IKEA hacks to try soon
Sara Fraser | CBC News | Posted: September 30, 2017 1:00 PM | Last Updated: September 30, 2017
Now that IKEA is open in Dartmouth, here are some ideas for customizing the store's simple furniture
IKEA opened its new store in Dartmouth to much fanfare this week — and you just know some Islanders are making the trip to the giant Swedish home-goods retailer this weekend, or plan to soon.
If you can't find enough inspiration in the store's four football fields of floor space, here are some fun ideas for customizing IKEA's simple, generic designs.
There's even a site called ikeahackers.net with hundreds of cool ideas.
1. Nightstand
This simple EKET-cube-turned-nightstand hack is directly from ikeahackers.net. EKET cubes start at $20 and come in a handful of colours, including white, black, navy and orange.
This hacker used hairpin legs adding a very mid-century modern look which is very popular right now. Look for legs at thrift stores like Charlottetown's Habitat for Humanity ReStore.
For the smallest cube and four of the cheapest 11-inch legs from Etsy ($14 each) or the Hairpin Leg Shop, I estimate the cost at $76 plus shipping.
2. Custom clock
IKEA has a pretty large selection of wall clocks — looks like the hackers at lamaisondannag.blogspot.ca used the BONDIS clock, adding a couple of cognac-coloured leather belts as a hanger.
In fact, Anna G. has a whole post about hacks with the same leather belts — read it here. You could also try the same thing with a mirror.
Danny Seo has a video tutorial here, or you can wing it.
With two thrifted leather belts at about $2 each and the $25 clock, plus some super glue like Gorilla brand ($5.88 at Walmart), you're looking at about $35 total.
3. Bar cart
The bar cart trend just keeps heating up — here's a fun hack from Style Me Pretty.
It's a Vittsjö laptop table spray painted and with a shelf made of acrylic or plexiglass, with casters. Find the directions here.
The laptop table is $40, and Speedy Glass in Charlottetown can custom-cut the Lexan acrylic for the bottom shelf for $62.55. Casters can be found at local hardware stores for just a couple of dollars each — so you're looking at a total of about $115 for this project.
4. Side table
Customize the Rissna nesting side tables any way you want — blogger Kristi Murphy made hers super-feminine with some marble-look contact paper and spray paint.
Find the complete directions on kristimurphy.com.
The tables come in a nesting pair, so if you hack just one and add contact paper ($3) and spray paint ($5), the project will cost about $73.
5. Farmhouse table
DIY queen Monica Mangin of East Coast Creative calls this "the easiest DIY project on the planet!" but this farmhouse table does involve a lot of screws and an actual table saw.
It takes two Ingo tables at $80 each, 10 one-by-two framing lumber in 4-foot lengths (hard to find, but you could probably substitute) at about $4 each, and seven two-by-eight pine planks at $25 each, plus some more lumber, screws, sandpaper, stain and polyurethane to seal for a total price of at least $425.
- MORE P.E.I. NEWS | Vancouver Film School offering $50K in scholarships to Island filmmakers
- MORE P.E.I. NEWS | 'It's not your grandmother's quilt': New designs pop up at Charlottetown quilt show