Twelve IKEA DIY’s To Inspire You To Get Your Hack On

Besides my love for my husband and my baby, Ikea Hacks might just take the top spot for the loves of my life. If you’ve never heard of an IKEA Hack before, it’s essentially taking a product that IKEA produces (they’re known for their simple, clean and pocket-book friendly designs) and giving it a little elbow grease to transform it into something unique, sometimes with an alternate use than what it was originally intended for.

An IKEA Hack can range from one simple embellishment, to pulling out the power tools and making it almost unrecognizable to the naked eye. I love IKEA Hacks because while I don’t have the skills or the time to create something from scratch, I do like to put my own stamp on items and let’s be honest – the price is almost always right at IKEA. I love spending time searching the web for innovative Hacks as well as adding to my collection at home. So today, I’ve pulled together a round up of IKEA Hacks that myself and fellow TCMB contributor Honja have DIY’d, as well as few from one of our giveaway sponsors, Stephanie Goldfarb from The Divine Living Space, who also has a knack for transforming IKEA pieces.

No matter if you’ve never dipped your toes in DIY waters or if you consider DIY one of your regular hobbies, there a Hack on this list for you. Let’s get started!

Because of all the fabric, curtains are often way more expensive that what I’m willing to pay. One of my favorite ways to get the look I want without paying an arm and a leg are to upgrade the classic IKEA Ritva Curtain. I’ve done it a couple ways in my own home, the first time, I upgraded the simple white panel with ribbon trim. You can find the full tutorial here – and bonus – it’s no sew!

The second time I tried my hand at dying them with Rit Dye to get the perfect color of green for my son’s nursery. The tutorial can be found here. 

Honja found another way to land some inexpensive curtains by taking tablecloths from IKEA and turning them into curtains for her daughter’s nursery. Plus, she added the most adorable pom fringe to the bottom! More details can be found here.

One of IKEA’s biggest workhorses is the Hemnes dresser. You can get this dresser in a lot of different sizes which makes it great for any type of room. Here, I turned the three-drawer dresser into a changing table for my son’s nursery. With a couple coats of paint and new knobs, it’s a custom piece that will grow with him for years to come. More photos and details here. 

The Bekvam step stool is definitely a must-have in nearly every household. It’s the perfect first project of anyone just starting out on their DIY journey, and the options are seriously endless for how you can customize this piece for your space. I’ve done two of them, the first for my son’s nursery using paint and decals to add a few polka-dots on the steps. The full tutorial can be found here.

The second was a super simple upgrade using tape to leave the legs raw for a “dipped look.” More details can be found here.

The Rast dresser’s petite size makes it great for small houses in the cities, and at $35 a pop, it’s definitely pocket-book friendly. I used a combination of paint, stain and new knobs to finish the side tables in my master bedroom off. More details can be found here. 

Another dresser in our master bedroom is the Malm 4-drawer dresser. This piece is super modern, so I warmed it up with the addition of gold knobs from Anthropology. More on this dresser can be found here. 

Because IKEA products are so popular, you can usually pick up used items at thrift stores, garage sales and Craigslist, perfect for Hacking since you’re already going to be changing it. Stephanie found a Lack table for $3.00 at a thrift store and look how she transformed it – looks like a $300 table! More photos and details can be found here. 

Stephanie also gave a simple upgrade to this IKEA Malm dresser in the form of O’verlays. If you haven’t heard of O’verlays, it’s a company that specializes in items that make IKEA Hacks super simple. A few O’verlays and some knobs definitely took this piece to another level. Here’s the full tutorial.

Another one of Stephanie’s hacks was taking IKEA’s Bekvam spice racks and turning them into bookshelves – an awesome solution to storing the thousands of children’s books we all have in our homes. Just a simple can of white spray paint was all it took to finish these off. Find the full tutorial here.

And finally, Hojna took the Mysig Bed Canopy and gave it a quick makeover to make it a little more fitting for her daughters’ play kitchen. I love how she both changed the look and the original purpose for this item. More details can be found here.

How about you, have you ever tried your hand at an IKEA Hack? I’d love to hear about your DIY’s!