Cozy New Year IKEA Hacks!

January 1, 2019

This is a thing, you know, IKEA hacks – and entire websites and Pinterest pages are set up by people who study the new IKEA catalogue every year to see how they can makeover products to fit their lives and lifestyles. Get ready, because these easy-peasy ideas to personalize bland, utilitarian furniture are putting the fun back in functional!

DIY a Library Wall

The IKEA Billy Bookcase offers virtually limitless possibilities and can be purchased in small, narrow $29 components, taller seven shelf-units, or combos. Each series of shelving units is iconically clean and streamlined and can be revamped and repurposed for a variety of uses. They come in six different colors, but you can paint them. Just follow these tips for best results. And get this, you’d be in good company — a Billy bookcase is sold every five seconds, somewhere in the world!

Creativity Unleashed

The desk of your dreams is an easy feat with a couple of IKEA dressers and a painted plank of wood just the right length you want and need it to be. It’s like magic -a desk long enough for all your equipment, books, knick-knacks and work, plus plenty of drawer space to stash the stuff you don’t want in view! Or get really inventive and add a glass top!

Martha Stewart grabbed some neutral and natural rugs with navy and faded blue stripes to make two kinds of pillows. 

And Blogger Lisa at We Are Scout turned IKEA Ivar cupboards into a stunning showpiece using Annie Sloan chalk paint and photos of flowers that Lisa decoupaged onto the front. Using four colors of paint and paint wax, the cupboards were a blank canvas which she infused with a bold, beautiful design that’s one of a kind!

“Hot Air Balloon” Lamp

This creative reinvention of a pendant lamp shade, conveniently shaped like a round balloon, sparked the imagination of Maria, a Swedish blogger who was commissioned by IKEA to hack three of their products! (We told you this was a thing!).

Her first was this Regolitic rice lamp turned “hot air balloon” complete with basket and stuffed animals, perfect for a child’s room, and all she needed were some lace, beads and black dots. Her site is all in Swedish, but she’s pretty explicit with photo how-tos.

Bar Cart Reimagined

We’ve seen this bar cart idea in a few places, that starts with the IKEA side table on casters. Domino takes the cart and adds a bit of removable wallpaper. While they chose a black and white theme, you can opt for any number of vibrant patterns and colors. The best part is that it’s temporary and if you get tired of your first choice you can change it.

Bed Ideas for Kids Rooms

Homy Style curated 51 cool ideas for repurposing the IKEA Kura bed for kids’ rooms. The loft beds (singles and doubles) offer a space saving palette to create play spaces underneath, toy storage, desks and imagination zones. While theirs is an idea page, you’ll find plenty of inspiration to get started, then head over to Ikea Hackers for tutorials.

New Pastimes in Southshore

You can kick back and relax in the master-planned community of Southshore, or put on your DIY hat and makeover something functional to fit you and your family! Check out the lakeside community and explore the fantastic model homes from Century Communities, Richmond American Homes and Toll Brothers. Available in ranch and two-story designs, Southshore homes are priced between the upper $300s and the $700s.