6 Times IKEA Hacks Squeezed in the Perfect Amount of Storage

Most homes have random, awkward areas that aren’t serving much purpose—either they’re a weird shape or size, or just too small for most furniture. Enter IKEA hacks: The cheap way to bend furniture to your will and make it work for your particular home. Here are six times clever people not only filled a space, but filled it with useful storage made from IKEA products.

Sherry and John of Young House Love used a MALM dresser at the top of their stairwell. After adding a custom top and some leather pulls for hardware, the unit now looks built-in and native to the alcove in the hallway. It’s a great fit for a somewhat random spot.

Here’s a little narrow bedroom nook, where no furniture would fit. To create a functional storage ladder, the Wall Whisperer used a piece of IVAR shelving secured to the wall with BJÄRNUM folding hooks. When s-hooks get involved, you can hang pretty much anything.

Similarly, Erin of Francois et Moi added a tall skinny shelving unit to the right of their guest room’s Murphy bed to give it a more built-in feel—as well as provide more storage.

Mr. Kate had a small wall in between two doors in the bedroom, which was calling out for a greater purpose. You’re actually looking at two ALEX units that were cleverly combined (using faux drawer fronts and a new top) to look like one solid unit, and fill the space perfectly. The hot pink is just a bonus.

Jackie of Jax Designs created some hidden behind-the-headboard storage for her bedroom. She started out with two IKEA METOD kitchen cabinets, topped by a stained birch wood panel and finished off with some HAGGENY push-to-open doors. With this new set up, she was able to get rid of her nightstands, and save a bunch of floorspace. (Also lead image above.)

The Sorry Girls bought a $20 insert designed for KALLAX shelving units, and turned it into two solid floating nightstands with pull-out drawers. These have zero footprint and can usually be wedged into that tiny space between the bed and wall in small bedrooms.