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IKEA hacks have become a design movement, with an entire online ecosystem of step-by-step guides dedicated to updating and overhauling popular IKEA pieces, from the modular PAX system to the humble BILLY bookcase. The Scandi retailer Bemz have even made a business of it, selling a myriad of sofa covers to fit IKEA models.
Hacks can vary from a simple repaint that can be done in a few hours, to a full makeover adding arches, wooden fluting and crown moulding. In the world of IKEA hacks, the simple LACK coffee table becomes a contemporary reflective plexiglass box and the BLODLÖNN mirrored panels become an XL leaning floor mirror that belies its tiny price tag.
Pinterest is a pretty unbeatable platform for discovering IKEA hacks, but with hundreds of billions of pins, finding the best can be a laborious task. We've done the legwork, scouring the boards to find the best examples of IKEA makeovers, each with a handy step-by-step guide.
Probably the best IKEA hack we've ever seen. This striking wall to wall unit has been made using IKEA's best-selling BILLY Bookcase with added materials amounting to a total cost of around £500.
Bemz have made an entire business out of creating IKEA sofa covers, and they are really good at it. You can choose from hundreds of fabrics and colours, from off-white linen loose covers to jewel-toned velvets.
You will likely not recognise the IVAR Shelving Unit here. The untouched version is made of plain pine, which has a great industrial and raw quality, but is totally transformed here with a postbox red paint.
Another piece that is totally unrecognisable. The KALLAX comes with cubby holes that are usually filled with boxes or used as open display. Here, the fluted fronts, brass handles and feet are added in this clever hack.
Another BILLY Bookcase transformation that creates a faux built-in effect. Two bookcases are used here (at a cost of £110) fitted seamlessly to a corner wall and painted in a lovely olive green.
The IKEA BLODLÖNN Mirror is a simple stick-on glass pane (and costs just £7 for a pack of four,) but with the addition of a slick black frame looks like a pricey industrial-style floor mirror.
The LACK Coffee Table is probably in every first-time home – it's a simple square table costing just £12. Here, a fabulous plexiglass cover has been stuck on with some professional-grade tape, so no tools required.
The PAX System is one of IKEA's most famous designs. The joy of PAX is that it is totally modular, so can fit pretty much any space, and this hack adds trims, brass handles and crown moulding to create a classic profile.
A similar adaption of the BILLY Bookcase here, with arches created from MDF, this time with reeded doors and painted in Valspar's Thames Fog.
In its original form, the BRIMNES is a really plain cabinet. It is available from IKEA with glass panels, but here a more creative take replaces the front panels with cane webbing. A particularly clever detail is the mental handles that have been wrapped in a piece of scrap leather.
The country style of this bespoke storage unit belies its Scandi origins. Here, the PAX and KOMPLEMENT drawers have been combined and updated in a wonderful duck egg blue with brass handles.
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