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This $8 Find Hiding in IKEA’s Kitchen Section Actually Belongs in Your Living Room

Blair Donovan
Blair DonovanSenior Editor of Style at Apartment Therapy
I’m Apartment Therapy’s Senior Style Editor, where I write and edit content focused on the latest interior design trends, expert decorating ideas, and must-see new home products and brands. I also especially love profiling emerging artists or designers, as well as delving into design history topics — whether it’s uncovering the origins of mid-century modern furniture pieces or recapping the biggest U.S. home styles from the past century. Previously, I’ve held editorial and copywriting positions at Brides magazine and Macy’s. In my 6+ years of experience, I interviewed celebrities and well-known designers like Sarah Jessica Parker, Sabrina Bryan, Nate Berkus, and Jeremiah Brent. In 2023, I also designed a dorm room-themed space for Apartment Therapy’s annual New York-based pop-up event, Small/Cool. Whenever I’m not keeping tabs on the next TikTok “core” or buzzy IKEA collection, I’m most likely reading a book on my stoop, online shopping, or looking for the best tacos in New York (recs are encouraged).
published Aug 26, 2024
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this is the 22nd UK IKEA Store. IKEA, founded in Sweden in 1943, is the world's largest retailer of ready-to-assemble or flat-pack furniture.
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Credit: Graeme Dawes / Shutterstock

In terms of home DIYs, there’s arguably no better niche than creative IKEA hacks. From full-on furniture makeovers to unexpected uses of lesser-known products, renters and homeowners alike have generated plenty of inspiration for thinking outside the flat-pack box. One recent TikTok hack is now even showing how to convert an IKEA kitchen find into an ingenious (and surprisingly stylish) storage spot in your living room or bedroom — and you’d probably never think to do this.

User Paolo Salgado @salgadopaolo shared a TikTok video debuting some new IKEA purchases at home, including the VARIERA stainless steel pot lid organizer. Rather than putting it to use in his kitchen, though, he styled it on top of a low-profile, locker-style cabinet (also from IKEA) and filled the individual rungs with records. 

This IKEA find makes the perfect upright vinyl storage, with just enough room to fit about seven or eight records. You can swap out albums depending on your current listening rotation, especially the one that’s front and center. The VARIERA’s collapsible design also allows you to extend or compress the overall piece lengthwise — from 3.25 inches up to 19.75 inches — depending on how much tabletop space you have. It measures just 5.75 inches wide, too. 

VARIERA Pot Lid Organizer
$7.99
IKEA
Buy Now

Where most pot lid organizers are, um, not the prettiest, you’d never even know that this was one in the first place. The minimalist stainless steel frame could almost pass as vintage decor, and it’s simple enough to display just about anywhere, with or without a record player directly nearby. Take a cue from the original poster by adding extra accents, like a candle and mini table lamp in the same finish, for a well-designed music station on top of your dresser, TV stand, or credenza.  

You’re not limited to just records here, either — fill the slots with hardcover coffee table books, a few design-forward magazines, or even cookbooks on your countertop. Either way, IKEA’s VARIERA pot lid organizer is the unsung hero of stylish tabletop storage, especially for record collection overflow (and showing off your impeccable music taste, naturally).

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