Anyone ever ‘hacked’ ikea furniture? I need your advice!

[icebearforpresident]

DH and I redecorated our bedroom about a year ago but apart from getting a new bed we still haven’t gotten any new furniture like a dresser etc. We have seen stuff we like but it’s really well above our budget (£200 per bedside table!)

We’ve been avoiding ikea because I always think everything from ikea screams ikea! But budget wise it works for us. I’ve been looking online and like the hemnes range and found some great ideas for making it look less ‘ikea’ on Pinterest I but literally don’t have a creative bone in my body!

Before I blow a fortune ruining a perfectly good piece of furniture what should I know? We are thinking we would buy various pieces in white. How easy is it to paint, not a full coat but something like this picture? What type of paint is best, i’m thinking acrylic? Do we need to sand it first?

Any tips or suggestions greatly appreciated!

I really like the look of Hemnes stuff as it is. And yes it's Ikea but that means it goes together well and the drawers run smoothly and the Hemnes is mostly solid wood so it's pretty good. Is it just pride getting in the way of leaving it be?

Sorry, I've just realised I haven't answered your question

Because it's wood I think you would need to use satin or gloss paint?...

It is best to prime all painting surfaces to prevent stains from bleeding through the new paint. Primer must match the type of paint you have chosen. For furniture it's best to use a satin or semigloss finish in either a latex or an oil-based paint. Never leave primer unpainted.

I think vinyl is what's usually used on walls?

I've painted with chalk paint using a brush designed for a flatter finish. As long as you wax it and don't mind the odd ding, it comes up fine.

And no prep necessary

Just buy some fancy knobs (Etsy has good ones) and whack them on. No paint necessary!

I used good quality Matt emulsion (not Dulux rubbish) on my kitchen chairs then a coat of wax and they still look great 3 years on having had plenty of use.

It’s not ‘pride’ stopping me from keeping it as is, I have nothing against ikea and have various bits and pieces from there around the house. We want white furniture, the hemnes range as it is just isn’t quite what we had in mind, but neither is it a million miles away. For someone who knows what they’re doing it’s a pretty simple task to make it look like the picture I attached but like I said, I’m not known for my creative skills!

This whole plan actually started off as thinking we could change the knobs fwend but it’s growns arms and legs since then! And now i’m down a drawer knob rabbit whole on Etsy, thanks for the tip, lol!

What paint would you suggest kool? I’ve also heard chalk paint can be on the tricky side to paint with (in what way I don’t really know, I just read it on here), would you agree canl?

Ikea stuff is hard to paint. I intended to paint DS's bookshelves but it didn't really go very well. I used wall paint. It did sort of work but I had to do a massively thick layer and then I found that it scratches and scrapes off very easily. Because they have a plasticky coating you need a paint which will go onto plastic/vinyl. It's all chipboard inside, it's not stained wood. There are defo guides online about how to paint ikea furniture, though, and I do find that it's an excellent quality to price ratio. It's many many times better than anything else you can buy for the prices, unless you're willing to look second hand, which is worth a go (but of course you won't get things which are matching.)

I did an old pine bed with chalk paint and had no issues! Apart from missing a few bits and a few blobs and runs! Just sanded those and went over again! DD has been using for a couple of years and still looks great. It doesn't smell and went on really easily.

I reckon getting really neat lines would be quite hard. Use really good masking tape?

Chalk paint is dead easy to use as you don't need a primer and it paints on pretty much anything. To get your effect I'd just mask off the border to be painted and then paint. Chalk paint takes a few thin coats and may require sanding in between. You can then apply a wax or a sealant. Acrylic would also be easy to use and you would probably not need much paint so it may be more economical with a wider colour range.

You don't need to be creative as you're just copying the design!

I actually wonder if those grey lines are stuck on - some kind of tape, or painted wood sections glued on? That might work better than trying to paint directly onto the furniture itself.

I think Bertie's right. They look as if they could be painted trim stuck on.

Just another idea but had you considered just stalking eBay? I’m always amazed at the very expensive furniture you can get for next to nothing if you don’t mind being patient...

This is a fun new rabbit hole for you, OP: www.ikeahackers.net

I think it would need a sanding down. Not to wood level but to help the gloss adhere. There's some nice colours for painting furniture from b&q etc. I think with gloss you would have to be careful as it's hard wearing in the sense it takes grub and knocks well. However as a surface I think it can look tired quickly.

Yeah that's almost certainly painted trim. You'd need to mitre the ends and be sure it was really, really straight with no warps to the wood.

I have a piece of the Hemnes furniture and vouch for the quality. It moved from our old house to this one and is still in pristine condition.

I wouldn't sand it for painting as it has a sort of shiny finish (doesn't look shiny though). I would certainly look up directions on a few websites.

I'm actually about to hack some of their furniture myself but not by painting. I think their furniture covers a lot of people's space requirements - it certainly does for us. We have a mix of ikea and antique. Have you been to any antique fairs?

There are websites that sell decorations to personalize Ikea furniture, it actually looks like the picture you posted is from one of those sites.

Alternatively, you could try some washi tape to outline the drawer fronts. Easy peasy, and when you get tired of it just change it!

www.thisismykea.com

Good chalk paint (eg Annie Sloan or homemade) will adhere to laminated furniture without a primer. (I’ve recently found the rustoleum chalky finish paint doesn’t work that well so avoid that). It’s not tricky to use but you must overwork it with the brush - put on a thin coat and don’t go over it with the brush once it’s on as it dries quickly and you’ll get brush marks and texture.
Once dry you can put another coat on - you may want to sand really lightly between coats if you want a smoother finish. Then use clear wax to seal and make it hardwearing. I’ve got an Ikea sideboard that ive painted at least three times. Recently have painted billy bookcase doors (used BIN primer and normal emulsion for that, topped with Annie Sloan wax)

*must not overwork it

I’ve got a couple of red Hemnes drawers that I’m a bit fed up of and would like to repaint. I previously read the blog post that yr picture comes from OP, and the secret to her success seems to be the primer that she uses: it can be painted into many surfaces, without sanding, and will give a surface for yr paint to adhere to. So if you don’t want to totally remove the laminate (by sanding it all to bare wood!) you’ll need something like her primer.

Her trims are painted on, with masking tape to create the stripes.

I have that Hemnes chest of drawers 🙂 Its moved between 3 continents, many houses and still live oming sharp.

I've also used Frenchic chalk paint recently. Pricey, but great application and finish. There's an extensive Frenchic Facebook group full of advice and inspiration

You can get stick on stripes and patterns, ready made for Ikea furniture - think they're called overlays. They also cost about the same as the furniture itself.

Suggest masking tape and chalk paint.

This site shows a very similar one, with instructions

centsationalstyle.com/2010/08/the-boys-dresser/

also, there are several good articles on 'how to paint ikea furniture' if you google that, and it explains the different surfaces that it might be made with, and what is recommended. Hemnes isn't always the same, depending on the country, and which colour you get! Some of it is solid wood and some is fibreboard. So do check the materials of the exact one you buy.

I decided it seemed too hard for me. I would like to get something painted for me, and am trying to find a suitable company to do that!! Not sure where to start, though.

And for the other item, a Hemnes shoe cabinet, I'd like to replace the top piece as it's a bit damaged. I'm hoping that might be a bit easier to find someone to help with.

Some of the ikea hacks look really good