The best IKEA hacks solve a problem the original piece was never meant to solve: a bookcase that rolls into the gap beside the fridge, a stool that becomes a side table, a paper lantern that turns into a hot air balloon. These 35 projects start from familiar IKEA pieces and a few everyday shop finds, and they range from five minute styling tricks to full wall built ins.
They are sorted by room, with the gothic projects in black, burgundy and gold gathered in their own section near the end. Each photo strip shows the parts first and the finished piece last.
Table of Contents
- Painting and Fixing Flat Pack
- Kitchen and Dining Hacks
- Slim Rolling Pantry for the Gap Beside the Fridge
- Pegboard Mug Display
- Walnut Finish Spice Drawer Organizer
- KNAGGLIG Kitchen Welcome Gift Box
- Arched HAVSTA Dining Dresser
- Living Room Tables, Mirrors and Walls
- Bamboo Sofa Seat Tray
- Bamboo Bowl Coffee Table
- Wavy Mirror LACK Side Table
- Picture Frame Waterfall Side Table
- MARIUS Stool Side Table
- Wire Globe Vase
- Half Moon Handle Record Wall
- Live Edge Standing Mirror
- Lamps and Wall Lights
- Natural Wood Backlit Wall Discs
- Black Eclipse Wall Light
- Layered Red Acrylic Lamp
- Hourglass Bowl Table Lamp
- Coffee Jar Pendant Lights
- Bedrooms, Kids' Rooms and Plants
- Lilac Star Bedside Chests
- MOPPE Toy Organizer
- KURA Kids Play Den
- SKÅDIS Pegboard Plant Wall
- Stained Glass SOCKER Greenhouse
- The Gothic Collection
- Gothic Hot Air Balloon Lamp
- Gothic Fuse Box Cover
- Gothic Reading Nook
- Gothic Corner Console
- Gothic Lace FADO Lamp
- Black Gothic Built In Library
- Black Gothic Media Wall
- Gothic LED Curtain Pelmet
- Gothic Pressed Flower Lantern
- Seasonal and Outdoor Hacks
- Wooden Advent Calendar Tree
- Turning Gingerbread Village
- BILLY Garden Tool Cabinet
- Picking Your First Hack
- Where These Hacks Can Go Wrong
Painting and Fixing Flat Pack
Most IKEA surfaces are not bare wood. Fronts and tops are usually a printed foil or a laminate over particleboard, and ordinary paint slides straight off them. Wash the piece with a degreaser, scuff it with fine sandpaper until the shine is gone, wipe the dust off and roll on a bonding primer made for slick surfaces before any color goes on. Water based furniture paint feels dry within an hour or two, but it stays soft underneath for a couple of weeks, so go easy on drawer runners and tabletops while it hardens.
The other skill that turns up again and again is fixing into the wall. Every tall unit in this list, every stack and every rolling piece gets screwed to the wall, so buy fixings that suit what your wall is made of, whether that is studs, brick or plasterboard, rather than relying on the small plugs in the box. Where a hack needs light, the photos mostly use battery LED strips and rechargeable bulbs, which keeps the projects free of new wiring.
Kitchen and Dining Hacks
Slim Rolling Pantry for the Gap Beside the Fridge
That narrow gap between the counter and the fridge is wasted space in most kitchens. Here a narrow white bookcase goes on two caster rails, gets a bar handle on its front end and slides in and out like a pantry drawer. Five shelves hold fifteen glass jars of pasta, beans, lentils, rice and split peas.
- Screw the bar handle to the end that will face the room.
- Fix the two caster rails across the underside, one near each end, into the solid base.
- Screw a guide rail to the wall at the height of the bookcase top and connect the top of the unit to it. The rail is what keeps a tall, narrow cabinet on wheels from tipping.
- Test the empty unit, then load it with the heaviest jars at the bottom.
Check your fridge manual for the side clearance it needs to breathe before you measure the gap.
Pegboard Mug Display
A deep pine frame with a dark teal pegboard back, three brass hooks and two small open cubes gives four favorite mugs their own spot on the counter. The cobalt, cream and terracotta mugs hang in a row, the sage one sits in the left cube, and the right cube is free for tea bags. Space the hooks so the mugs cannot clink together, and push the frame back against the wall or add a small bracket so it does not tip when you lift a mug.
