20+ Smart and Gorgeous IKEA Hacks ( & Great Tutorials )

20+ Easy IKEA Hacks: smart designs & beautiful transformation ideas for every room such as DIY desk, dressers, kitchen island, bed, & more!

As a lover of all things DIY,  I have encountered hundreds of Ikea hacks. My AHA moment: the most inspiring ones have these qualities in common-

1 . Beautiful: the best IKEA hacks truly transform the look of the original piece – vertical becomes horizontal, minimal becomes farmhouse, etc.

2 . Smart: great IKEA hacks take full advantage of the smart functional designs of IKEA furniture to save time and money in the DIY process.

In the second group of our favorite IKEA hacks ( first group is here ) we will look at some inspiring ideas for every room, from IKEA hack bed, desk, to kitchen and living room furniture!

*Some resources in article are affiliate links. Full disclosure here.

Video: 20+ Smart and Gorgeous IKEA Hacks

Let’s start with a gorgeous IKEA hack desk!

1 . Easy Ikea Desk Hack for the home office

It is not easy to find a home office desk that offers great storage, great looks, and great price all in one, unless you DIY to make it just the way you love!

The Ikea Alex and Helmer drawer units are the perfect height for a desk, add an ikea table top, you can have a beautiful IKEA hack desk here for under $100.

2 . IKEA Rast Dresser to Farmhouse Style Dresser

When we think of Ikea, we think of Scandinavian modern and minimal style. How do we get a farmhouse style transformation?

This Ikea dresser hack is so creative. It totally transformed the original Ikea Rast Dresser into a traditional farmhouse style chest of drawers! You can watch the full Youtube video tutorial from This Old House below-

If you love the distressed paint look, here’s a detailed tutorial on several easy techniques to distress wood and furniture. The candle technique used above is one of them!

Ultimate guide on how to distress wood and furniture. Video tutorials of 7 easy painting techniques that give great results of aged look using simple tools. via A Piece Of Rainbow

7 easy techniques to distress wood and furniture.

3. Kitchen Island IKEA Hacks

Who doesn’t love a kitchen island on wheels? If you feel challenged by small space or limited budget, these 3 Ikea hack kitchen islands are nice inspirations!

Two Ikea bamboo cutting boards, one IKEA Kallax storage unit, four casters. You have a kitchen island! Tutorial here.

4. IKEA Hack Kitchen Island with storage baskets

Similar to the first one, this Ikea hack kitchen island / bar is built over the portable IKEA Kallax shelving unit. ( The original website sketchystyles.com has expired. If you are the creator of this, please let me know! )

5. From IKEA shelf to Kitchen Island

By adding molding at the bottom and wood planks at top, this brilliant Ikea hack kitchen island / console table totally looks like it’s high-end built in!

In addition to this DIY tutorial and Youtube video above,  Liz and JP have many great DIY tutorials on their Youtube channel, The Rehab Life, you would love!

6. Platform Bed IKEA Hacks

The entire bedroom above is created from the Ikea Expedit units, isn’t this DIY smart and gorgeous?

Sadly, Ikea has discontinued the Expedit shelves. The IKEA Billy bookcase ( images and dimensions above) and Kallax shelving units are good alternatives to create the platform bed frame and storage shelves.

7. IKEA Storage Bed Inspiration

This awesome platform bed frame also offers lots of storage underneath, perfect for a small bedroom or apartments. It would be a really fun kids bunk bed idea too! The base is made from Ikea wall cabinet units and 2x4s. Check out the video tutorial below.

Chris also built another version of this DIY platform bed, which you can check out at his fabulous Youtube channel HandyDadTV.

9. Shoe Storage IKEA Cabinet Hack

How to give the minimal Ikea Hemnes shoe cabinet a reclaimed wood finish for $10, without touching any power tools?

In the youtube video below, Heather shows you just how to update the drawer fronts with rustic farmhouse wood plank contact paper or wallpaper! You can check out more creative DIYs at her channel HeatherMoxieDIY .

