up has me feeling like Aladdin on a magic carpet ride – so come along with me! I can open your eyes, take you wonder by wonder, over, sideways and under on a magic IKEA hack ride. All hacks are listed in alphabetical order by their original IKEA birth name.

ALEX

IKEA Hack ALEX desk — The Lifestyle Directory

IKEA Hack ALEX storage unit — Full Time Fiesta

ALSEDA

BESTA

IKEA Hack BESTA — A Beautiful Mess – BESTA IKEA hack TV console idea (entertainment center)

IKEA Besta cabinet hack — The Vintage Guru Shop – IKEA cabinet with vintage legs

BILLY

BORBY

Note: we tried to find all of these and make sure they’re still available on IKEA.com. Some models have been discontinued, but you can usually find a similar item to substitute.

DOKUMENT

EKBY

EKORRE

EXPEDIT

FAKTUM

FAS

IKEA Hack FAS — IKEA Hackers – table lamp

FIRA

FJALKINGE

FOTO

FROSTA

GRUNTDAL

HEAT

HEMMA

HEMNES

HYLISS

INBJUDANDE

INGO

IVAR

KALASA

KLUBBO

LACK

LAPPLJUNG RUTA

LERBERG

LINNMON

LUDVIG

MALM

MARIUS

MINNA

MOPPE

MYSINGSO

NORNAS

OLEBY

RACKA

RANARP

RAST

RIBBA

RORT

SELJE

SINNERLIG

SJOSLEV

SKOGSTA

SKOGSVAG

SODERHAMN

STALL

STAVE

SVARTAN

TARVA

TRADIG

TUPPLUR

VIKTIGT

VITTSJO

Vitttsjo Ikea hack coffee table — Simple Details

VURM

A 330-Square-Foot NYC’s Rental Has an IKEA Closet Hacked into an L-Shaped Desk

by Furnishly | Jan 19, 2022 | Design Inspiration, Style

We independently select these products—if you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission.

Name: Aparna Sudhakar and husband, Simon
Location: Manhattan, New York
Type of home: Apartment
Size: 330 square feet
Years lived in: 2.5 years, renting

Tell us a little (or a lot) about your home and the people who live there: My husband and I share this cozy little one-bedroom (almost like a studio) home in the bustle of the Big Apple. We’re both architects and love making custom things. The gloomy months of quarantine made us realize that our walls needed life and our tiny space as a whole needed a story. Starting with an organic growing living room wall filled with unique handmade art, craft, posters, and gifted items, our goal was to tap the maximum potential of every usable square foot in our apartment. A few months of layering our place with things we love and need gave it a warm makeover and became so personal to us. We love that we made our first apartment together as a married couple something beautiful, creative, and memorable!

We’re a couple that loves to design and make things. The artsy, crafty items that my husband and I made for our space that add more character outnumber the things we store-bought. A quick glimpse at any direction in our apartment will have at least one element that was made by us and naturally speaks about our interests and who we are as people. Walking into and waking up everyday in a space that reflects so much of ourselves inspires us to always keep creating things we love and things that make us happy! Our DIYs include our entryway, kitchen tiles/paint, wall art/craft, custom 3D prints, and our corner work desk space.

Describe your home’s style in 5 words or less: Creative, Cozy, Lively, Efficient, and Organized!

What is your favorite room and why? Our bedroom. This is the brightest room in our apartment and had the most potential for changing layouts. To make the most efficient use of space and to maximize room size, we made a corner work desk/window seat, which has been the best addition to our home so far! We dismantled our IKEA closet and re-used the panels to create a desk with a flip-open top and a connecting window seat. The L-shaped corner is now sun-drenched and is our creative work space.

What’s the last thing you bought (or found!) for your home? String lights! You can never go wrong with these, they will amp up the coziness of your home 10 fold.

Any advice for creating a home you love? Your home should be a place you want to come back to for respite at any point of time. Choose a room, corner, or even a small thing that you want as part of your home. You can build up eventually. The best thing about DIY is that it doesn’t have to be permanent, your home can evolve with your changing taste to best reflect who you are. Start making notes for yourself anytime you see something you like. I have a running list on my phone for all the things we want in our home but cannot have right now. If it is not possible right away, the right time for it is not far away!

