Everyone who’s ever furnished an apartment or home from scratch likely has a pretty serious love hate relationship with IKEA. The design is simple, sleek, and Swedish. The furniture is usually pretty easy to put together, but it doesn’t always stay in one piece if you try to move it from room to room. And, everyone else has it. You can’t really get away with a sneaky IKEA piece here or there, because your best friend’s brother’s girlfriend definitely already has it.
And so began the world of the IKEA Hack. Where we all accept our dependence on IKEA, and thrive on coming up with the most creative, colorful, inventive ways of tricking out the most standard living essentials around.
First up, 4 companies who’ve made it their business to provide creative tools for adding color and personality to a whole slew of IKEA items.
Pretty Pegs: Described as shoes for your furniture and pictured at the beginning of this article, Prettypegs has created a line of playful and stylish customizable legs that fit just about any piece of IKEA furniture. Whether you’re looking for something funky, modern, retro, or traditional, Prettypegs has got what you need.
What colors would you choose for your living space? We love these wood-dipped pegs!
Bemz: Not your average set of slipcovers, the gorgeous IKEA frocks at Bemz will reinvigorate that old Ektorp armchair, Karlstad Sofa, or Nils dining chair. You wouldn’t host a party without a touch of cover up, why should your furniture?
With over 180 classic and modern designs, you’re sure to find the perfect fit for your living space.
MyKea: Now that you’ve got your chairs and couches fully outfitted, what about all those shelves, cabinets, dressers, and tables? MyKea provides beautifully designed stickers or decals that affix oh-so-perfectly to your plain old IKEA pieces.
They have a huge range of design styles, for nature lovers, type nerds, romantics, and modernists. If they don’t have stickers for your furniture on the site, send a furniture request!
O’verlays: Stickers not gonna cut it for your IKEA revamp? If you’re looking for more hardware, O’verlays is just what the doctor ordered. They’ve created a collection of light decorative framework panels available in several patterns and sizes perfect for your boring old drawers and cupboards.
You can even buy them for non-IKEA furniture, tabletops with glass over them, windows, etc.
And then, we’ve got the incredibly creative community of crafty IKEA hackers. In fact, IKEA Hackers have their own official website! Here are a few of our favorite furniture hacks from around the web.
IKEA Cart Re-Make: Love this vintage-ified kitchen cart. Might need to whip up a few of these for an on-the-go Brit Kitchen!
Chalkboard Bookshelf: For a little creative storage, take 3 IKEA Expedit bookshelves (we all know them too well), turn one into a chalkboard, and turn it to the side!
Mandal Headboard Hack: Need a multifunctional headboard that doesn’t mess up your walls? People have been tearing it up (or, not tearing it up) with this Mandal Headboard. We love the bookshelves, clip lamps, and art-hanging possibilities.
Library Drawers: Another great example of turning your birch-veneered Ikea pieces into antique-looking awesomeness.
IKEA Hack Table Vase: A mason jar IN a table? Clearly this is right up our alley. In fact, this could be a pretty sweet way to hack a few custom tables for your wedding!
Two Ikea-tastic things to stay tuned for? A roundup of IKEA Lighting Hacks (swooning over the Frack Hack above) and Alexander McQueen Pretty Pegs!!
Have you seen other cool Ikea hacks? Send us the link!