Walnut Finish Spice Drawer Organizer
Before: a deep drawer crowded with tins and tubes standing upright. After: three stepped walnut finish inserts side by side, holding rows of glass spice jars on their sides so every label and color is visible at a glance. Measure the inside width of the drawer before you buy the inserts, and check that the top row of jars clears the counter edge when the drawer closes.
KNAGGLIG Kitchen Welcome Gift Box
A pine KNAGGLIG box becomes a housewarming present for someone who loves to cook. The same leafy engraving runs along the front slat, around a laurel wreath on the base, on a bamboo chopping board, a cork trivet and two wooden spoons. Below the engraved slat, five plywood appliqués of an onion, avocado, red pepper, lettuce and whisk add color.
- Engrave with a laser engraver or a wood burning pen before assembling the box.
- Glue printed images onto thin plywood and cut around each one for the appliqués.
- Pack a basil plant, a white tea towel, the board, the trivet and the spoons inside.
Engrave only the spoon handles and the side of the board that will not be cut on, and put the basil in a small saucer so it does not mark the towel.
Arched HAVSTA Dining Dresser
Four HAVSTA cabinets topped with four BILLY bookcases and their height extensions fill a whole dining room wall. An MDF panel with four arches covers the upper part, crown molding meets the ceiling, and everything is painted sage green with pale mint inside the arches. Eight gold bow knobs finish the doors, and the shelves hold pink and yellow dishes that match the pink table and pastel chairs.
Living Room Tables, Mirrors and Walls
Bamboo Sofa Seat Tray
One thin bamboo strip glued under a tray turns it into a table for a sofa with no room beside it. The strip drops into the gap between two seat cushions, so the tray sits across both without sliding. Mark the line halfway between the handles, glue the strip on its edge and weight it until the glue sets. Try it with an empty mug first, and lift it off before anyone sits down next to it.
Bamboo Bowl Coffee Table
Two BLANDA MATT bamboo serving bowls turned upside down become rounded feet under a light wood board. Their mosaic pattern goes beautifully with a cream sofa and a textured rug. Glue the flat bowl bases to the underside of the board with a polyurethane construction adhesive, set the same distance from each end. You have about twenty minutes to nudge them into place, then leave the board upside down and weighted for a full day, and give it another day before the table goes into use.
Wavy Mirror LACK Side Table
A plain white LACK table disappears inside oak panels with wavy cutouts. Mirror sheets glued to the top and behind the openings reflect the rug, so a solid cube looks surprisingly light next to the sofa.
- Glue a mirror sheet to the tabletop with mirror adhesive.
- Fix mirror sheets to the sides, between the legs, where they will show through the cutouts.
- Glue the oak panels over the sides, flush with the corners, so they hide the legs.
Order the mirrors cut to size with polished edges and a safety backing film, and use only adhesive sold for mirrors; other glues can eat into the silver layer.
Picture Frame Waterfall Side Table
Two wood panels and a large picture frame with glass make a small waterfall table. Painted deep plum, with a thin gold arch on each side and a gold line around the top, it looks like a piece from a boutique. Fix the frame across the tops of the panels with glue and small corner brackets inside, paint everything with the glass removed, then draw the gold details with a paint pen.
MARIUS Stool Side Table
Unscrew the seat of a white MARIUS stool and you are left with two U shaped leg frames. Turn them upside down, cross them at a right angle, join them where they meet with a small bolt or a strong clamp, and fix a round gold tray to the four leg ends. It holds pampas grass in a vase, a book and a candle jar beside the sofa. Check the joint now and then and keep heavy things off it.
Wire Globe Vase
The quickest hack in the list: drop a slim brass cylinder vase into a black wire globe and add three cream carnations cut to different heights. The mesh makes a narrow vase look wide and sculptural. Lift the cylinder out to change the water so drips stay off the sideboard.
Half Moon Handle Record Wall
Twelve white half moon cabinet handles screwed to the wall in two rows of six become tiny ledges for square sleeves. Above a pine dining table and bench, the covers read as a changeable gallery: ocean blues, a cloud, pinks, a desert, green leaves, a sunset, mountains and a textured terracotta print. Leave a little more than one sleeve height between the rows so the upper covers do not touch the lower handles, and display empty sleeves while the records stay upright on a shelf.
