IKEA Expedit Hack

I can't resist a good IKEA hack. With a few simple upgrades you can instantly elevate an affordable piece of basic furniture and turn it into a customized and unique piece of furniture.  The original IKEA Kallax shelf has a very simple design. For this project we gave the $50 budget friendly bookshelf a modern makeover and transformed it into a chic storage unit for the twins bedroom. And turned this...

Into THIS!

The purpose of this IKEA hack was to create a custom bookshelf that coordinates with the other pieces of furniture in the bedroom which have a modern coastal vibe. 

With a little research online I found this super cool company Pretty Pegs that sells custom furniture legs. Amazing right?!  They have a wide range of colorful options to choose from.  I immediately fell in love with the shape of the Pretty Pegs Hellivi furniture legs.  My order was in the shopping cart and I was ready to click "buy now" when handy man husband swooped in and said "I can make those out of some scrap wood!"  SCORE!  

He did a pretty bang up job - Am I right?  Realizing that not everyone has a live in handy man the price for 4 Pretty Pegs Hellivi furniture legs is just $68 - not bad!! Raising the basic IKEA Kallax unit off the ground instantly elevates it (figuratively AND literally) into a designer looking bookshelf!

To create that coastal vibe that coordinates with the bunk bed we surrounded the IKEA Kallax with a piece of 3/4" birch plywood using wood glue and a nail gun. I didn't want the different layers of the plywood to show so the edges of the boards were cut at a 45 degree angle using a compound miter saw. We then stained the plywood using Minwax Wood Finish in Classic Gray that you can find at Home Depot.  The entire bookcase wood surround was stained using just a $5 sample size can.

 It's a perfect match to the weathered gray stain on bunk beds.

Finally, we finished the piece off with a simple bullnose molding trim painted semi gloss white to match the molding and base boards in the bedroom.

So there you have it. For a whopping $50 extra dollars we turned a basic white cube into a super unique and modern piece of furniture. And it's kid approved by this guy!!! Would love to know what you think!