21 Best Ikea Kallax Inserts (Not From Ikea!)

Have you got an Ikea Kallax? I could be wrong, but I would guess that the majority of people have owned an Ikea Kallax shelving unit at some point! But are you making the most of it with the best Ikea Kallax inserts?

They are fantastically practical and simple storage units, but they are just a lot of empty compartments. You can, however, turn them into super-useful storage units by fitting them with Ikea Kallax inserts.

So many options are available to store whatever you wish to store in your Kallax unit.

Ikea sells a lot of inserts themselves, with shelving, doors, drawers and boxes. But the real good stuff is to be found at third-party companies and we want to highlight the best that we have found right here!

This post may contain affiliate links. See my full disclosure here for more info.

Colourful Wooden Kallax Cubes

best Ikea Kallax inserts wooden colourful boxes
Source: Wood Lovers

Wooden box inserts are a wonderful way to upgrade your Kalax unit, but add-in some bright and beautiful colours and you have a completely different look!

These colourful wooden Kallax cube inserts from Wood Lovers are the perfect way to brighten up your units and bring in some super-practical storage.

Cardboard Kallax Clothes Drawers

best Ikea Kallax inserts cardboard drawers
Source: Esta Bordoni

Cardboard has been the material we’ve been most impressed with in our research for these best Ikea Kallax inserts. It’s such a great way to create unique and effective storage in your Kallax units.

There are so many great cardboard Kallax insert products out there, such as these fantastically-made clothes storage drawers from Esta Bordoni (we have some of these and they are great!).

But what’s stopping you from having a go yourself? Go to TemplateMaker and design your own box/drawer/compartment inserts. Then all you need to do is print out a template, lay it over some cardboard and use a sharp craft knife to cut it out.

Kallax Wine Rack Insert

Ikea Kallax Wine Rack Insert
Source: New Swedish Design

I’m going to go out on a limb and say this might be one of the most popular of these best Ikea Kallax inserts. 

It’s a simple design, but this Kallax wine rack insert from New Swedish Design is a great way to keep your wine collection neat and tidy. 

Imagine a whole 3×3 unit filled with these! It’s a great Ikea Kallax Hack that is so simple to do.

Paper Storage Shelves

kallax shelf insert for paper
Source: CraftNTidy

Who knew paper storage could look so pretty?

This highly practical paper divider insert from CraftNTidy is the perfect way to keep your admin organized or letters sorted. It’s also a brilliant addition to any craft room organisation.

Ikea Kallax Tonies Storage Insert

Tonies figure display and Toniebox storage
Source: New Swedish Design

Now, this might be quite a specific use, but if you have a Toniebox (a digital audio player for kids with figures that play stories when placed on top) then you’ll love it!

Of course, this could be used for a number of display options, but it’s been designed for Toniebox storage and Toniebox character storage. Hopefully this will keep all those figures off the floor so you don’t step on them!

Felt Storage Bins With Wooden Handles

Ikea Kallax inserts felt boxes
Source: Stich Haltig

We absolutely love these felt Ikea Kallax storage box inserts with wooden handles. If you want to upgrade both the look and usefulness of your Kallax units then these are the perfect solution.

They would be amazing as toy storage but would work equally well if you need extra storage in a living room or bedroom.

Rainbow Toy Storage Kallax Inserts

Ikea Kallax inserts rainbow felt toy storage
Source: Pracownia Kiwi

To take the felt theme to another level, these cute rainbow felt boxes are perfect for toy storage!

Many people have a Kallax unit in a playroom or kids bedroom and what better way to upgrade them than a gorgeously crafted storage box.

Pracownia Kiwi make all sorts of other Kallax organizer designs such as animals, plants, trains, dinosaurs to fit your child’s interests.

Cute Animal Kallax Baskets

cute animal baskets kallax inserts
Source: The Craft Straws

How could we resist putting these beauties on the list of best Ikea Kallax inserts? Well, obviously we couldn’t!

We love these cute animal basket inserts from The Craft Straws as an option for toy storage or cuddly toy storage in a bedroom or playroom, or even to keep your living room a little less toy-cluttered.

Small Cubbies Craft Storage

Ikea Kallax inserts compartments
Source: Acrylics Kingdom

So, what could you use this for? Haha, it looks great, but what small things could you use this for? Well, all the crafters out there are shouting out plenty of ideas right now!

This is a great way to store rolled-up vinyl sheets, fabric rolls, dowels and other smaller items such as paint brushes, pens and pencils and many other crafting supplies.

Even if you’re not a crafter, you might be thinking ‘Oh my goodness, that is exactly what I needed for….’.

Rustic Wooden Box Storage

Ikea Kallax inserts rustic wooden box
Source: Crates 4 You

Oh, we all love a rustic wooden box. Anywhere, it doesn’t matter we just need to have them!

Well, now you have a practical use for your rustic wooden box obsession! These stunning wooden box inserts are the perfect way to turn your Kallax unit into a modern farmhouse storage unit.

They look like antique milk crates, but they’re specifically made as Ikea Kallax inserts.

