Look! Modifying an Ikea Expedit with Tape

We've always been a bit wary of repainting Ikea's laminate furniture mainly because we're just not sure what kind of prepping or materials would work best (latex paint and Krylon have both been recommended). But if you're looking for an easier fix and have a lot of time to spare, take a look at this modified Ikea Expedit bookcase that has been striped in a pattern of different colored tape.

[ Photo from NewYorkSocialDiary.com via MidCentury Jo's Flickr ]

Comments (9)

Looks cute from what I can tell, but the position from which the photo was taken doesn't exactly provide the clearest view.

posted by dpunjabi on September 29th 2008 at 9:51am
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I would be concerned with the ageing of the tape? Wouldn't dust get accumulated around it, or wouldn't it end up by loking ugly over the years?

posted by Daniel Poitiers on September 29th 2008 at 9:58am
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Agree with Daniel... Even the most adhesive of tape gets funky on the edges after awhile, no? And what if you ever wanted to change it? My favorite thing is certainly not scraping tape gunk from wood...

posted by mspants on September 29th 2008 at 10:15am
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Contact paper might be good, but not for stripes, of course.

posted by Jean on September 29th 2008 at 10:18am
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It looks like colored electrical tape, which comes up really clean. A friend (graphic designer) actually did murals with electrical tape in her old apartment. It had a great affect without painting.

posted by sweetchuck on September 29th 2008 at 10:40am
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Not the best photo to showcase this...hard to see the details. Nice idea though.

posted by suzy8track on September 29th 2008 at 11:06am
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My suggestion to someone who does want to paint an Ikea bookcase is to go poke around the as-is area and grab two or three random Expedit shelves. Test the primer/paint combos on them and see how they looks. Then you know what to do with the larger piece.

posted by lurker2209 on September 29th 2008 at 12:01pm
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There are a lot of things you can do that look great in a picture but not so great in reality.

This seems like one of those.

posted by RichardinLA on September 29th 2008 at 12:32pm
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The coffee table is very interesting. I'd like to know more about it ...

posted by Kenneth on September 29th 2008 at 12:35pm
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