People Shared Their Best IKEA Furniture Hacks And They Look Incredible

Amazed by these before and afters!

1. This updated shelf space:

AbsoluteCP / Via reddit.com

"I got the black, Kallax IKEA shelf used on Varagesale for $15. I just glued some 1"x4" pieces together and made sure they were long enough to cover the edges, then cut down to fit perfectly on the top. Then I ripped a couple of 1"x4" pieces down the middle and attached them to the sides to make an apron. Then sanded, stained, and polyurethaned. I also found some casters on a Varagesale for $5 so I drilled holes into the base corners and slid them in. The entire project cost $25." — AbsoluteCP

2. This expensive-looking faux marble:

rebeccastonephoto / Via reddit.com

"The marble table I wanted from World Market was $550, so I turned this $180 table from IKEA into the table of my dreams with spray paint, table epoxy, and a blow torch." —rebeccastonephoto

3. This genius bar hack:

IKEA / Via ikea.com, piersmorganschin / Via reddit.com

"Turned a Vittsjo laptop desk into a home bar. The wood is actually just sitting on the desk at the moment, using the weight of the bottles etc to keep it in place. It’s pretty weighty, so it doesn’t budge. The glass holder rails are also screwed into the top shelf in line with the frame so it keeps it squared off and in line, and the cutouts on the bottom shelf are pretty snug so they don’t move either. The wood itself is an oak hobby board from a local DIY store. For the bottom shelf, I just measured up the cutouts for the four corners in the lower frame (about 2cm each, with an additional 4cm at the rear to allow it to sit flush against the wall) then it just sits on the frame, which goes around the sides and the back." —piersmorganschin

4. This nifty hidden litter box bench:

IKEA / Via ikea.com, Brothengar / Via reddit.com

Made a gidden cat litter box/bench from IKEA's Stuva/Fritids unit." —Brothengar

5. This beautiful, elevated dresser:

alyssatriesart / Via reddit.com

"I have two supporting beams going across. I also drilled them into the metal legs (which was difficult) to make a base of sorts. You could probably get away with skipping this and adding sturdy legs to the middle as well, but I do really like how clean and simple looking it came out. I used metal square-L legs that I spray painted gold!" —alyssatriesart

6. This incredible Mario-inspired storage shelf:

PlahausBamBam / Via reddit.com

"I made this from IKEA products (except for the paint and black light). It’s a shelf to hold my partner’s tiny Nintendo toys. I put it in a RIBBA 19”x 19” frame. I had to buy two of the LUSTIGT shelves to have enough ladders. It comes with only three ladders but the set is only eight bucks so I bought two. I was walking through the kid’s section and saw the display. I laughed because of the Donkey Kong-type ladders and inspiration struck. After I put it together, I decided to add the UV light bar and paint to give it a more old-school video game look." —PlahausBamBam

7. This diaper changing table with tons of storage:

DrSmus / Via reddit.com

"My hacked IKEA Malm baby changing table. I have painted the top with a clear lacquer." —DrSmus

8. This not-so-basic coffee table:

IKEA / Via ikea.com, iris201196 / Via reddit.com

"I transformed my IKEA Lack table by cutting a hole in the top, scraping out the honeycomb cardboard interior, filling it with a plastic box, trimming it with edge moulding, and finally filling it with plants and black gravel." —iris201196

9. This amazing mid-century dresser hack:

IKEA / Via ikea.com, christieevee / Via reddit.com

"I was inspired by a similar dresser that retailed for $1,000! I cut the original feet to an angle, filled pre-drilled holes for hardware, stained and added new hardware. The stain I used was Minwax in English chestnut." —christieevee

10. This cost-effective towel rack project:

IKEA / Via ikea.com, KankerBlossom / Via reddit.com

"$50 seemed like too much to spend on six pieces of wood tacked together (Vilto), so I made my own for $14! It’s just six foot hemlock boards and 5/8 dowels that I cut, sanded, and stained." —KankerBlossom

11. This phenomenal cabinet transformation:

IKEA / Via ikea.com, rizzotoe / Via reddit.com

"Combined the Ivar cabinet and the Applaro wall panel with shelves to make my new bar cabinet! I found a site online that sells feet for IKEA furniture. The site is called Pretty Pegs and the ones I’m using are called the Harald." —rizzotoe

12. This rad entertainment unit:

IKEA / Via ikea.com, OriginalSiri / Via reddit.com

"Initially, we were looking at the Bestå storage system to do this, but to get exactly what we wanted was going to cost roughly $2k (AUD) in materials, let alone the time spent putting it all together. Then I realized that the Kallax units now come in the same color as the Bestå unit, at least in Australia. Having put together Kallax before, I knew how easy they were to construct. The longer cross beam is interchangeable with the two smaller ones to create a larger space to fit consoles,record player, etc. In the end, the cost was $680 and a day's worth of time. Ended up with a clean, modern solution." —OriginalSiri

13. This rustic-looking customized dresser:

IKEA / Via ikea.com, bdcari19 / Via reddit.com

"I sanded the entire base and drawer fronts with my orbital sander, but not enough to take all the original finish off — just until the sheen was gone to allow the paint to bond. I primed the base and drawer fronts with Bin Shellac primer and let it dry for a day before rolling on paint. The knobs are leather pulls I cut from some scrap leather and new cup pulls." —bdcari19

14. This updated record unit:

IKEA / Via ikea.com, Bonepainter / Via reddit.com

"I saw this concept on the web, and had to build myself one. I used a poplar butcher block for the top and set it up a little different than the original." —Bonepainter

15. This crafty entertainment center:

IKEA / Via ikea.com, imgur.com

I bought three IKEA Kallax units (2x2, 4x1, and 4x2) and the Carl 120 legs from Pretty Pegs in the walnut finish, which was 14 total. I bought two 2’x8’ sheets of PSA backed walnut veneer on Amazon and a 2’x2’ piece of MDF at Home Depot as a cutting surface. I just used the door or drawer front as a guide for cutting the veneer (cutting a piece a little bit bigger than the door or drawer front) with a box cutter. Then I removed the paper backing on the veneer (exposing the sticky side). I laid the veneer piece sticky side up and placed the door on top of it and pressed down. Then I turned it over and used my hands to get rid of any air bubbles." —awildhair

16. This ranch-style bed frame upgrade:

IKEA / Via ikea.com, jmicho123 / Via reddit.com

"All pieces of wood are glued to the Malm boards and then painted. If your bed is already constructed, you can use a small nail gun to hold the pieces in place while the glue dries. The vertical pieces are 1x6, the top are 1x3, and the horizontal pieces are thin pine wall planks. I used rustolium chalked white paint with the smoke grey glaze for the finish. The tops are stained using Minwax expresso dark brown." —jmicho123

17. And finally, this jaw-dropping children's bedroom castle:

IKEA / Via ikea.com, imgur.com

"The Kura is really a great starting point for constructing a personalized children’s bed. It’s simple, inexpensive (even by IKEA standards), and is already designed to be assembled in one of several different orientations (lofted or non-lofted, ladder on right or on left.)" —StrongMed

More detailed instructions here!

H/T r/ikeahacks