Hello AT,
My boyfriend and I just bought an apartment that we are madly in love with.
The issue is that the apartment came with this monster piece of furniture that unfortunately is as useful as it is hideous. We don't have the heart to get rid of it (yet, although I'm working on the boyfriend), but it is dominating our bedroom with its bland Ikea-ness (seriously dominating. It is at least 10 feet tall).
Does anyone have any ideas for how to make it less horrible?...
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I'm open to anything from wallpaper to fabric to paint. I was toying with the idea of color washing it with this paint in "terra cotta," but I wanted to get as many ideas as possible before tackling it.
To give you a little bit of an idea of our style, most of our furniture and decorations come from my Middle Eastern great grandparents (Oriental rugs, mosaic tables, dark wood bureaus, etc) and we are repainting the bedroom in Mediterranean colors (adobe clay painted walls with majorelle blue trim and doors).
Thanks in advance,
Scout
Dear Scout,
There are many things you can do and the blandness of the piece will make it easier. Simple flat planes are easier to paint,cover or hide.
However, our first choice would be to simply get rid of it (sell it on our classifieds). Then you could build into the entire nook, make it flush with the wall and get an even better closet in that part of the room that would fit in and not stand out.
However, to address your question. We'd go for paint. Remove all the drawers and doors, take off the pulls, give it a light sanding, prime it and then paint it (small roller) with an enamel based paint. We'd leave the insides unpainted unless your feeling particularly ambitious. As for the sides, they can be treated the same way once the doors and drawers are all off.
Anyone else??
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Comments (31)
Congrats on the new apt. Your ceiling is amazingly high!
How about putting a new veneer on the armoire? I have no experience with this, and I'm considering doing it myself on a similar Ikea piece, so I'd like to hear if anyone has done this.
My first thought, before I read Maxwell's suggestions, was to get rid of it and have a custom built-in created. Just look at how much space is wasted near the ceiling that you could use for off season storage.
can you push it back, flush with the back wall, and conceal it with ceiling to floor flowy drapes, which can be pulled to the side when you need access?
install mirrons on wardrobe's doors and paint it on same color of the wall
I agree. If you take a lot of trouble to make it attractive, you will also be inclined to keep it for longer... bad idea.
I just bought a place too and understand that right now the cash flow may not be there to chuck this thing and start over! I think I would paint it the wall color, and get some pretty knobs for the drawers. You could also use etching cream on part or all of the mirror to make it seem less huge.
If you don't want to spend a lot of time making it look better get a pair of long curtains. Hang them from the ceiling via a hospital track and call it a day. I had almost the exact same piece of furniture in my apartment on 78th street and I tried putting fabric panels to make it look better but I was never satisfied.
Just make sure the curtains are darker because they'll be in a high traffic area.
Best of luck.
Get rid of it.
If your apartment didn't come with this thing and you needed storage space, would you say to each other, "We really should consider getting a 10-foot-tall mirrored IKEA monstrosity for our clothes"? No? Get rid of it!
Its is from the PAX line? If so then you can purchase different doors. For a quick & cheap fix I like the curtain idea.
I thought what this guy did was cool: http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2007/02/kullen-gets-glam.html
If the dresser was not included in the purchase, then your seller is responsible for removing it. Did you ask your lawyer?
if none of the above suggestions work...what about custom vinyl appliques. http://www.whatisblik.com/ or maybe covering the wood panels with a wallpaper design you like...here are some places:
http://www.flavorleague.com/
http://www.walnutwallpaper.com/
http://www.cavernhome.com/Cavern.html
Instead of paint, which can be labor intensive between sanding, cleaning and priming, (and still end up looking kind of bland) why not try wallpaper? Find something with a great pattern and turn it into a piece of art; you can even try decoupage and use different papers.
trash it
keep the boyfriend
If its Ikea (and you need to keep it), you should follow Nicole's advice and see if there is a door style that better suits the room. This is probably the cheapest solution for the most improvement. You could go with something like the high gloss lacquered white doors. Spend a little extra for the hardware on the outside - the combination of the lacquer and nice hardware could make the armoire look very "ligne roset". With nice hardware and delivery I am guessing this could be done for somewhere in the mid $200-$300 range.
Ideally, if you are not loving the Ikea choices, the smart thing to do is to get rid of it. You wouldn't force yourself to dress in the previous tenant's castoff clothes, so you certainly shouldn't feel obligated to dress your new home with her ugly castoff furniture. Throw it out and replace it with something you can live with.
alright, I'm not arguing that its attractive...but think about all of that storage space...
I say paint it to match the wall....maybe somehow getting rid of the mirror (removing or covering would help)
It looks in the photo as if some of the drawers are already askew on their tracks. This is the armoire's way of sticking out its tongue and telling you that it does not want a high-quality paint job (assuming you could get IKEA's usual foil-over-MDF to prep properly -- Curtis could, but I'd fail embarrassingly, expensively, and time-wastingly). It wants to go live in a new home with someone who will be grateful for it. In fact, selling it will attract more pleasing storage in roughly your price range, whatever that may be.
