A Brilliant IKEA Hack Creates Storage and Hides an "Ugly" Entryway Feature
ABOUT THIS BEFORE & AFTER
HOME TYPE: Apartment
PROJECT TYPE: Entryway, Hallway
STYLE: Scandinavian, Vintage
SKILL LEVEL: DIY
RENTAL FRIENDLY: Yes
When you’re not happy with the look of a tiny space, like a 30-square-foot hallway entry, a few high-impact changes can make a big difference. Renter Hillary H. (@ccloudyhills) was itching to make some changes to the “blank white walls” in the hallway of her apartment in the Bavarian countryside.
Hillary also had issues with necessary electrical and heating panels in the hall. “The three ugly panels were definitely unwelcoming and an eyesore!” she says. She had a different plan for her space.
“The entryway is an integral part of our home; it’s the ultimate drop-and-go zone, so it had to be functioning efficiently for us,” Hillary says. “Since it’s the first thing we see when we open our door, we also wanted it to feel really welcoming and cozy,” she adds.
Make your decor pull double duty.
“We had to figure out how and if we could cover the three ugly panels, and how we could use the narrow space efficiently,” Hillary says.
She needs to access the electrical panel in the hall the most often, so she was looking for a non-permanent and easily moveable solution. “It’s also really long so we struggled to find a piece of art to simply cover it,” she says.
She soon found a solution with a large mirror. “The mirror is leaned against the panel and secured by hooking it into a screw on top that’s easy to unhook when we need to access the panel,” Hillary says.
“The giant mirror is great for outfit checks, plus it bounces light off the window in the stairwell to the rest of the dim entryway,” she adds.
DIY a bench using an IKEA hack.
For a large vent panel that Hillary only needs to access twice a year to change filters, she hung DIY shiplap. “I randomly came up with an idea to create my own faux shiplap by running a circular saw quarter-depth through a sheet of MDF and it worked perfectly!’ she says.
“I added a renter-friendly vertical shiplap panel held up by Command Velcro strips and hung a large piece of art using renter-friendly frame hooks,” Hillary says. She adds that they both come off the wall easily and go back up without a hitch. “I’m really proud of my idea of creating faux shiplap panels out of MDF,” she says.
Hillary also created a bench using an IKEA BESTA unit and covered it in the same light green DIY shiplap. “All I had to do was create a base for it to lift it up to a good bench seating height and add MDF on top and on the drawer front to fit the nook perfectly and give that built-in look,” she says. Hillary finished the bench by making a seat cushion with foam covered in fabric.
She says that the bench doubles as hidden storage and is a great place to keep cleaning supplies.
Hack an IKEA shoe cabinet to create the look you want.
For the final panel, Hillary added something a little more permanent (but still removable), as it doesn’t need to be accessed unless the heating is broken. “We decided to screw in an IKEA shoe cabinet there (the screws go right above the metal door). Even if we [have] to access the panel one day, we just have to unscrew 2 screws!”
Before screwing the shoe cabinet to the wall, Hillary wanted to give it a more vintage feel. “I doubted whether I could transform a slick, modern shoe cabinet into something vintage-looking with lots of character, but all it took was some chalk paint, furniture wax, and trim pieces!” she says. Hillary says the shoe cabinet is a space-saver that provides so much shoe storage and a place to drop your keys.
With her final DIY complete, so is the space. The entire makeover cost about 505 euros, which is about $530. “I think this entryway is my proudest room in the whole apartment,” Hillary says. “It’s small, but mighty. It’s so efficiently used while looking cozy,” she adds. “If we didn’t rent, I would have painted all the trim in the room and the back of the front door as well to give it a more finished look,” Hillary says. “But otherwise, I’m super happy with how the space turned out.”
“As for using the narrow space efficiently, it’s in my not-so-humble opinion to say that I think we nailed it!” she says. I’d have to agree!
Inspired? Submit your own project here.
Further Reading
Everything You’ve Ever Wanted To Know About Article’s DTC Furniture
We Asked 8 Pro Travelers What They Never Pack in Their Carry-On, and Here’s What They Said