This submission’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.

B&A: A One-Day, $94 Hack Gives a Basic IKEA MALM Dresser a Style Boost

by Furnishly | Nov 17, 2021 | Design Inspiration, Furniture, Style

Megan Baker

Home Projects Editor

Megan is a writer and editor who specializes in home upgrades, DIY projects, hacks, and design. Before Apartment Therapy, she was an editor at HGTV Magazine and This Old House Magazine. Megan has a degree in Magazine Journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. She is a self-taught weighted blanket connoisseur.

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B&A: A Leftover IKEA KALLAX Gets a $40 Redo with High-End, Minimalist Style

by Furnishly | Nov 3, 2021 | Design Inspiration, DIY, Furniture, Style

As far as versatile furniture pieces go, it’s hard to beat a classic like the IKEA KALLAX. It’s not only inexpensive, but it’s also available in multiple sizes, and is a sturdy enough piece to function in nearly any room of your home. It’s also endlessly hackable, as this redo from Joana Bianchi (@joana_bianchi) shows.

“I think everyone has had a KALLAX in their home at some point,” Joana says of the IKEA standby. “When I was renovating a friend’s bedroom, they needed some place to store paperwork and some random items, so I decided to figure out a way to incorporate this piece of furniture they already had into their new bedroom aesthetic.”

Joana wasn’t sure exactly what she wanted her project to look like at first, but knew she wanted it to have chunky legs as its base. So she started by building supports using a 2×4, then sanded, primed, and painted the body of the piece a soft beige color. (That came after her first pick didn’t go as planned: “I started by painting this piece gray, but then realized I didn’t love it, so I pivoted,” Joana says. “That’s normal and part of the process!”)

To hide the shelf’s contents, Joana cut plywood doors to fit the front of the shelf. She considered having the doors inset, to fit flush with the frame, but “because the doors could not be inset without messing with the inside shelves, I decided to use some pretty hinges that could be exposed and assemble the doors in front,” Joana says.

To add some texture to the door fronts, Joana covered them in burlap left over from another DIY. Then, to make minimalist handles, she cut half circles from plywood and painted them to match the body of the shelf. A little bit of scrap wood helps the handles stand out a bit to make them easy to grab.

“I love that you would never guess it used to be a KALLAX!” Joana says of the redesigned cabinet. Best of all? She only spent $40 on the glow-up, making this gorgeous (and functional) piece a bargain, too.

“This is a simple, low cost, one weekend project that I think anyone can achieve,” Joana adds. “It really transformed the look of an object that so many people have at home. It shows that you can make your home feel like you, even on a tight budget.”

Megan Baker

Home Projects Editor

Megan is a writer and editor who specializes in home upgrades, DIY projects, hacks, and design. Before Apartment Therapy, she was an editor at HGTV Magazine and This Old House Magazine. Megan has a degree in Magazine Journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. She is a self-taught weighted blanket connoisseur.

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IKEA’s New Manual Teaches You How You To Upcycle Old Furniture Like Brand New

by Furnishly | Aug 16, 2021 | Design Inspiration, DIY, Style

IKEA’s iconic assembly instruction manuals have helped millions of customers around the world. Now, the company is reimagining it to help the environment.

The Swedish flatpack company has launched new, free-to-download manuals that teach customers how to upcycle the furniture they’re planning to discard. Called “Repurposeful Instructions,” the manuals feature 12 hacks that anyone — whether a beginner or an expert— can use.

For instance, one of the beginner projects shows how to turn a FABRIKOR glass cabinet into a terrarium. An intermediate manual, meanwhile, demonstrates how you can take a FRAKTA bag and convert it into a hanging garden. And if you’re up for a challenge, the advanced difficulty includes instructions on how to create a beehive from an IVAR cabinet.

Repurposeful Instructions is one of many programs that IKEA has launched to become more sustainable. Some of their other efforts include launching a buy-back service and announcing plans to sell spare parts to help extend the life of their products.

“We really believe in the power of small, sustainable acts that people can take in their daily lives,” said Ami Warrington of IKEA Canada. “In addition to becoming a fully circular business by 2030, IKEA is committed to helping our customers and co-workers make lots of little changes, like with Repurposeful Instructions, to live more sustainably in easy and inspiring ways.”