reader submissions

Before & After: IKEA Shoe Rack Turned Slat Table

Tara BellucciNews and Culture Director
Tara BellucciNews and Culture Director
Tara is Apartment Therapy's News & Culture Director. When not scrolling through Instagram double-tapping pet pics and astrology memes, you'll find her thrift shopping around Boston, kayaking on the Charles, and trying not to buy more plants.
published Jan 20, 2015
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Wooden two-tier bench with slatted shelves and a "Before" label.
(Image credit: IKEA)

Janet was looking to replace her IKEA LACK coffee table with something with a little more style. She saw some potential in an unlikely find — the BABORD shoe rack.

(Image credit: Janet)

From Janet:

I had just moved into a new place, and I was dying to replace my ever-ubiquitous Ikea “Lack” coffee table with something more unique. Seeing as how I didn’t have any funds to purchase the slat bench of my dreams, I used my old, beaten up (also Ikea) shoe rack to make this!

I used the two tiers of the shoe rack for the top of the coffee table, and used a bit of extra wood I had lying around from other projects to support the legs. The gold-tipped MCM legs were from an ottoman I found on the sidewalk. I decided to spray paint the whole piece a satin black for a sleek finish. The piece cost me $12 for two cans of Krylon spray paint, and it took one weekend to finish!

Thank you Janet!