Ikea and Target hack
Out kitchen has lots of cupboards but not much counter space. Our solution has been an Ikea kitchen cart and some simple stools from Target.
This pieces have gone through a few... modifications... to fit into our kitchen. Here's their story.
Round 1
Our first step was to just make the cart fit. We wanted to put it over a radiator so the shelves had to go.
Once the shelves were off it fit great! But something bugged us. The drawers don't have a stop on the back, they are designed to be able to be pulled out from either side. We have it up against a wall though and didn't like that the drawers would often be pushed too far back. Our solution was to add small metal L brackets mounted flush with the backs of the drawer. It was easy to install and worked like a charm!
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| Ignore the white paint, we don't have a good "before" shot of the drawer stopper! |
Soon after the drawer modification we were looking for some more storage space so once again we looked to our little kitchen cart. We installed two hooks just below the drawers to hold a cast iron pan and serving tray.
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| Old camera darkness! |
We had ourselves a functional, usable, kitchen cart full of storage spots, and that's how it stayed for several months.
Round 2
The cart and stools were working well but they weren't looking so hot. The light wood looks good in certain settings but it clashed against our white/dark wood/stainless steel kitchen. And... there was a nasty stain on top. That's what we get for buying it cheaper through Craig's List!
Our temporary solution was a table runner. But with a bit of elbow grease (aka sand paper), stain, and paint we made a more permanent solution.
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| Mike sanded the nasty stain right off. |
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| Our sister helped paint |
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| Ready for stain |
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| Adding poly - now this is the rich color we love! |
The end result
We noticed a few things right away. 1) We totally forgot to paint a strip of wood between the drawers. 2) The "golden" radiator looks even worse against all the white paint. We'll have to go back and paint that strip we forgot and our plan is to spray paint the radiator silver this summer. We'd do it now but we don't want spray paint all over our kitchen! We have to drain the radiators this summer for some basement plumbing so that's a good time to drag it outside and paint. 3. The tray has got to go/be replaced/be modified as well! That golden wood is no longer working with the cart so we'll be tackling that project in the future as well.
Other than those three future changes, do you think our kitchen furniture matches better now?
P.S. The stain is Minwax Dark Walnut and the paint is Berh Creamy White.
February 17th, 2011 - 8:41 am
Looks great! What brand/color stain did you use?
February 17th, 2011 - 9:52 am
Whoa, we blew it! We always try to list brands and colors we use. I'll update it now. The stain is Minwax Dark Walnut and the paint is Berh Creamy White. Thanks
February 17th, 2011 - 11:46 am
WOW! I think it looks fantastic! Awesome upgrade, looks like it belongs with your kitchen or like it came with it when you got the house. Looks perfect with your floors too! How was staining? I am going to stain my crates tonight, I can't remember what color stain I bought at HD, it might be a similar color? Anyway, it really looks awesome!
February 17th, 2011 - 6:40 pm
Looks great! It matches the floors perfectly!
February 17th, 2011 - 8:24 pm
Woohoo! I made it into the blog! And I, too, noticed right away the forgotten strip between the drawers. But you can't blame me, because that was piece was left in the kitchen, right? Either way, I have to admit it looks nice, even though I do love the look of light wood.
February 17th, 2011 - 8:35 pm
I love the stain you used on the top. Looks great in your kitchen and totally doesn't look like the IKEA version at all anymore.
February 18th, 2011 - 10:45 am
Holly – it matches so well because we used the same can of stain for the floors
February 18th, 2011 - 11:05 am
custom fit ikea is one of my favorite things. I love that you used the bones of the cart but really made it your own.
February 21st, 2011 - 10:39 am
Awesome job! I love the dark stain and fresh white paint, the solution with the L bracket and more storage with hanging things below! So clever! I love how you two think outside of the box!
Thanks so much for sharing in the DIY Project Parade!
Have a GREAT week!
Roeshel
February 24th, 2011 - 9:56 am
Awesome hack! It looks way better now. I love the combo of dark stain and white paint.
February 24th, 2011 - 4:12 pm
Carla, you're stained antique crates look awesome! We're going to do a "how-to" for staining but it looks like you're already a pro
LaurenJanelle, thanks! We like taking inexpensive things and making them work for us!
March 5th, 2011 - 12:31 pm
This turned out really well! It's perfect for the spot.
xo,
Sena
August 30th, 2012 - 11:31 am
I have this cart totally love what you did. Will have to do the brackets but how did u stain it? Do I need to sand it mine doesn’t have stains???
August 30th, 2012 - 11:50 am
Thanks! You will have to sand before you stain. It’s mostly bare wood but ikea puts some sort of finish on that needs to be sanded off first. Then apply stain and polyurethane and you’re set!