How to Customize an Ikea Alex (or any other furniture!)

I am in love with design of the Ikea Alex.  It is the perfect piece of furniture to organize all of your tools.  When I purchased my Ikea Alex in 2009, it only came in white.  Imagine my chagrin when I just discovered today that in now comes in black!  Alas, I decided to create this Instructable anyway because this method can be used with a multitude of colors (like with the blue and green I am thinking of doing next for a bookshelf in my classroom...)

This project details how to change the color of a piece of furniture (in this case, an ikea alex) using plastic spray paint and how to reface drawer fronts using scrap-booking paper. 

This project can easily be modified and applied to different types of furniture.  In my case, I just resurfaced the drawer fronts with scrapbooking paper, but you can resurface the top, a side, or even the entire surface of a piece if you wished.

I originally showcased this project on my blog.

Step 1: Gather Your Supplies

Materials
• Ikea Alex (≈$130* ) or other furniture item of your choosing
• 2 Containers of Plaid Mod Podge Hard Coat 8 oz (≈$6 each, $12 total)
• 3 Cans of Krylon Fusion for Plastic in Color of Your Choice - I used Black Satin (≈$5 each, $15 total)
• Dropcloth (≈$1)
• Drawer Liner (≈$10)
• Scrapbooking Paper of Your Choosing (≈$3)

Total Cost Not Including Furniture ≈$41
Total Cost With Ikea Furniture ≈$171

Tools
• Scissors
• Paintbrushes
• Razorblade Cutter
• Cutting Mat (Can be as simple as a piece of cardboard!)
• Old giftcard, store discount card, or something similar

Comments

[bboor]

wow, thank you for posting this! I have an old standing jewelry box I want to paint and give an old victorian feel for my mom on mother's day. I haven't a clue how to go about doing this. The inside of the box is pink felt, and I adore it. The outside needs help. So I need all the tips I can get. Your project looks beautiful! job well done. I didn't know you could spray paint wicker. Awesome

[TabbyDeAnne]

FANTASTIC idea!! My mother is moving into her first place living on her own and I am so excited to decorate it with her! This is going to come in extremely handy on any furniture I make! I will be able to give it a custom look for the right price!! Thanks for sharing!

[jessicafromsheekgeek]

You can even use this idea on furniture that is pre-made. I think it is awesome you make your own furniture!

Cheers,
Jessica

[craftyv]

My sincerest apologies, I don't know why I was negative. In fact I love this work it reminds me of the old designs of William Morris. Well done.

[jessicafromsheekgeek]

Apology accepted :0) - William Morris has very intricate work so I thank you for the compliment. Honestly, all I did for this project was mod podge scrapbook paper to the front of furniture fronts. The ikea alex comes already cut out and ready to put together so it is not like I made the furniture from scratch. The project really isn't as hard as it looks. You can put scrapbook paper on the front of furniture that is already put together so it is a versatile idea. Happy crafting!

Cheers,
Jessica

[craftyv]

(removed by author or community request)

[catherinetodd]

I thought this was a wonderful project, in how to decorate a piece of furniture, not "make" a piece of furniture. Thank you so much for posting this Instructable and I can't wait to do it to my own furniture pieces! Well done, Jessica!

[jessicafromsheekgeek]

Thanks Catherine! I wish you luck on your projects - share picture if you do it!

[catherinetodd]

Will do!