I’m Amazed by How Good This $30 IKEA MALM Hack Looks  (It Only Took 45 Minutes!)

I love a DIY project that doesn’t require power tools. And for furniture flips, that often leaves me with paint as the only option for sprucing a piece up. Paint is great, but I love this IKEA MALM hack from DIYer Jane Depgen because it keeps a natural wood look but adds major style — and it’s totally doable without a robust tool kit. 

Jane notes in her previously published Before & After that she was looking for a furniture facelift solution for her six-drawer white oak MALM where she wouldn’t have to saw any dowels or molding — or trim down a large sheet of pole wrap. 

Instead, she created a checkerboard pattern on her drawer fronts using small balsa wood sheets (they’re slightly larger than a postcard and perfectly fit her dimensions), glue, and an oaky wood-patterned contact paper on top of the balsa sheets. 

Note: If your wood piece has a darker stain, consider this more walnut-toned contact paper option. Arranging the pieces in the checkered pattern took Jane about 45 minutes, and the longest part of the project was waiting on the glue to dry. 

I personally love this hack because the HEMNES reminds me of the dresser I had in my freshman year dorm. (I hate to say it, IKEA, and I do love your other furniture!). Maybe you had or have one in your dorm, too?

I could see a particularly eager college (or fresh-out-of-college) student easily replicate this — in a reversible way, with Command strips, of course — on standard-issue dorm furniture. 

But if you are going the glue route, like Jane did, for a piece that you’ll keep for a longer time, heed her advice: Take out the drawers before you add the balsa sheets. Rest the drawers so that the fronts point to the ceiling, and then do your gluing. As Jane puts it, let gravity be on your side. 

For about $30, you’ll have a textured piece that looks far more expensive. For another cool geometric wood look, check out this IKEA KALLAX hack.