As much as we all love IKEA, their mass-produced products can sometimes feel a little ordinary. However, that does also makes the familiar furniture a perfect starting point to transform them into original and unique pieces as this IKEA Kallax hack proves.
Keeping Swedish roots intact, this creative and cosy IKEA hack by Kate Hewitt, owner of @our_bears_home has turned a plain white Kallax unit into stylish low-level storage that will suit on-trend neutral room schemes.
Kate collaborated with Rothley Ltd. and Ironmongery Direct to add funky hair-pin legs to the assembled unit. Then, she added 'Iron on oak veneer' to IKEA Kallax inserts with doors to create the natural warm wood feature. An old worktop finished the piece with a smooth wooden surface.
On her Instagram feed, Kate says 'I absolutely love transforming furniture into something bespoke and unique. So when @rothlyltd approached me to work with them to transform a piece of furniture using their NEW hairpin legs via @ironmongerydirectuk I couldn't resist an IKEA hack.'
IKEA Kallax storage hack
If you love this Scandi- style IKEA hack as much as we do - read on for a full step-by-step guide on how Kate created it.
You will need:
- IKEA Kallax unit, £35 at IKEA
- IKEA Kallax inserts with door, £10 each at IKEA
- IKEA Begripa handles, £5 for a set of 2 at IKEA
- Four individual Rothley Hairpin Legs - 100mm in Matt Black, £7.50 each at Ironmonergy Direct
- Woodpress White Oak Real Oak Iron-On Edging - 22mm x 7.5mm Real Oak, £12.95 per roll at Amazon.co.uk
- A wooden worktop - we’ve used one from an old desk
- Tape Measure
- Pencil
- Drill
- Screws
- Iron
- Sander / Sandpaper
- Glue
1. Assemble the IKEA Kallax unit and attach the hairpin legs
Kate started by building the Kallax unit according to the instructions, she then used a pencil and tape measure, to mark where the hairpin legs would sit. Once that was all marked out she attached the Rothley hairpin legs using a drill and screws to secure them in place.
2. Create the faux wood closed door storage
For the wood effect on the doors, Kate cut and ironed Woodpress White Oak Real Oak Iron-On Edging onto the two Kallax door inserts. She then attached the IKEA Begripa handles to each door.
3. Install the worktop and fill
Finally, she sanded down the worktop and attached to the top of the cabinet using strong glue before leaving it to dry.
With over 10,00 likes for this IKEA hack, we can see why it's so popular. Set next to Kate's real wood burner and fluffy sheepskin rug, the low-level unit looks suitably Scandi filled with decorative logs.
'I am still so overwhelmed with the response and to my Kallax upcycle. My mind is blown with the amount of love and kindness,' says Kate.