help! my boj is so boring!
marion from sydney writes me asking for ideas how she can spice up her boj drawers, and cover the flaking bits. (boj is no longer produced by ikea, i think.)
"i've been wanting to hack my tired looking white boj drawers for years but haven't worked out a good way to attack the white laminate. mostly, i am wanting to change the colour and cover the flaking top. i figure i can change the handles easily enough and find some funky alternatives to white plastic, but i'm over the white laminate. i was wondering if you or any of the readers might have any ideas on how to hack it?" - marion
this is a picture i found, not marion's actual boj drawers.but you get the idea why marion desperately wants to hack it.
right on, marion. i have 2 ideas for you.
#1. masking tape magicthe first is inspired by jonathan fong's walls that wow where he uses masking tape to dress up a wall (see pix from ivillage). i thought the same neat trick could add a lot of sizzle to marion's boj.
- think of your colour scheme and how you want the stripes laid out.
- buy coloured masking tape in your scheme.
- stretch it across the top of your boj from one end to the other, and if you like, down the sides in unequal (or equal) lengths.
pro: no mess. cheap. and will mask the flaking beautifully.
con: you might not get masking tapes in the colours you want.
#2. blik it beautifulif you have a bit of cash to spare, you can turn up the sex appeal of your boj with blik. this paisley decal will set you back $45 for a set of 10. let's assume that you're feeling generous and you do get the decals:
- arrange them on your boj till you are satisfied with the layout
- stick them on
- sit back and admire
con: pricey (to me, at least).
these are my 2 cents. any other takers? please click on the comment link to leave your ideas and save marion from boredom.
and yes, marion, if you do hack your boj, pretty please send us a picture. we would love to see what you made out of it.
tags: ikea, boj, drawers, jonathan fong, blik
i can't find a photo of it....but in the jan/feb issue of DOMINO magazine, this chick covered her filing cabinet in a blown-up black and white photocopy of some fabric...you could use the rasterbator program and blow up a favorite photo or illustration, and cover the boj's face and sides. either print directly onto sticker paper, or print onto normal paper (maybe in a fun color to match your decor?) and stick on with double-stick tape or somesuch.
ReplyDeletebecca jo, the rasterbator programme rocks! thanks for the tip.
ReplyDeletelaminate is tricky w/r/t what will and won't stick to it, so I don't know if I'd want to commit to Blik (in price terms) without testing it first. You can get vinyl cutout decals for various bands at most alternative music stores, which would allow you to test this theory without laying down more than $5.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I would try painting the drawers with the new plastic-friendly spray paints, which are supposed to work with laminates. The best thing to do would be to march into the Home Depot paint department and ask them what you can use on laminate... I think Varathane makes several products for this purpose as well.
If you used the Plasti-kote paint (Krylon Fusion? etc) you could do something like stripes, or you could even use stencils.
I have drawers that are very similar to the ones shown here, only not IKEA... what I like them is their ability to look custom and built-in against a white wall. I also buy plain white laminate bookshelves. But if you're not constrained by rental agreements, and your white plastic stuff is starting to look tired and old anyway, I can totally understand wanting to rehab it!
yeah, that's a great idea. and probably wiser on the wallet. i did think of painting it but that seems so "one wrong brush stroke and i'm dead". or maybe that's just me - a non-committal clumsy klutz who prefers stuff that i can "undo". ;)
ReplyDeleteI have a boj 2 door cabinet, which I used for lateral filing. It developed an 'old paper' smell, so when I decided to use it for clothes, I painted the interior. Whatever Ikea used resists painting - even sanding didn't key the surface enough. It was a TOTAL disaster with water based gloss paint. I had to let it dry, then start again with oil based. Second go worked better.
ReplyDeleteThe exterior is now very seedy, and I plan to use a laminate deglosser which 'sands' any surface, even glass, to create a 'key' the new paint can stick to. However this won't happen until Spring.
Before painting I will fill the handle holes with Selley's filler (in blue plastic container) - it's works better than wood filler. Then I will drill holes for new handles. As Marion is in Sydney (Australia?), I recommend Mother of Pearl & Sons for its wide range & many price levels. If you don't want to do this, take the old handle with you to match holes - they are called 'D' handles.
You wipe on/off the deglosser, undercoat & 2 top coats. If possible, remove the drawers first. The rest is up to your imagination.