Lifestyle 17 Genius IKEA Hacks That Will Change Your Apartment Forever

Everyone longs for the day when they can finally quit making those masochistic trips to IKEA and afford something a little, well, less in-everyone-else's-apartment. Until then, though, you might as well make the most of your unpronounceable Scandinavian particle board furniture. To help make it look like you paid a lot more for some of those mundane pieces, we've rounded up 17 budget-friendly and downright genius IKEA hacks to transform your place.

1. Bar cart Price: Under $100

Materials needed: VITTSJÖ laptop table, 4 caster wheels, 1/4-inch 3x4-foot acrylic plastic sheet, paint

How it's done: Assemble the laptop table as normal (sans glass top) and paint the frame and particle board shelf in colors of your choice. Flip upside down once dry, place acrylic sheet atop leg posts and screw wheels into them such that the sheet creates a shelf. [More...]

2. Accordion sconces Price: Under $30

Materials needed:IKEA FRÄCK wall mirror, RANARP clamp light, piece of wood, 2 screws, paint

How it's done: Remove the mirror from its base (they're usually packaged separately), clamp the light where the mirror would be, then affix the other end to the piece of wood and mount. [More...]

3. Faux credenza Price: Under $800

Materials needed:8 APPLÅD doors, 4 SEKTION cabinets, 8 INTEGRAL hinges, 2 SEKTION suspension rails, stained wood planks

How it's done: To accomplish this designer-caliber built-in you'll need to remove the cabinet's built-in doors and replace them with the white APPLÅDs. Once the whole thing's mounted you'll need to attach the stained wood planks to the top and sides to pull off that expensive-looking, mid-century modern vibe. [More...]

5. Floating shelves Price: $75

Materials needed:10 EKBY TÖRE brackets, 6 EKBY TRYGGVE boards, paint (optional)

How it's done: Clamp each board with two painted or non-painted brackets, positioning them such that each level is secure and the whole rig is balanced even when not supported by a wall. [More...]

6. The BILLY bookcase library Price: $3,600

Materials needed: 60 BILLY bookcases

How it's done: This particular hack transformed the entire hallway of a French country home, but you can obviously adjust the number of BILLYs needed to suit your available wall space. Once they're all assembled, it's as simple as securing them each to the back wall and one another with screws. Step two: amass enormous book collection. [More...]

8. iMac/laptop desk Price: $70

Materials needed: 1 LACK shelf, 1 EKBY ALEX/VALTER combo, stool (optional)

How it's done: Unfortunately, the IKEA gods decided to discontinue the exact pieces featured in the photo above, but you can recreate this smart setup using the two wall-mounting shelf units listed above. Attach the sliding drawers below and the static shelf above to create the ultimate tiny-apartment workstation (complete with cable slide-out cable stashes) without compromising any precious floor space. [More...]

9. Small kitchen island Price: Under $140

Materials needed:2 LACK side tables, 1 2x2-foot butcher block, adhesive foam squares

How it's done: Attach foam squares to the bottom of one LACK table and stack it atop the other so it sticks double decker-style. Then, stick the butcher block to the top using the same adhesive squares. The pressure from the block and the table will eventually cement the whole thing together, and voila! Extra counter space. [More...]

10. Mid-century KALLAX credenza Price: Around $100

Materials needed:1 KALLAX shelving unit, sheet of plywood, dark wood stain, 4 small short wooden table legs

How it's done: Cut the plywood to fit along the edges of the KALLAX and inside three of its shelves, stain them and the table legs, and let dry. Once dry, glue them to the places you measured to fit, and secure the legs to the bottom. [More...]

11. Laundry bin nightstands Price: Under $40

Materials needed:1 GRUNDTAL laundry hamper, 1 1x1.5-foot scrap of stained wood, wood glue

How it's done: Assemble the metal frame of the laundry bin, douse the edges in wood glue, and secure the wood on top. Place a stack of heavy books or a dumbbell on top and let dry. [More...]

12. Transformable coffee table Price: $60

Materials needed:8 KNUFF magazine files, 1 FROSTA stool (or a rotating artist's stool)

How it's done: Glue the backs of 4 of the magazine racks to one another as shown above, then mount it to the stool as if it were the seat. From there, you can arrange the remaining 4 files inside the ones glued together on-demand depending how you're using it. [More...]

13. Mid-century record cabinet Price: Under $100

Materials needed:1 BESTÅ shelf unit, long slab of dark scrap hardwood, 4 hairpin legs, wood glue

How it's done: Assemble the shelf as you would normally, leaving the right side's middle shelf out. From there, mount it horizontally on the set of hairpin legs, and glue the slab of scrap wood to the top. You'd easily pay $2,000 for something just like this from Herman Miller. [More...]

14. Standing desk Price: $130

Materials needed:1 LACK TV unit, 1 GALANT A-frame desk, washers and bolts

How it's done: This potentially life-saving setup combines the legs from the GALANT desk with the huge surface and storage capacity of the LACK. If you feel like going full-dork you could even slip a treadmill underneath. [More...]

15. Tufted mid-century modern sofas Price: Under $300

Materials needed:1 KARLSTAD corner sofa, 84 fabric-covered buttons, tufting needle, twine

How it's done: You'll want to watch this video to really understand how it works, but we promise it's not that hard and can be finished in about an hour. Good luck finding a $300 tufted sofa (that isn't soaked in bodily fluids) for sale anywhere. [More...]

16. Upside-down reading lights Price: $75

Materials needed:2 FORSÅ lamps, 1 LACK wall shelf

How it's done: Once you've removed the metal weights from the base of the lamps, attach them to the underside of the LACK, then install the LACK as normal to the wall and boom, you're in business. [More...]

17. Library with built-in stereo Price: Under $300 (not including stereo receiver or speakers)

Materials needed:4 BILLY bookcases, speaker wire, wooden planks, screws, paint, speakers & stereo receiver

How it's done: Once the bookcases are assembled, arrange them up against your empty wall leaving enough room in between to fish the speaker wire from the receiver up to speakers on top. When the speakers are wired, affix the painted wooden planks in between the bookcase edges and along the top so the speakers are hidden. Last step: let the music rip. [More...]