Gold Wire Basket Kallax Shelf Insert

Best Ikea Kallax Inserts Gold Wire Shelf Rack
Source: Ikea

Yup, we’re mostly looking at third-party Kallax inserts but this gold wire shelf insert from Ikea is so good that we had to list it too.

You slide it onto one of the shelves, providing a stylish extra surface to store more on your Kallax unit.

Lidded Cardboard Storage Boxes

file box inserts
Source: New Swedish Design

If you’ve got a Kallax unit in your office, this is a great option for storing a range of items. Not least all those cables, chargers and accessories that seem to build up. Just me?

If not an office, then this works brilliantly in any other room in the house too! For kid’s toy storage, these could easily be painted to be more colorful. Either that or they become a crafting exercise to keep the little ones busy; two boxes ticked in one product!

Woven Basket Inserts

Ikea Kallax inserts woven basket
Source: The Homes I Have Made

These woven baskets from Target are not designed for the Kallax but fit nicely and provide a great way to make your storage accessible and look great!

We love how they added little pictures of what is in the baskets to this set-up by The Homes I Have Made.

File and Document Organiser

Source: Amazon

This is the daddy of all file organisers! This thing fits perfectly in a Kallax unit and provides all manner of storage, including extra pockets on the front and lid.

It looks great and will hold a huge amount of organised files; maybe one of these is all you need to keep all your home admin organised.

Lockable Kallax Door Insert

kallax lockable door insert
Source: New Swedish Design

Talking of security, this is another great option to keep prying hands out of your sensitive areas. Erm, yes, I did just write that, let’s see if that gets edited!

It’s one of those products you think “Why didn’t I think if that?”

Gift Drawers/Advent Calendar Boxes

Source: Beware Wet Paint

Going back to cardboard and these cute gift drawers are a fantastic way to hold jewellery, small toys, craft supplies, etc.

We think this will make the perfect advent calendar too. Simply turn one of your Kallax compartments into an advent calendar and reuse it every year!

All Sorts of Cardboard Ikea Kallax Inserts!

cardboard kallax inserts cat bed
Source: Seefalke Shop

Ok, we’re not stopping with the cardboard theme! This shop has a huge amount of different cardboard creations that all fit in Ikea Kallax units.

I don’t think I need to point out to the crafters out there how useful all of these would be!

The gorgeous cat bed is such a great idea too!

With these bare cardboard Ikea Kallax inserts, you are able to customise them as you like (I’m thinking MARVEL comic decoupage for my son!)

Wooden Card and Gaming Storage Boxes

Source: Customised Gaming

These cute apothecary-style boxes are the perfect size for card storage, such as Pokemon cards, Gaming cards or Sports cards. So, if you are a collector or gamer, then these might be a wonderful way to store your collections.

They fit the Ikea Kallax unit perfectly and can be stacked. The label pulls are an added bonus to make sure you know what is in all your drawers!

Who knew you’d find Pokemon card storage ideas here!?

Felt Cat Bed Ikea Kallax Inserts

Ikea Kallax inserts cat bed
Source: Green Sheep

We saw a cardboard cat bed earlier, but this felt option is another wonderful way to give your cat a cosy, enclosed space that isn’t taking up extra space elsewhere.

This one even has a nice comfy padded base for your little meowkins (that hurt to say!).

Trofast to Kallax Conversion Rails

kallax trofast conversion rails
Source: Clutter Cover

The Kallax is a fantastic storage unit and the Trofast drawers are awesome storage boxes. Now you can combine the two to make a super-charged storage unit with cheap and practical boxes and drawers!

These rails are the perfect solution for hanging Trofast shallow trays in your Kallax unit.

The Trofast boxes come in a range of sizes and colours so you can find exactly what you need.

Custom Insert Box Stickers

custom kallax insert stickers
Source: Orei

Finally, these aren’t actually Ikea Kallax inserts, but they will allow you to add some much-needed funky design to your plain box inserts or doors.

These custom stickers come in a range of designs and colours and you can add the text you want to remind yourself (or your kids) what is in the box.


Ikea provides storage options with their Kallax inserts, but I don’t think they go far enough when it comes to the best Ikea Kallax inserts.

Luckily some clever and talented people have stepped into the void and provided some extra options for you to make your Kallax inserts unique and even more useful.

There are so many more out there and if you’re looking for something specific, head over to Etsy and search for ‘kallax insert + whatever it is you need it for’ and you will likely find something!

Don’t forget to send us a picture if you create some awesome storage yourself!

4 thoughts on “21 Best Ikea Kallax Inserts (Not From Ikea!)”

  1. I loved this post! I’ve been searching Etsy for months, so this was helpful!

  2. Wish I could find clear plastic drawer unit that fit in whole cube with 3 or 4 drawers in each cube.

    • Hi, thanks for your comment. If you search for ‘acrylic drawers’ or makeup drawers/storage you might find a few options. The internal measurements of one Kallax cube is 33cm x 33cm (13″ x 13″) so look for drawers that fit this size or you could add units together to fill the space, for example these 2 of these drawers side by side: https://www.amazon.com/STORi-Stackable-Organizer-Organize-Cosmetics/dp/B0BLZRQYG4/

      Hope that helps!

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