I’m so happy to report that I’m now 100% moved into M’s apartment (moving is a 4 letter word to me right now), and the journey of working with what we have and updating things as frugally as possible has officially begun : ) We shared a few updates to the space including the nightstand and chicken wire message board, but today are wandering into the living room!
M has a coffee table from IKEA (not for sale anymore, or at least I couldn’t find it!) that he’s been using in the living room that looks like this.
Totally functional and actually has two drawers on the ends that serve as storage- a much needed benefit with two of us now in the apartment- but it wasn’t doing too much for me in terms of interior design. Crumbs would fall under the glass and would stand out against the dark surface, making it hard to keep it looking clean. We have a plan to revamp a hand-me-down piece to use in the next few months (come on nice weather!) but for now, she got a quick update using a $2 roll of wrapping paper from Marshalls! Love that place.
All that I had to do was remove the glass from the top and cut the paper to size. I’m not talented at cutting in a straight line, so I used a box cutting razor and followed the edge of the table, being careful not to scratch the surface.
After it was all cut, I just carefully put the piece of glass back on and called it done! We’re both attracted to more rustic pieces but completely replacing items doesn’t fall into the “frugal” category, so adding a little faux wood pattern to this table tides us over for now.
Besides loving the wood pattern, I also love how easy it is to replace. Because the surface is lighter, the crumbs/dust/etc no longer stand out and it’s still just as easy to clean. Win, win. Plus, if it ever gets too bad or damaged, I have plenty of paper left over to recover it.
So, for $2 and about 5 minutes of my time, this IKEA piece went from this, to this! So much lighter and brighter in the space : )
What have you been up to this week? Adding anything different like wrapping paper to your home? What are some of your favorite ways to update IKEA furniture?
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oh my goodness!!!! I LOVE this so much. Thanks for linking to Twirl and Take a Bow! (I’m pinning it too…great job!)
Aw thank you so much Robin! We really appreciate it : ) Hope you have a great day!
What a fun makeover! Such a simple solution.
Thanks Taryn! : )
This is pretty brilliant.
Thanks Kimberly! Funny how much of an impact a $2 fix can have : ) Hope you have a great week!
I agree–it’s so much better with the paper! Nicely done! π
Thanks for sharing on Twirl & Take a Bow last week–I hope you’ll join us again this week!
– Brooke –
Thanks Brooke! And thanks for hosting π
I like the quick update and the patterned paper perfect for the tabletop. I haven’t updated any Ikea furniture yet, but I probably will when it gets worn looking. Look forward to seeing what else you do with the table.
Thank you Erlene! Hope you have a fabulous day & thanks for stopping by! π