Live Edge Standing Mirror
A live edge oak plank, ripped lengthwise into two strips, gives a round frameless mirror a natural stand. The strip with the bark edge sits in front, the straight strip behind, and the mirror stands in the slot between them, held apart by two small spacer blocks glued at the ends.
Ripping the plank takes a table saw or a circular saw with a guide, or a lumberyard can make the cut for you. Brush away any loose bark first, then oil the wood with a small foam roller and let it dry before the mirror goes in.
Lamps and Wall Lights
Natural Wood Backlit Wall Discs
Three SNUDDA lazy Susans make a soft wall light. The turntable ring on the back holds each disc off the wall and gives an LED strip something to wrap around, so the light spills out evenly and draws a halo around every rim. Hung in a triangle above a slatted sideboard, they are just as pretty switched off.
You need three lazy Susans, three battery LED strips with their boxes, three hook and loop straps and picture hangers rated for the weight. Wrap a strip around the ring on the back of each disc with the lights facing out, strap the battery box beside it, and hang the discs on hangers that release easily, because you will lift them off to change batteries.
Black Eclipse Wall Light
The moody sister of the wood discs. Three round birch boards are wiped with black stain on the front and edge, then fitted on the back with a circle of LED strip, a cork disc as a spacer and a battery box. Two hang on the left, one above the other, and the third overlaps them on the right, sitting further out thanks to extra cork, so the glow looks like a solar eclipse above a carved hallway cabinet. One remote switches all three on.
Layered Red Acrylic Lamp
Five translucent red acrylic squares with round holes slot into a black base around a small white globe lamp, with four black rods bracing the corners. Switched on, the layers glow deep red and wash the wall pink. Leave a finger width of space between the globe and every panel.
Hourglass Bowl Table Lamp
Two dark brown bamboo bowls glued base to base make an hourglass stand, and a white globe lamp sits in the top bowl. The natural BLANDA MATT bowls can be stained to this shade. A cordless rechargeable globe is the neatest choice, since it leaves the bowls free of any cable.
Coffee Jar Pendant Lights
Two clear glass jars hang from socket caps sprayed dark brown, with amber filament bulbs glowing inside, on black chains beside a sage green front door. Mask the bulb thread, contacts and rating label before spraying, and let the paint cure before fitting the bulbs.
The same jars make a lovely pair of plug in pendants over an indoor table, where they are much simpler to put up.
Bedrooms, Kids' Rooms and Plants
Lilac Star Bedside Chests
Two dark brown two drawer chests in the style of MALM get a playful makeover with eight curved half round trim pieces, four per chest. Two curves on the top drawer meet in a point at the top, two on the bottom drawer meet at the bottom, and together they form a four pointed star across the drawer gap. Painted lilac with soft yellow trim and a small cream flower in the middle, the pair suits a bedroom or a child's room.
Glue the trim so its ends line up exactly at the gap between the drawers; that way the star still opens with each drawer. Prime the laminate and the trim before painting, and open and close the drawers between coats so nothing sticks.
MOPPE Toy Organizer
A MOPPE mini chest with six drawers painted light blue, mint, pink, lavender, orange and pale yellow becomes a toy sorter. Each drawer gets a printed label with a picture and a word: squishies, cars, figures, dinosaurs, marbles and blocks. Children who cannot read yet can still match the toy to the drawer.
KURA Kids Play Den
A greige MDF panel with a wavy top, a round window and an arched doorway turns the space under a KURA loft bed into a den. Inside, a warm LED strip lights two picture ledges of books, a pink floor mattress and a few soft toys.
- Cut the panel from one large MDF sheet and paint it before fixing it in place.
- Fix it securely to the lower frame and keep the ladder end open. In the photos the panel runs across the ladder, so shorten it at that end before painting.
- Leave off the six climbing holds shown on the panel.
SKÅDIS Pegboard Plant Wall
A white SKÅDIS pegboard holds six small houseplants in two columns of white containers: pilea and stromanthe at the top, a fern and ivy in the middle, a nerve plant and a peperomia at the bottom. The white keeps it calm, so the leaf shapes do the decorating. Screw the board to the wall through its spacers with plugs that suit your wall, and leave the plants in their plastic nursery pots, because the containers have no drainage holes. Lift each pot out, water it in the sink, let it drain and put it back.
