9 Ikea Hacks Before and After

We are always amazed at the ingenuity and creativity of all the Ikea hacks we come across. There are some really beautiful as well as practical examples of what you can do with Ikea furniture when you put your mind to it.

It recently occurred to us that we only see the final product of the Ikea hack and when we look back at how they start off, the transformations are incredible!

We thought it would be great to pick our favourite Ikea hacks before and after transformations for 9 of the most popular Ikea products. That way you can really see just how much of a difference you can make.

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The Ikea Kallax Bookshelf

Before:

Source: Ikea

The Ikea Kallax is such a simple bookcase that provides the perfect base to create something special.

That’s where this stunning Ikea Kallax hack from Ashlina Kaposta comes in.

After:

Source: Ashlina Kaposta

The Kallax unit has been painted in grey to match the room decor and then some gorgeous leather-effect storage boxes have been used to add contrast.

We use paint from Frenchic Furniture Paint. They produce an amazing ‘Lazy’ paint that has wax mixed into it so you have one less job to do. Their paints are also natural chalk and mineral paints. Perfect if you have children around!

And another example:

Ikea Kallax Sideboard Lux Hax Ikea Hack 3
Image Courtesy of Lux Hax

This is a gorgeous sideboard created from a smaller black/brown Ikea Kallax unit. Lux Hax have added some of their own rather special stick-on mirrored decor panels that transform it into a stunning, luxurious piece of furniture!

The Ikea Ivar Cabinet

Before:

Source: Ikea

We love seeing the Ikea Ivar cabinet transformed into something beautiful. It’s just so plain to start with that any final Ikea hack look is so dramatic.

Take this amazing Ikea Ivar hack from Melanie Lissack Interiors.

After:

Source: Melanie Lissack Interiors

The bright colour, the elegant brass legs, the use as a drinks cabinet and the finishing on the interior all make this an incredibly successful project.

We particularly love the detail on the front of the doors which are simply made with thin MDF cut outs.

A great colour choice from the Frenchic range is the Anguilla Furniture Paint.

The Ikea Malm Dresser

Before:

Source: Ikea

Another hugely popular product from Ikea, the Malm is begging for an Ikea hack to jazz it up a bit.

This amazing Ikea Malm dresser hack from Home Art Stickers on Etsy.

After:

Source: Home Art Stickers

Mirror always adds a touch of glamour to furniture, but this excellent overlay takes it a step further with some ornate fretwork over the top. It totally transforms the front of the Malm.

It’s so easy to do as well, simply sticking the overlay onto the drawer fronts!

The Ikea Tarva Dresser

Before:

Source: Ikea

The Ikea Tarva offers up that wonderful combination of bare wood and solid structure that makes Ikea furniture so good for hacking.

Look at what you can do with this Ikea Tarva hack from Love Create Celebrate.

After:

Source: Love Create Celebrate

Just wow! They have made the most of the bare wood and brought out the grain with a wax, then added some gold tape stripes in a geometric pattern. Very trendy!

The hairpin legs add a touch of industrial chic to the look.

The Ikea Billy Bookshelf

Before:

Source: ikea

The much-loved Ikea Billy bookcase had to make an appearance here. It might just have found it’s way into virtually everybody’s life!

This incredible Ikea Billy hack from House of Hawkes celebrates it at it’s best!

After:

Source: House of Hawkes

The use of cane webbing in the doors of this Ikea Billy bookcase is inspired. It is such a nice natural material to use in furniture.

This piece really works well in the muted, Scandi, minimalist setting.

The Grey Pebble Furniture Paint from Frenchic is perfect!

The Ikea Hemnes Dresser

Before:

Source: Ikea

The Ikea Hemnes is a lovely piece of furniture as it is. But you can create something even more stylish with an Ikea hack.

This lovely piece from Angela Rose Home is an Ikea Hemnes hack to be proud of.

After:

Source: Angela Rose Home

The combination of the dark chalk paint and the square wooden leg frames is stunning. The minimal black handles are the perfect finishing touch.

It’s a great statement piece that combines so well with the plants and mirror around it.

The excellently named Panther from Frenchic is the one for this hack.

The Ikea Lack Table

Before:

Source: Ikea

The Ikea Lack table is one of the most basic products from Ikea and so lends itself perfectly to being upcycled into something more impressive.

This incredible Ikea Lack table hack from Livet Hemma demonstrates it’s potential perfectly.

After:

Source: Livet Hemma

It may take a little bit of patience, but the results of this stunning mosaic table are amazing!

The table is cheap and you can pick up some simple mosaics cheaply too.

Ikea Poang Chair

Before:

Source: Ikea

The Poang chair from Ikea is one of their most popular products and is still going strong. It is such a classic design and truly comfy too!

This gorgeous Ikea Poang hack from 99 Hacks by Monica Karlstein takes it to another level.

After:

Source: 99 Hacks by Monica Karlstein

The Poang chair can be bought as the frame only, leaving you to add your own upholstery as you see fit. In this case, they have woven webbing between the frame structure to create a gorgeous, yet cost-effective armchair.

The addition on the leather neck pillow is inspired!

Ikea Bekvam Trolley

Before:

Source: Ikea

Another bare wood product from Ikea that is crying out for a hack is the Bekvam kitchen trolley.

That cry for help was answered by Oliver and Rust.

After:

Source: Oliver and Rust

They created something rather stunning by painting the trolley a dark grey and adding a marble top. They also added an ornate towel rail on one side.

The marble top could be achieved more cheaply by using a marble effect vinyl wrap. Of course, you’ll find great paint at Frenchic, Posh Nelly comes to mind! Love their paint names!

You can get so creative making these hacks both good-looking and practical!


It’s so much more dramatic seeing where these Ikea hacks start from!

We might start doing more of these ikea hacks before and after posts. I would love to do it for some of the lesser-known Ikea products just to really demonstrate what is possible with an Ikea hack!

We hope you’ve found something here that can inspire you though!

9 thoughts on “9 Ikea Hacks Before and After”

  1. I really like the Before and After pictures which so many fail to show. Good job on the transformations.

  2. I love these really exceptional ideas and hacks. The “after” products looks so expensive! Well done !

  3. I love the drinks cabinet. Gorgeous colour.All the hacks are inspiring and make me want to dosome myself.

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