Pimp your flat-pack furniture

Flat-pack furniture – from tables and chairs to kitchen cabinets − has been a godsend to millions of homeowners around the world. It’s cheap, you can (usually) take it home on the day you pay for it and it’s a breeze to assemble.

Okay, that last point is a fib … but if you’re confident with an Allen key and a screwdriver, don’t mind some painting and gluing, and want something that’s unique and sort-of-handmade, then hacking your flat-pack furniture just might be the way to go.

1. Colour it

Adding colour is the easiest transformation of them all. Lots of flat-pack furniture comes in the form of bare wood, so make the most of it by painting or staining it. If you’re handy with a staple gun, you could even cover an item such as a simple rectangular bedhead with fabric – some thin sheets of foam underneath will give it a padded look.

If your furniture already has a finished surface, you can still make it your own. Use a stencil and some paint to personalise it with custom colours. No need to get too tricky − simple, graphic shapes will still be effective. You could even glue on posters or cut-out pictures. Cover the decorated surface with a coat of clear sealer to prevent your modifications from rubbing or peeling off. The kids will love it.

2. Tip it

Go ahead, turn that furniture over. You may not want to stand your credenza on its end but you can easily turn a tall, skinny bookcase or CD tower on its side and bolt it to your wall to make a short, wide display shelf. Thinking laterally, you can fix a bedside lamp to the underside of a shelf or storage unit above your bed for a handy down light.

3. Combine it

Does your study need some extra storage space, a computer stand or just a place to put your pencils? You could glue and screw two furniture feet at either end of a long rectangular piece of timber to make a raised shelf on the top of your desk. A set of timber CD or DVD shelves turned on their side would also create a handy hutch. And to tidy up those messy computer cables, glue or screw a set or two of timber-mounted hat hooks along the back edge of the desk facing outwards for winding the cords around. Ikea has an Inspiration section on their website full of ideas just like these.

Got some blank wall space and need extra storage? Create an asymmetrical display space by bolting a combination of small timber shelves, storage boxes or even leftover drawers at different heights on the wall.

4. Rebuild it

If you liked building with Lego then you’ll love this: think of your flat-pack furniture as a set of construction materials. The sides of a disassembled bookshelf could become a desk top with the help of a couple of sawing horses. The frame of an open-sided timber shelving unit could, with some weather sealing, become a garden trellis. Build a coffee table by fixing a few shelves or draws back to back, or make a room divider from a set of doors.

You can make a wall-mounted valet stand by cutting off the front of a wooden chair so just the back legs, backrest and about 100 mm of seat remain. Fix the chair to the wall, with the back facing outwards.

Lifting a bookcase 500 mm or so off the floor by bolting it to the wall creates a whole new look. Just make sure you bolt it into the studs behind the gyprock, or you’ll risk creating a bookcase-sized hole in your wall.

5. Reinvent it

Here’s where your imagination can really run wild – don’t be afraid to experiment. Here are some of our favourite ideas:

• Create decorative cut-outs in the front or sides of a timber cabinet, draw or door
• Mix and match finishes or colours on timber cabinet doors
• Instead of storing kitchen knives on your magnetic wall strip, try toy cars or spice jars with metal lids
• Stick adhesive picture hooks to the front face of the backing board in large photo frame and hang it near the door as a key holder.

As furniture hacking becomes more popular, extra ‘pimping’ resources are becoming available. Keep your eyes open for places to buy alternative drawers and doors, furniture feet, glass panels and the like, but don’t let that slow down your own home-baked DIY hacks. The key is to look at your existing pieces and the displays at your local flat-pack furniture store with new eyes. But be warned – furniture hacking is addictive!

Image credit: Ikea