An IKEA hack shelf makeover – before and after

There’s something about this time of year that gets me kick-started in full-on spring cleaning, decluttering, make-everything-look-beautiful mode. We’re nearing the end of a big bedroom makeover project which feels like it’s been going on since the dawn of time. The end is in sight now, though, and last week finished off an IKEA hack shelf makeover which has made a big difference to a corner of the room.

I’m not doing a full before and after bedroom makeover post just yet, because the room’s not ready, but here’s a brief glimpse of what we had before:

The dressing table and chest of drawers used to be pine numbers from way back in the 90s. In fact, that dressing table was one of the first pieces of furniture I ever picked out for myself, aged 12. It’s been all over the country with me, up to Hull for my first job as a journalist, down to Reading and then to various places in between.

A couple of years ago I painted it and, for a while, was pleased with the results. But then Baby Girl came along. Just before Christmas she climbed onto it and drew all over it in pencil, then Frog decided to cover the surface in nail polish. Every morning I’d have to retrieve my toddler from the top of the table, as she desperately rooted through my make-up. And then, a few weeks ago, she helped herself to my favourite Lancome eye-shadow. Decision made, the dressing table had to go.

Getting rid of the dressing table and chest of drawers meant we instantly had more space in the room (to make up for the huge bed we got when Baby Girl came along and decided she would only sleep in our bed!), but it also left me with no place to store my make-up and toiletries.

Enter the IKEA Ekby shelves, along with the rail and herb pots pictured below (this is the “before” version):

We swapped over the canvas boxes on top of the chest of drawers for the plastic storage containers from IKEA, a set of three basket pots and the rail with pots underneath the shelf. The rail and pots were from the kitchen section and were originally meant for herbs or indoor plants, I think.

This was instantly better than what we had before, because it gave us lots of floor space. However, it’s not exactly Instagrammable, is it? We’re going for a dark, inky blue on two walls in the bedroom, along with pops of gold, so I wanted the shelf area to reflect that. With a bit of clever IKEA hacking, some Washi tape and a can of gold spray paint we managed to turn the shelf from cluttered to cute.

We spray-painted all of the white plastic storage pots and ran a length of the gold Washi tape along the edge of the shelf for a gold trim effect. Then we moved some of the bigger things (hair straighteners etc) into a pretty canvas storage box from HEMA and moved that to the top of the wardrobe. There’ll be a full video on the Roost TV channel showing the process very soon.

Here’s the “after” version:

If you’re looking for more spring cleaning and decluttering ideas head over to the HomeServe website where you’ll find tips for keeping weeds at bay in the garden, cleaning your house from top to bottom and some DIY inspiration to keep your house ticking over and everything running smoothly.

Have you taken on any little home projects recently?

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Thanks to HomeServe for working with me on this post. For more information about how I work with brands check out my Work With Me page.