Stained Glass SOCKER Greenhouse
Glass paint turns a white SOCKER greenhouse into a little stained glass window. Black outliner traces climbing vines over the roof, front and side panes, filled with lilac flowers, yellow centers and green leaves. Inside, a nerve plant and a creeping plant sit in white pots, and the hinged front pane props open for watering.
Tape a printed pattern behind one pane at a time and trace it with the outliner before filling in the colors. Use an air drying glass paint, since the greenhouse cannot go in an oven.
The Gothic Collection
Black paint, burgundy velvet, lace and gold turn plain flat pack pieces into something closer to a Victorian library. These nine work well together, so you can build a whole room from them or borrow one for a corner.
Gothic Hot Air Balloon Lamp
A REGOLIT paper shade wrapped in two bands of black lace with a big velvet bow becomes a hot air balloon. A small woven basket painted black hangs underneath on four black cords, carrying a velvet bat and three dried burgundy roses. A rechargeable LED bulb with a hook hangs inside, so the lamp needs no wiring, and a remote switches it on.
Tie the four basket cords to the wire ring at the bottom of the shade, not to the paper, and keep the basket light so the frame does not bend.
Gothic Fuse Box Cover
A SANNAHED deep frame painted matte black goes around a fuse box, and a canvas with a gold cathedral window, a crescent moon and burgundy roses hangs on two hinges over it. Closed, it is a painting; opened, the fuse box door is right there.
Hang the hinges on the side of the frame so the canvas swings fully clear of the fuse box door when it opens.
Gothic Reading Nook
Two BILLY bookcases painted black stand at each side of an alcove, two white cabinets painted black form the bench base, and velvet covered foam pads make a burgundy seat and backrest. Brass sconces with black pleated shades, a framed cathedral print, black velvet cushions and a burgundy damask cushion finish it, and black velvet curtains on an iron rod with fleur de lis ends close the nook off.
- Paint the bookcases and cabinets black with a roller.
- Anchor both bookcases to the wall, then fix the cabinets between them.
- Lay the seat on the cabinets and fix the backrest to the wall, with the sconces above it.
- Hang the rod and curtains across the front, then add the print, cushions and books.
If the cabinet tops give under your hand, build a simple timber frame inside them before the seat goes on. Plug in sconces avoid new wiring.
Gothic Corner Console
Two oak effect side tables with different shapes wrap the corner of a wall column and become one L shaped console. Matte black chalk paint ties them together, and a little antique gold wax rubbed along the edges picks out their stepped outlines. Join the tables underneath with flat connector plates once they sit tight against the column. Styled with a peace lily, a black dome lamp, a jug, books and an open photo book, it fills a corner most people leave empty.
Gothic Lace FADO Lamp
Black floral lace stretched over the white globe of a FADO lamp throws a lace pattern when the light is on, and a black velvet bow finishes the base. A rechargeable LED bulb with its own switch replaces the corded setup, so the lamp can sit anywhere, here on a pink box on top of a glass cabinet.
Black Gothic Built In Library
Three BILLY bookcases become a built in library with MDF and molding. A header panel runs up to the ceiling, framed MDF panels cover the lower shelves like cupboard doors, half round pilasters run down the sides and between the units, and crown molding finishes the top. Painted matte black, with three battery puck lights over framed botanical prints and a black urn, it looks like custom joinery.
Anchor each bookcase before adding any trim, caulk every joint so the black reads as one surface, and fill the shelves from the bottom up.
Black Gothic Media Wall
Six wall hung BESTÅ cabinets run under the TV with one long MDF top, two BILLY bookcases stand at the left end, and the cabinets, bookcases and wall are all painted matte black. One color hides the joins and makes separate units read as a single wall.
Gothic LED Curtain Pelmet
Three MOSSLANDA picture ledges painted black and joined end to end make one long pelmet across a wide window. Black gothic arch trim runs along the front, and an LED strip tucked behind it washes warm light down sheer white curtains. Hang the curtains from their own track, not the pelmet, which is only there to hide the light.
