This IKEA IVAR Cabinet Got a $250 DIY — Now It’s a Funky Statement Piece
If you’ve ever seen a designer piece of furniture that’s out of your price range, but fallen in love with it anyway, you’re not alone. But if you’re crafty and creative like Amanda Harper Fink, then you can DIY it. (Even if you’re not a project pro, this transformation is simpler than it looks!)
IKEA Goes Brutalist
Amanda Harper, a jewelry brand owner and DIYer, and her husband were inspired by others transforming their IKEA IVAR cabinets with a brutalist style and decided to try it themselves. IKEA’s cabinet is made from untreated solid pine, which is “a great blank slate for many furniture projects,” Harper says.
The IKEA IVAR Cabinet Made the Perfect DIY Foundation
“We saw high-end versions of [the brutalist] style,” Harper explains. And after seeing others turn IKEA’s IVAR cabinet into unique, stylish pieces, she and her husband decided to do the same.
“The goal was to create a funky and luxe-feeling furniture piece for our home,” Harper says.
So after purchasing the IVAR cabinet, wood glue, Varathane American Walnut wood stain, Varathane Polyurethane semi-gloss, and 2-inch half-round spheres, the couple was ready to begin.
The Project Took 6 Hours, $250, and Elbow Grease
After building the cabinet following IKEA’s instructions, Harper and her husband started placing the half-round spheres on the front doors to get an idea of how many they would need and the spacing between each one.
“If we did it again, we would use chalk lines to line up the spheres,” she explains. Instead, after getting the spacing right of the four rows with six half-rounds, they used wood glue and attached each one to the front doors, eyeballing them afterwards to guarantee they were in straight lines.
They continued this process on both of the cabinet’s sides, with three rows of six. (For those of you wanting to re-create this DIY, that’s 84 half-spheres total.)
The couple’s budget was $300, but they ended up only spending $250 — about an eighth of the price of similar brutalist-style cabinets that often retail for thousands of dollars. Plus, it was the perfect weekend DIY, as it took the couple roughly six hours from start to finish.
While it was a half-day DIY, a few things were more tedious than expected and required some elbow grease.
Some Things Were Easier Than Expected, While Others Were Tricky
“It was surprisingly hard to coat the stain evenly,” Harper shares. With 84 half-spheres, three shelves, and the entire exterior to stain, it was a slightly difficult task.
While staining was trickier than expected, Harper “thought the most challenging part would be figuring out the spacing of all the spheres, but it was easier than expected.”
Even though the staining process was tedious, Harper says that it adds to the character of the cabinet and has become her favorite part of the whole project. She loves “the warm stain color and the different variations throughout the wood grain.”
Overall, the couple learned that it can be pretty simple to turn something basic into a really special piece — and now they have a custom-looking statement piece for their home.
Inspired? Submit your own project here.
Shop This Before & After
Get all the IKEA UPDATES
Sign up for The IKEA Edit, our twice-weekly newsletter with the latest IKEA finds, deals, and hacks.