In addition to the paper Heather suggested, you can also use fabric or reclaimed wood peel and stick vinyl wallpaper like this!

9. Transform IKEA Rast Dresser with knobs & trims

This glamorous Ikea Rast dresser hack by Allison Byrd is a great example of how paint colors and new hardware details can dramatically transform a piece of furniture. Visit her channel and tutorial here.

10. Easy IKEA Rast Dresser upgrade

This genius hack is inspired by vintage furniture design. Glue some wood planks to make the drawer fronts look like narrow map drawers, and finish the look with aged brass library label frames and drawer pulls! Your guests would never guess this vintage apothecary chest of drawers originally came from IKEA.

More IKEA Hacks

How to turn an IKEA Besta storage unit into a cozy storage bench by the window? How to transform an IKEA bookshelf into a luxe media console? Visit 18 more fabulous Ikea hacks here, with more awesome Ikea decorations, furniture and room makeovers!

25 most gorgeous paint color palettes for kitchen cabinets and beyond. Easily transform your kitchen with these all-time favorite colors and designer tips! - A Piece of Rainbow

You may also love: 25 beautiful paint color ( with brands and names ) for kitchen cabinets and beyond!

And our DIY IKEA kitchen remodel!

Happy hacking! See you next week! 🙂

25 Comments

  1. I really like several great IKEA hacks here! We were able to build a nice desk for our home office in no time thanks to your article!

  2. You can also just get a custom furniture paper and paste it over.
    Much easier than painting and oiling and clearing up.

  3. I love desk idea with alex drawers. Just want to ask, did you do table top paint by youself as i don’t see ikea sell in same color?

  4. Ananda

    Hi! I just love all these hacks and wish I could do them all! Few questions. What size bed is that on the bookcases and what type of board do you have in the middle there as well as what is under it to keep it up? I have a heavy mattress so I’ll need to be sure it is stable. Thanks so much! Happy Crafting!

    JBird
    Never Stop Learning ~ Never Stop Creating

    • hi jennifer, i think you are referring to number 6 ikea hack bed right? there’s a really great tutorial with materials list at the link under the photo! =) happy building!

  5. I absolutely love it! I love DIY and try to do it as much as I could. Always search for DIY tutorial and ideas before buying 🙂 Thank you for these inspiring ideas!

  6. I love shopping at IKEA and i can spend all my time and money there, its so addictive. Thanks for sharing these, I have already bookmarked them. When we move to our own home, this will come handy.

  7. I love Ikea hacks! We actually did an entire built-in office using Ikea kitchen cabinets and putting a large desktop on the top of it. I do love the platform bed and may try to convince my husband to do this next time we need one!

  8. My husband and I are headed to ikea tomorrow to gather supplies for our own ikea hack. We’re making desks. I love all these ideas and definitely want to do more!

  9. My friend and I our planning our bi-yearly trip to ikea soon, and I can’t wait! All the desks in my craft room are Alex units with tops and I love all the space <3 I hate that the nearest Ikea is 3 and a half hours away.

    • Hi Candice!

      Would yo mind sending me more details on your craft room? I just moved into a new apartment and plan on creating my 2nd bedroom into my craft room. I’m excited since I’ve apparently moved just down the road from an ikea. My email is Jennifer.n.bird@gmail.com Thanks so much! Happy Crafting!

      Never Stop Learning ~ Never Stop Creating
      JBIRD

  10. I never knew about an Ikea hack but now I feel all the more wiser. Some of these look really easy to pull off. That dresser was pretty neat and I like the kitchen island too.

  11. I really love the green, job well done. We love IKEA, sometimes, my kids and I we just go and start walking in the store.

  12. I absolutely LOVE some of these ideas!! We flip furniture as a side hussle and some of these ideas will work really well for some pieces we have. One of my favorites is the 8 cube shelf turned kitchen island. Really nice. I also love the simple technique of using candle wax in that painting technique. Clever!

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