IKEA IVAR cabinet in 2 different paint styles

The IKEA IVAR cabinet is so easy to customise with paint. Give it a mono-colour or give it as many as you like.

#1 Karoline’s colorful IVAR cabinet paint hack 

I wanted to create a really colourful piece of furniture. I love that the IVAR cabinets are solid wood so they are so nice and easy to paint – and the simple design is amazing. 

IKEA item:
ikea-ivar-cabinet

Photo: IKEA.com

Other materials:
  • Wood paint and acrylic paint in different colors 

Just lots of colourful paint. The IVAR cabinets are so great, and I look forward to see all the different ways to repaint and remake them in the future. 

acrylic paint
assembly

It cost the cost of the IVAR cabinets (440 dollars), and the paint was all I had leftover in my stash. New paint in all these colours could be 150 dollars, but you can also be lucky to find cheap paint samples or mix your own like I did. 

ivar cabinet paint

It took an afternoon to do, and I loved every bit of the process. We had fun assembling them and building them up on the wall. And the painting process was so much fun. 

See the complete tutorial on my blog or watch the video below.

~ by Karoline Dahrling Hughes

#2 Emilie’s stylish terracotta cabinet

IKEA item:
  • IKEA IVAR cabinet
Other materials and tools:
  • 4 x legs
  • 2 x handles
  • Paint in desired colour
  • Drill
  • Paint roller
  • Paint brush
  • Screwdriver
  • Hammer

Paint the whole cabinets with a small roller and use paint brush for smaller and tricky to reach areas.

Tip: Open the doors slightly to reach the side of the side panels.

Pencil the location of the leg holes, make a guide indent with a hammer and nail, screw on legs using a screwdriver.

brass legs

Drill a hole in the position you would like the handles, I put them at the top for ease. Secure handles with screws.

handles

I bought the cabinet in Spain for €59, brass/gold legs on Amazon for €35.99, brass/gold handles from Amazon for €9.79.

And I found the paint in the street, as a decorating firm were throwing away lots of paints.

paint

I found one that matched back to a print I had on our studio wall so it was perfect and felt good recycling unwanted paint.

As the cabinet was for a office I needed to find legs tall enough to store our printer underneath.

ivar cabinet paint

When open, the cabinet is a jewellery makers dream, full of sparkling and golden components.

ivar cabinet paint

A functional but stylish addition to the design studio.

~ by Emilie Claiborne