This “Unexpected” $180 IKEA Find Is the Smartest Place To Store Shoes

Television consoles usually house unsightly things that don’t work with your aesthetic (think: cumbersome DVD players or sound systems, which are necessary yet typically not visually appealing). However, in Khadija’s cozy and playful Lisbon apartment, an IKEA FJÄLLBO television stand is used uniquely. 

IKEA furniture is easily adaptable, meaning one product can easily and seamlessly become another without much effort. For example, people have transformed an IKEA BILLY bookcase, traditionally used to display novels, into a department store-grade shoe rack. 

It was only natural that Khadija used an IKEA television stand as shoe storage, and you’d never know that the piece wasn’t originally intended as a footwear repository. The truth is, Khadija never envisioned it underneath a television, either. 

“It has the perfect size to fit under the stairs. We like its materials and finishes,” she wrote at the time of the home tour. “It was never used as a TV stand (we don’t even have a TV in the living room). We bought it expressly for shoe storage.”

The television stand-turned-shoe storage doesn’t just hold footwear, either. The top, which is made of solid wood, is a great catch-all station. For Khadija’s family, it holds mail, a bright blue vase with gorgeous flowers, and artwork. The furniture piece is a fabulous combination of function and fun in Khadija’s home. 

Khadija’s family’s shoes get plenty of ventilation, too, because of the television stand’s rustic metal siding. And if she ever decides to use it for television storage, she can: The back of the furniture piece is open to slide in electronic devices easily. 

If this unique use of furniture interests you, you’ll want to check out the rest of Khadija’s gorgeous Lisbon apartment for more ingenious design ideas. Visit the full home tour to see more.