DIY IKEA Ivar Cabinet Hack
This might be one of my favorite projects yet! I love how sleek and sophisticated this cabinet turned out - and the best part? It's an easy project! Keep reading for what I used to complete this look!
Supples
IKEA Ivar Cabinet
Black Paint (pictured below)
1 - 1x1x36" Wood Moulding Piece for legs
2 - Knob Pulls size large
4 - 1" Wood screws
All purpose caulk
Equipment
Scissors
4" Mini Paint Roller
*Air Compressor with Staple Gun and Nail Gun
Cordless drill with wood bits
Table Saw
Compound Miter Saw
*If you don't have an air compressor, you can also use glue
Instructions:
Build IKEA cabinet
Paint frame of cabinet and edges of doors, leaving front of doors untouched
Cut burlap material to fit each door with approximately 0.5" space between edge of door and material
Using the compound miter saw, cut the 1 1/4" x 1/4"Wood Trim pieces at 45 degrees to fit each door
Using the table saw, cut the 1x1x36" Wood Moulding piece down to (4) 5" pieces
Lightly hand sand edges of cut wood for trimming and legs
Paint trimming and legs
Using either staple gun or glue, pull burlap tightly over doors and secure down
Using either nail gun or glue, attach frame over top of burlap
Drill holes in desired place for handles and then screw on
Drill wood screws from inside of cabinet into legs to secure
* If you nailed the frame on, caulk in any holes and then paint over once more
I've been going back and forth on what to do with the Ivar cabinet. I was planning on just painting it a cool green color and slapping some legs on it, but I'm so glad I decided to do this instead! I used it as a bar cart in my dining room, but it really can make a statement in any room. As you can see, I opted to keep the inside of each door the natural pine color, but you can paint that if you'd like it to be unison. You could even glue some cool wallpaper on the insides of the doors / back of cabinet for some extra fun-ness! That's what I love about DIY, it's so personal and you can do as much or as little as you want to a piece.
Following IKEA instructions is no joke.. I think it took my boyfriend and I an hour or two to put together the cabinet. The hardest part is getting the doors to line up perfectly on the hinges, so I wouldn't worry about that until you are putting together the finished product! We used a mini 4" roller to paint the frame of the cabinet as well as the sides of the doors, it's so easy and pretty fool-proof. The color of paint I used is pictured below, it was the blackest black I could find! I got a quart, which was even way too much.
I then went ahead and cut my burlap to just about fit each door, cutting off any loose frays. No need to be precise here, just make sure to not cut too much off of the edges! I don't have a picture, but we used a staple gun to attach the burlap to the doors.
Making the frame was definitely the hardest part, my dad helped a lot with this step. As I live in a small house that I rent, I don't have super helpful equipment like he does so he brings them over! We (he) cut each piece of the trimming at 45 degrees to make the frame and we decided to use a nail gun to attach it to the door. He brings the tools, I bring the cute pup :)
After this step, I really fell in love with the looks of this project and knew I made the right call on doing more than just painting the whole cabinet one color. Once the frame is in place, go ahead and find where you want your handles to be. I measured them to be right in the middle and about 2" from the inside edge. Don't re-attach your doors quite yet as drilling the legs on is much easier without them in your way. As you can see below, my dad drilled from the inside of the cabinet into the legs.
Now you can re-attach those doors, and touch up any paint that may have gotten scratched in the process. Since we used a nail gun for the door frames, I went ahead and used all purpose caulking to fill in the holes with my finger. Grab a damp paper towel to wipe off the excess.
Once dry, do one last layer of paint over the caulking and... you're done! Tito sure likes it ♡
Well, that's it for this project! I hope you guys enjoy this one - it's probably my favorite DIY piece in my house. If you make one for yourself, please tag or DM me @oliviapugmire on instagram!! I'd love to see.
- Liv
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