Customizing IKEA Furniture Yourself
Paint it if you want to change the color. IKEA offers their products in a decent selection of colors, but if it’s not exactly what you want, it just won’t do. Paint over clashing or lifeless shades on solid items for a piece that’s totally your own. This can be done in a matter of hours, but you’ll enjoy the rebirth of your favorite book shelf or end table for years. Best of all, you can strip and repaint a piece as often as you like, which means the possibilities are nearly endless. Sand wooden surfaces to remove the old paint and help the new paint hold better. Prep your surface with a primer, use 2 coats of paint for a smooth, even finish, and seal the paint with a lacquer when you’re finished to preserve it. Use painter’s tape to layer paint with multiple colors and create dazzling designs. Note that if the furniture has laminate or acrylic surfaces, it will take specialized preparation and materials to paint over.
Distress furniture for a vintage look. IKEA specializes in sleek, contemporary designs, but what if you want to impart a more quaint, time-worn look to your home or apartment? Put aging furniture through the ringer by distressing it yourself at home. Sand down an unremarkable wood surface, then stain it for a rich antique finish. Adorn ordinary fixtures with rustic materials like burlap, leather, and wicker. Suddenly, your home will go from sterile to tastefully rugged. Try wet-sanding painted surfaces to make them look faded. Distressing IKEA furniture the right way can give it that aesthetic of age and coziness that it’s sometimes lacking. For a rustic or shabby chic look, you can use chalk paint, which can be found at most craft and hardware stores.
Add one-of-a-kind details for a unique look. Inject a little of your own personality into less-than-exhilarating decor. Come up with a list of fun ideas about how to represent yourself through your furnishings. Be on the lookout for unconventional materials you could use to create custom pieces that really make a statement. For instance, those with an interest in nautical imagery could embellish wall hangings with ropes tied into sailor’s knots, or you could resurface your MALM desk with a mosaic of paint spatters if you’re an artist. Have fun and let your creativity take over! Personalizing your IKEA purchases doesn’t have to be an elaborate process. It could be as straightforward as adding a border, sewing on fabric accents or changing out small details like buttons, cushions or trim. If you’re looking to upgrade a bookcase, add wallpaper or contact paper on the back support for a fun twist. Websites like Pinterest contain a wealth of ideas for how to customize furniture and craft new features.
Find new uses for your old pieces. Step back and look at your IKEA pieces through fresh eyes. What other possible uses could they have? A classic BILLY bookcase turned on its side becomes a convenient cubby nook for stashing personal belongings. A BEKVAM spice rack mounted on the wall turns into an unobtrusive place to hang winter coats. Get inventive and consider what functions your existing furniture could serve beyond its intended purpose. You could also add a cushion to a simple bench with a solid seat. Repurpose old pieces that you no longer have any use for rather than just throwing them away.
Buying Pre-Made Accessories
Add a slipcover for a quick upgrade. If you’re unhappy with the lackluster appearance of your easy chair, love seat or Ottoman, it may be time to give it a makeover. New companies are popping up that specialize in designing high-quality furniture covers that fit like a glove over popular IKEA models. A drab white EKTORP sofa could be totally transformed with a tasteful floral print, or dazzling mint green criss-crossed with Chevron. Slip covers can be found for many of the best-selling IKEA pieces. With these, you can enjoy the comfort and longevity of your furniture without being locked into the look. Comfort Works, Bemz and Knesting are just a few suppliers where you can find furniture covers to suit all tastes.
Switch out your furniture legs for a subtle change. Instead of making sweeping changes to the look of your living room, make subtle ones. Try replacing the basic legs that come standard on your coffee table or sofa with a set that offers a little more flair. Certain businesses now specialize in designing eye-catching furniture legs that can lend a little character to your tired pieces without the need to completely redecorate. Swedish company Prettypegs is the industry leader of tricked-out IKEA legs, though you can also get them handmade in private web shops like those on Etsy.
Add new knobs, handles, or other hardware for an easy update. The legs aren't the only part of your generic IKEA furniture you can trade out. Custom knobs, latches, drawer handles and even hinges are available to make simplistic pieces a little more dazzling. These ornate touches will lend a bit of bling without distracting from the main focus of the piece. Sometimes, little changes can make a big difference. Pick out hardware that will provide a pleasant contrast to the rest of the piece, like gold knobs and hinges on a black BRIMNES cabinet or leather loop handles on an old-fashioned GALANT drawer unit. For lavish original accessories, give modern furniture pioneers like Superfront a shot. IKEA’s wooden furniture has paintable knobs. You can easily paint or stain them in a contrasting color for a custom touch.
Try out stick-on accents for a temporary change. Look into the emerging trend of adhesive furniture finishes. These are essentially giant stickers, and are available in a wide range of sizes and spectacular designs. Simply smooth the vinyl sticker onto your bureau or tabletop and watch it go from boring wood grain to any of hundreds of full-color art prints. If you’re the kind of person that likes to alter the look of your furniture often, these could be just what you need. These stick-on accents can easily be applied and removed, and won’t leave behind any sticky, damaging residue. If you’re looking for places to compare different designs, start with Mykea O’verlays and PANYL.
Freshening Things up by Redecorating
Move things around for a new look. Put the philosophy of feng shui into practice by reordering anything that’s not bolted down. Sometimes, just swapping the positions of a few pieces can be enough to breathe new life into a room. Give your furniture trial runs in new configurations and see what you like best. Don’t be afraid to get a little daring—once you hit on that perfect new setup, you’ll know it right away. You can also swap out furniture from different rooms. Moving a bookcase from your bedroom to your living room is a great way to spice up a space for free. There’s no right or wrong way to decorate your space. Go with your gut. Flip through interior decorating magazines to get ideas about how to organize your furniture in unexpectedly energizing ways.
Come up with new arrangements to add variety. It’s not always about the furniture itself, but what else is going on around it. One surefire way to make a boring set worthy of a second look is to simply spice it up with other objects. A basic HEMNES nightstand could benefit from the addition of a stack of vintage books, while an otherwise unremarkable REKARNE coffee table will really pop once it's laid with a few jars of sand and seashells. Get your other belongings in on the act of creating visually-interesting decor. This is an easy and versatile way to liven up your decor that will save you the expense of going out and buying new furniture. To add texture and color, swap out the shade on your lamp or add a table runner to your coffee table.
Mix and match pieces for a fresh vibe. Experiment with attractive and unusual pairings. Just because a piece was designed as part of a set doesn’t mean it won’t work when placed with mismatched pieces. Look for places where a given item would be consistent with different but complementary items. Taking a hodgepodge approach with simpler pieces can really break up the monotony of uniform designs. Try using the bar stools from the kitchen counter as the new seats for your BJURSTA dining table, or trading out the pillows on the couch for those on the love seat. Establish a harmony between offbeat colors and materials, like natural wood grains or brightly colored plastics with shiny metallic details.
Create themes for your living space for a cohesive feel. Divide your IKEA selections up by style, color and material to put together fresh combinations that tie the room together with a unique theme. The living room could be all warm, vibrant colors, for example, while the bedroom is done in cool, subtle hues. You could also showcase diversity throughout the household by choosing a different material and design style for each set of furniture (i.e. sleek, futuristic kitchen accessories, patterned bathroom fixtures, etc.). By laying out the furniture in your home “showroom style,” each room will have its own distinct character.
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