It's official, I can call myself an Ikea hacker. I love the Sweden company's simple lines and thought their bookcase was a perfect toy chest for Kyle, but I wasn't sold on the white doors with dark brown wood. So, I tackled the following "art" project:
Before: here's the bookcase as it came with purchased fabric baskets from Bed Bath in green ($15 for 4).
Dissembling the door and undoing the hinges yields a blank slate.
I purchased 4 sheets of 12"x12" scrapbook paper in a rocket pattern (but of course!). Cost = $3.99 for 4 sheets
I purchased 1 jar of Mod Podge ($4) and penciled in corners 1/2" in from each side (the door is 13"x13"). I painted a thick layer of Mod Podge with a sponge brush on to the door directly. I encourage you to strongly adhere (no pun intended) to their directions of using a generous amount of podge near the edges. You end up with wrinkles otherwise (I learned this the hard way).
After using a roller and wax paper to get the wrinkles out, I applied two layers of Mod Podge to the top of the paper letting each layer dry 15-20 minutes. It'll look glossy and somewhat cloudy until it dries. Note: I used the Matte finish version of Mod Podge.
After drilling holes through the paper and applying metal knobs, simply reassemble the doors/hinges and viola, you've got a beautiful custom cabinet for toys!
Here's the final piece! I'm pretty happy with it even if it took me a few doors to get the hang of it. The wrinkles just add character! Not bad for a total price under $175.
After using a roller and wax paper to get the wrinkles out, I applied two layers of Mod Podge to the top of the paper letting each layer dry 15-20 minutes. It'll look glossy and somewhat cloudy until it dries. Note: I used the Matte finish version of Mod Podge.
No comments:
Post a Comment