PANYL: Easy & Affordable IKEA Customization
Many of us are IKEA fans but do you ever wish there were more finishes and colors to choose from? Sure, some DIY IKEA hackmasters may be able to put orange cabinets on their Expedit shelves but for the rest of us IKEA is a universe dominated by white and birch. Until now. A new company called Panyl is giving IKEA lovers a way to personalize and customize their favorite flat-pack pieces.
PANYL creates flexible, self-adhesive vinyl film that is pre-cut to the dimensions of specific IKEA furniture models. You can choose from 34 (and counting) different vinyl finishes in solid colors, wood grains, and a few specialty finishes like brushed aluminum.
Panyl is like many excellent inventions because it seems so logical and obvious in hindsight that you pinch yourself for not thinking of it yourself! I haven’t bought any yet but am certainly planning to!
All you have to do is peel-away the backing, line it up with the surface your putting it on, and apply pressure. The film is also easy to remove (PANYL doesn’t permanently bond with the underlying surface). And the “architectural grade” finishes are waterproof and fire retardant– and won’t smudge or fade.
Which IKEA products?
Now: All of the various door and drawer fronts in the IKEA Expedit and Besta Tombo lines, and for the slide-in backpanels for the Framsta flat-panel TV mount.
Later: The company will soon offer PANYL patterns by the linear foot as well “for people who just want to run free with it.” New IKEA and other ready-to-assemble lines will be added over time, including the inexpensive Ekby shelves. Co-founders Tristam Steinberg and Dan Goldman hope to expand to other build-it-yourself products from retailers like Target and CB2.
(Images: PANYL.)