8 Ways to Redesign Your IKEA Furniture

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Quarto Ikea, José Tiago Rosa José Tiago Rosa Minimalist bedroom
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Before we even start this article, let's get one thing straight: we love IKEA! This is in no way us bashing the great value and simple styling IKEA has become synonymous with. Rather, it's us giving you some top tips for making your furniture choices seem a little less… obvious.

We all know how annoying it is to walk into someone else's living room only to see the exact same bookcase or sofa as you have. It's a nightmare! 

By following these tips, you can give your IKEA furniture the interior designer look, while still picking up everything you need in Markethall, so take a look how a few small changes will make a big impact on your IKEA items.

1. Pimp up your Poang chair with a different cover

The Poang chair is a staple of the IKEA catalogue, with nearly every home having one—from student digs to family havens—but you can make yours a little less standard by grabbing some funkier covers, or even making some yourself. 

There are countless tutorials online and you'll be shocked at what people have made!

2. Make custom legs for your standard sofa

Klippan sofas are amazing! Compact, comfortable and cheap, there are lots of reasons why so many of us flock to them every time we visit IKEA, but the legs can really let them down. 

Instead of plumping for the ones that are recommended, select some from a different sofa range to mix up the look of your chairs.

3. Give your floating Lack shelves a built-in look

Do you know why Lack shelves are so popular? Because they're easy to install and have a sleek, contemporary look that could mean they're more high end than they really are.

However, when everybody has them, that designer look vanishes! You can inject some bespoke styling by mounting yours in a niche to make them look custom built-in. Simple yet effective!

4. Paint small items

IKEA furniture is ripe for some upcycling and hacks, thanks to how cheap it is! Never mind if you get something wrong, you can buy another and try again.

Coffee tables, in particular, are great for a spot of DIY, as you can paint the tops to perfectly match your living room and make people think you commissioned a bespoke item!

5. Choose oversized bedding to camouflage a Malm bed

Malm beds are such a staple in a lot of homes, regardless of size or colour, and once you have one, you can spot them anywhere. 

Though we don't think this is a bad thing per se, you might not want people being able to spot one in your home, so how about shortening the headboard and using oversized bedding to hide the sides?

6. Swap out the handles on your storage items

It's true what they say; the simple solutions are often the best.

If you have any IKEA storage furniture with handles, remove them and replace with better, funkier alternatives. Expensive handles will totally change the look of your storage and nobody (perhaps not even a professional designer) would ever think it came from IKEA.

7. Make bespoke drawer divides for Malm chests

Back to Malm now, as the chests of drawers are probably one of the most popular items  iIKEA sells. But how can you make yours less commonplace? 

Well, you can paint, upcycle or add decals, but what about the inside? Making custom drawer divides that allow you to store specific items is the best and easiest way to give a Malm dresser some bespoke charm.

8. Hide a Kallax unit by making the contents the focus

And finally, we come to the king of all IKEA furniture: the Kallax unit! What home doesn't have at least one of these wonderful bookcases? 

Available in a variety of colours and sizes, you can't really hide a Kallax, but you can camouflage it if you use it to store exciting items that will capture the attention of onlookers. Rest art on top, house records and quirky memorabilia inside and just sit back and watch as nobody notices the Kallax unit is there!

For more IKEA inspiration, take a look at this Ideabook: 6 different uses for IKEA's KALLAX shelf.

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