Lifestyle 12 Brilliant IKEA Hacks That Will Transform Your Bedroom

IKEA is a majestic place, packed to the rafters with anything and everything you'll ever need to furnish your place. The problem is—since everyone knows that—our apartments all embarrassingly end up filled with the exact same EKTORPs and POÄNGs. To help ensure your place doesn't fall victim to such trouble, we've rounded up 12 brilliant and (mostly) simple ways to put a fresh and unique spin on your IKEA bedroom furniture.

1. A wardrobe for closet-less bedrooms Price: $230

Materials Needed: KALLAX shelving unit, KOMPLEMENT clothes rail, DIODER LED light strips

How It's Done: Rather than completely assemble the KALLAX, just put together the outer frame and a single row of cube shelves along the far left and bottom. Fasten the clothes rail along the upper edge of the empty space, line the underside of the top with the DIODERs, and you'll be set up with a multi-functional open-air closet with space to stash your hanging wardrobe and shoe collection. [See more]

2. The filing cabinet t-shirt drawer Price: $145

Materials Needed: HEMNE 3-drawer chest, 2 adjustable curtain rods, thin metal rods

How It's Done: Assemble the HEMNE as usual, then install adjustable curtain rods along the upper edge on either end of one of the drawers. Then cut and curl the edges of the thin metal rods to fit like hanging filing folders around the larger rods. After, organize your tees and tank tops as if they were hanging file folders. This way you'll be able to pull out just the one you want without fishing around and wrinkling everything else. [See more]

3. The recycling bin dresser Price: $80

Materials Needed:SORTERA recycling bins, LACK shelf

How It's Done: Unfortunately the recycling bins pictured here are no longer produced, but you can create the same effect using SORTERA stackable bins. Stack the 10- and 16-gallon versions as high as you'd like, then top the whole spread with a wall-mounted LACK shelf to create a handsome and space-saving spot for socks, underwear, tee shirts, etc. [See more]

4. KALLAX shoe display and room divider Price: $420

Materials Needed: KALLAX shelf and casters, 16 DIODER LED strips, 16 kitchen shelf organizers

How It's Done: Assemble the KALLAX as you would normally, then affix the casters to the bottom. Install the DIODER strips along the top back edge of each cube (feeding the wires through the back through small drilled holes). The raised shelves pictured inside each cube here are no longer carried by IKEA, but many cabinet organizers from other retailers should work fine to showcase your kicks. [See more]

5. Faux luxury closet shelves Price: $250

Materials Needed: 6 MOLGER benches, wooden dowels

How It's Done: Ditch the cheap-looking wire shelving in your closet for a more sophisticated system that involves stacking MOLGER benches atop each other. To keep them stable and strong, you'll need to bore holes into the feet and surface where they connect, and slip in appropriately sized dowels to secure them to one another. [See more]

6. Faux headboard with storage Price: $75

Materials Needed: RAMSÄTRA shelf, DIODER LEDs and fabric (optional)

How It's Done: Rather than splurge on a pricey headboard, you can create one with built-in storage for alarm clocks, books, phone chargers, and the like, by mounting a media cabinet to the wall a few feet above the bed. If you're feeling ambitious, go ahead and tack on a strip of LEDs underneath to create convenient reading lights, and drape a wide piece of thick fabric behind. [See more]

7. Trivet tie rack Price: $7

Materials Needed: LÄMPLIG trivet

How It's Done: Find a bare piece of wall inside—or just outside—your closet and mount the LÄMPLIG so that the bars run horizontally to create an instant tie rack. [See more]

8. The mid-century modern bedside table Price: $70

Materials Needed: KALLAX shelf leftovers, 4 furniture legs, 1 oak panel, 2 surface hinges, 1 magnet catch, a door knob

How It's Done: If you're tackling hack #1 above, you'll have some extra unused KALLAX shelves laying around; don't let them go to waste. You'll want to cut all the boards to size to make a cube, using the finished edge when possible for the shown sides. Cut the oak panel to fit and hinge it to the cube as a door (complete with the knob and magnet catch). Then, attach your four legs and voila, your new bedside table looks like it was plucked straight off the set of Mad Men. [See more]



9. Retrofitted rustic headboard Price: $200

Materials Needed:TARVA bed, salvaged weathered wood

How It's Done: First, assemble the TARVA bed normally. Next, cut and arrange the salvaged boards in an interesting manner that suits your style, making sure they stretch the width of the TARVA's headboard. When you're happy with the mocked up look, go ahead and screw each piece permanently into place atop the existing headboard and you've created yourself a sleeping setup that would have easily cost $1,000 more at West Elm. [See more]

10. Mega-storage captain bed Price: $650

Materials needed: 8 STUVA shelf units, SULTAN LADDE slatted bed base

How It's Done: Assemble the 8 STUVAs as you would normally, arranging three per side with one each at the head and foot. Fasten the slatted bed base to the surface to keep the whole setup in place and top it with your mattress. [See more]

11. Bookcase murphy bed Price: $1,050

Materials Needed: 2 31.5-inch BILLY bookcases, 4 15.75-inch BILLY bookcases, murphy bed frame and mechanism, 8 casters, plywood

How It's Done: This one's admittedly a little more complicated than the rest, but a huge help if you're regularly hosting guests in a tiny apartment. First, you'll assemble all 6 BILLYs, attaching the two wider versions to one another at their sides with screws, and the four narrower ones back to back (such that their depth is doubled). Next, you'll attach a sheet of plywood to the back side of the now 73-inch double-BILLY, and install the murphy bed frame and mechanism. Finally, attach the casters to the underside of the murphy bed/BILLY section and bookend it with the narrow BILLYs on either side against your wall of choice. Once you're finish, you'll be ready to do this whenever overnight guests pop by. [See more]