If you're determined to keep it, you need to do the full Curtis treatment. Don't just paint it to match the walls: add trim and texture to make it a Moroccan extravaganza. Otherwise, you'll just have a painted-out 10-foot-tall ugly armoire staring at you.
Thanks guys for the suggestions. I totally agree that burning it (we do actually have a fireplace) is the best idea, but our remodeling budget is currently running dry, especially since the blue paint we want for the trim is so insanely expensive (to anyone who read my previous question re: majorelle blue, I found it. And thanks.).
We are both pretty handy (I was a theatre carpenter for awhile in high school and college, so I can make stuff that is sturdy, but looks kind of crappy), though, so we might look into building something. Do you think we should build something freestanding or simply attach doors to the front of nook, and use the existing walls as the rest of the unit?
The new doors idea is a great one. I hadn't known what line it was from (I only really go to Ikea when I move apartments), but now that I know that I can get something with a little more depth I am much happier. That way when if paint it it won't be quite so stark.
I also might look into the wallpaper/fabric idea. Does anyone have any experience attaching wallpaper to MDF? Is there anything special I would need to do to make it stick?
As you can tell, I am still making up my mind so please continue with the suggestions!
You should get rid of this armoire and custom build in this nook.
I know it's tempting to throw it away, but that's quite a waste if it is, after all, useful.
I say, go for the wallpaper. I wouldn't be shy to cover the mirrored door with wallpaper either. The mirror gives the Ikea origins away immediately. Not sure how to go about it, but have heard it's relatively easy. I'm sure the wallpaper vendors can guide you there.
I've personally seen an armoire like this totally and utterly transformed by gold leaf. It's looks fantastic, but then again, I loooove bling.
Oh, and of course, change the knobs out with something more charming from a flea market...
I agree with Maxwell: paint it the same color as the wall. For best results, use Kilz primer before applying the paint. This is a very useful piece of furniture; there is no need to get rid of it if you can spruce it up.
there is so much wasted space above and to the left of that thing. it turns my stomach to look see so much wasted space. get rid of that thing. that nook can be perfect for a way better customer built closet/storage space.
I would push the armoire back, then put a curtain across the entire nook - it'll hide both the armoire and all the other clutter you have back there. you could hang them a little lower (just above the armoire) if ceiling to floor curtains sound like too much. then, when you have money, sell the armoire for a few dollars on craigslist and build a custom closet.
It's amazing how many have suggested "getting rid" of it when the possibilites are endless. Try all options; paint, wallpaper, maybe removing the top doors and installing shelves-this could make a nice music center. You could paint the outside in several rich colors and glue some faux suede fabric inside-very jazzy. Can you maybe move this piece to the kitchen and use it for storage? Then you can paint it in a suble color as a background and decoupage it. You can make it as soft or loud as you want.
How about taking off the doors and putting some shelves in it instead?
I suggest using tape (or finding stick on shapes) to create a pattern on the doors and drawers; the pattern you create could be a good way to incorporate your Middle Eastern decor. Then paint over the entire piece and remove the tape (keep in mind when you choose the piant that the light wood color will be your "pattern"). Switch out the drawer pulls for something more along the lines of your decor. As for the mirror maybe you could use one of those sticky screens that are sold for windows in a nice pattern and cover it...or just deal with the fact that you have a ten foor mirror in your home. It's very Design on a Dime, but it seems like you're up for it :)
The question is: can it be re-positioned in the room? That seems to be the real problem. A floorplan would really help here.
I don't think it's ugly at all, just awkward where you have it. But based on your rug, maybe your style isn't modern or minimalist. Maybe that's the problem.
In any case, if you can push it back, then re-paint it with a gloss paint and add new knobs (from eBay) that coordinate with your style and other pieces, then I think it could work. Consider reversing the lefthand door and maybe the middle door. Don't throw it out unless you can afford custom built-ins to fill that space, or some other better alternative. Also, don't store anything on top of it.
découpage
Scout, it's horrible. Get rid of it. It's the wrong size and scale and is turning what could be a nice architectural feature into a nightmare.
My first thought was to look for an amazing antique piece that would fit INSIDE the nook, not stick out. If you can't afford that right now, a less expensive option would be to put up a curtain (either a regular rod or a hospital track) and put Elfa shelves from the Container Store behind it. Just think of how much fun you would have finding a great fabric for the curtain.
If you want to spend the $ on construction, you can hired someone to put built-in storage up top, bringing it as far down as you want. We have this above our fridge. We have a pair of doors that are painted the same color as the wall, and a couple of shelves inside. Great for storage. Lowering the ceiling would also make the nook more cozy, and you could make room to install lighting in the ceiling.
Congrats on the apartment!
I think part of the problem is that you have very high ceilings and the design of the armoire is very linear. If you would really like to keep it then could you get rid of the mirror and wallpaper the armoire in a very pretty middle eastern design/colors and get some new handles.