It was a simple problem: The basement studio in Nikki Kelly’s south Denver home needed a stylish cabinet to replace a cardboard shelving system. Rather desperately.
The studio is home base for her crafting adventures — and for ideas that become the room-by-room, sweat-equity remodeling projects she and boyfriend Matt Jones are doing at their house. on her blog, The Ambitious Procrastinator (theambitiousprocrastinator.com). They’re doing it all: floors, walls, shelves,
And Which is a slightly criminal-sounding term for the innocent practice of buying something from the iconic Swedish superstore, taking it home and making it indisputably your own.
“Essentially, an Ikea hack is a modification or repurposing of an Ikea product,” says Mei Mei “Jules” Yap, founder of ikeahackers.net. “In its own little way, it breaks into assembly and repurposes, challenges and creates a new use, or look or dimension, for the item.”
Yap, who lives in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, started her site in 2006 as a way to compile her favorite examples of the burgeoning activity. In the beginning, she managed all the searching and posting alone. Today the site boasts more than 4,000 posts, submitted by users from across the globe. The site has 750,000 visitors each month, Yap says; almost half are from North America.
Why Ikea?
According to Yap, “I think, firstly, it’s not too expensive. You wouldn’t cut up a designer piece, would you? Secondly, customizing is also inherent in the Ikea system: You mix and match.”
Her advice to beginning hackers is start simple and stay safe.
“Sometimes just a change in color, fabric or embellishment will make a big difference to the piece of furniture that you have. If you need to use tools, be sure you know what you are doing. Cutting up a piece of furniture may modify the structural integrity of the product, so be clear about the risks. Lastly, be creative. Have fun.”
Kelly’s cabinet is a prime example. She wanted a stylish, floating credenza to store materials and provide counter space. She bought three Ikea cabinets as a starting point.
“I decided to just make the doors myself because I wanted something personal and unique, and also wanted to save as much money as possible,” explains Kelly.
She cut, hung and decorated the doors, using a reverse staining technique and large floral stencils. In the end, the rustic hanging cabinets cost her about $150.
Like other bloggers, Kelly
“I like to do things myself, and I like sharing information,” she says. “I don’t feel like what I do is something that someone with the same abilities couldn’t do.”
Marta Strzeszewski, author of (frommartawithlove.com) is another Colorado Ikea hacker. She makes quilts and handbags for personal gifts and charities, and documents her sewing journey in photographs and tutorials.
When it came time to graduate to an official sewing table, prices led Strzeszewski, of Arvada, to explore creative options.
“Sewing tables start at $600,” she explains, “and most of those are bulky or just ugly. I looked for tips online and I knew that I could make one myself … and Ikea had just opened.”
She paid $79.99 for Ikea’s table, $70 for various supplies, and built herself joining legions of other hackers around the world.
The retail giant’s reaction to the trend? It’s … dual-purpose.
“On a personal level, I love it,” said Annie Boeckman, local marketing and public relations manager for Ikea Centennial. But she echoed Yap’s concerns about safety and structural integrity.
“From a corporate standpoint, we don’t actually use the term ‘Ikea hacking,’ ” Boeckman said. “When it comes to our quality and durability image, we know how our products work when they’re used in the way we built them.”
Still, the possibility of customization is a selling point for many of the Sweden-based retailer’s products.
Ikea Centennial’s showroom displays in its natural, unfinished pine state alongside two uniquely decorated versions. A small sign reminds customers that the product can be “painted or stained to create your own personal style expression.”
Boeckman even coordinated an in-store seminar that offered ideas on how to creatively repurpose IKEA products’ cardboard packaging.
For that April event, Boeckman summoned the help of Ninja-in-Chief, Becky Hensley. Together, they led a group of more than 30 DIYers, including Nikki Kelly, in a workshop to fashion lampshades and colorful wall art out of the discarded cardboard.
Nicole Hesse of Denver, an occasional IKEA hacker and author of (sewmuchsunshine.blogspot.com), shows tutorials for the simplest of Ikea hacks, for those with limited time and tools, on her site.
She replaced the standard numerical face of a $1.99 clock with a sleek blue checkerboard pattern, Using fabric she already had on hand from sewing projects, she transformed a $2.99 3-pack of trivets into
And with a little masking tape and paint, she transformed a $3.99 glass bottle into a brightly colored piece of custom décor.
Her advice to other would-be hackers?
“Stay inspired,” says Hesse, “and try to come up with new ideas. Even if you mess up, it’s not going to cost you a lot.”