Gothic Pressed Flower Lantern
Two gold double hinged frames stand on a black tray to form a square lantern. Each of the four panes holds a pressed burgundy rose, a black fern and a black lace flower, arranged a little differently, fixed with tiny dots of clear glue.
Seasonal and Outdoor Hacks
Wooden Advent Calendar Tree
Graduated plywood shelves on a pine upright make a tree with a spot for 24 little gift boxes: one on the top tier, then two, three, four and six, and eight on the base. Red and white baker's twine, number stickers with cartoon cats and a string of multicolor battery lights along the tiers finish it.
The shelves are cut to length on a miter saw and drilled along the front edge, as the first photo shows.
Turning Gingerbread Village
Two SNUDDA lazy Susans glued side by side onto one long board let six iced gingerbread houses spin, so every side gets admired, not just the front. Glue only the fixed bottom plates and keep glue out of the turning mechanism. Keep each house inside the edge of its turntable, or the two villages knock into each other as they turn.
BILLY Garden Tool Cabinet
A BILLY bookcase clad in spruce slats stained dark brown becomes a garden tool cabinet on a covered terrace. Inside, a rail with three hooks holds hand tools, a notched shelf keeps a rake and a broom upright, and there is room for a watering can, a basket and folded towels. The slatted door carries three small planters with yellow, white and orange flowers.
Use an exterior wood stain on the slats, but remember the bookcase inside is still particleboard. Keep it, as in the photos, against the house wall under a deep roof where rain never reaches it.
Picking Your First Hack
If you have never hacked a piece of furniture, start with the wire globe vase, the sofa tray, the gingerbread village or the spice drawer: no power tools, just glue or nothing at all. The plant wall and the record wall only need a drill for the wall fixings. Save the built in library, the media wall and the dining dresser for when you are comfortable anchoring tall units and painting laminate.
Where These Hacks Can Go Wrong
Furniture tipping over is the big one. A bookcase that stands perfectly still when it is empty can come forward the moment a child pulls out a drawer or climbs the shelves, and the rolling pantry, the arched dresser, the reading nook, the black library, the media wall, the garden cabinet and even the advent tree are all tall for their footprint. Screw every one of them to the wall with the anti tip fitting from the box, into a stud or solid masonry, and do it before any trim, molding or paint hides the spot. Where cabinets and bookcases are stacked, as in the dresser and the media wall, each piece needs its own fixing, because they were never designed as one system. The media wall has a second problem: wall hung cabinets are not made to carry bookcases standing on top of them, so give that end legs or a plinth so the weight goes down to the floor.
A few hacks look sturdier than they are. The bowl coffee table, the MARIUS stool table and the sofa tray are for books, cups and plants, never for sitting or standing on. Storage cabinets are not seats either, which is why the reading nook bench needs to be screwed to the wall and braced. Ordinary picture frame glass is thin and breaks into long shards, so the waterfall table should get a piece of toughened glass cut to size before it sees daily use, and the live edge mirror belongs against a wall where it cannot tip forward.
Heat matters wherever paper, lace, acrylic or dried flowers sit close to a light. Use only LED bulbs in the red acrylic lamp, since acrylic softens with heat, keep the lace on the outside of the FADO globe, and swap the real candles in the gothic lantern, the corner console and the MOPPE photos for flickering LED ones. LED strip controllers run warm too, so leave them somewhere with a little air around them instead of buried in fabric. The coffee jar pendants are the one project that really needs a professional: a glass jar is not a rated shade and a porch counts as a damp location, so an electrician should fit damp rated parts if you want that exact setup outside.
Children change the rules for a few projects. A loft bed like KURA is only suitable for children aged six and older in its high position, and nothing should be screwed or hung onto it, because a hook, handle or cord can catch a child's clothing while they play. The climbing holds in the den photos also invite children up the outside of the bed where there is no guardrail, which is why they are left off. Marbles, tiny figures and the small gifts in an advent box are choking hazards for anyone under three. The fuse box cover must open with one hand and no tools in an emergency, nothing should ever be drilled into the box itself, and a cable detector run over the wall around it saves a nasty surprise. Finally, the table saw and miter saw cuts in this list are adult work with the blade guard in place, push sticks for narrow strips and safety glasses on.
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