Coffee Table Facelift for Less than $15 saves stained LACK

What I love the most about IKEA furniture is that is so versatile that you can do anything you want from it, and still have a lot of room for improvement. And you don’t lose a fortune in case you don’t like how your projects ends, considering the fact that you won’t spend a fortune to buy this type of furniture. That’s why I love it, it’s affordable, versatile and still resistant at the same time.

The black LACK coffee table I bought from IKEA a while ago had some ugly stains that I could not remove. Those stains were a memory from a pizza dinner with my friends. The pizzas were too hot, we were too focused on eating it, the coffee table didn’t resist without staining. The final result of the evening was a happy bunch of folks, and a screwed coffee table.

Stained IKEA lack table

But I put my creativity to work, bought some paint and varnish, and a few hours later here’s what I got! A piece of art with a very personal touch!

Drawing a contour is the first thing to do. Using a white wax crayon, I drew the arabesque so it would cover the ugly white stains that I wanted to hide. Later I discovered that the wax crayon, which was the easiest to get at the time, prevents the acrylic paint from stepping out of contour. Learning by doing, right?

LACK Coffee Table Facelift for Less than $15

Second, you have to fill in the contours with color. I used metallic acrylic paint in 3 different colors – blue grey, gold, and champagne. You can hardly see the difference while they are wet, but believe me that the final effect is worth all the money!

There is one more thing to keep in mind when crafting this project, and I have to admit I learned it the hard way. To cover the whole table with patterns, you need to start painting from the center to the margins, otherwise you would have to deal with an uncomfortable position that you keep for hours while working on the project.

LACK Coffee Table Facelift for Less than $15

10 minutes after applying the first coat of paint, which dried really quickly, here comes the second one. Oh, boy, I really enjoyed doing this!

LACK Coffee Table Facelift for Less than $15

A few hours later, clean the dust, and varnish the painted table to give it a polished look. Let the table dry for a few hours in a well ventilated place (beware of the flies or dust around it!), then apply a second coat of varnish.

Let it dry again and voilà! It looks pretty new and totally original.

LACK Coffee Table Facelift for Less than $15

I wonder how much would this coffee table costs if you buy it from one of those fancy furniture shows…

See more hacks for LACK.

The post Coffee Table Facelift for Less than $15 saves stained LACK appeared first on IKEA Hackers.

Comments

Hackers Help: How to attach headboard to ESPEVÄR mattress base?

I’m trying to figure out if a headboard can be attached to an Espevar Mattress Base , and how to accomplish that. I’m looking at a standard metal headboard (because I just prefer the look of curved metal to what IKEA offers) and am not interested in a slat base with just a mattress on top, and a wall mounted headboard is not an option due to renting. Thanks for any help! ~ Amy *** Hi Amy I’ve not seen the ESPEVÄR in person but I believe it is possible to attach a headboard to it. From the website, the ESPEVÄR looks like a regular wooden slatted mattress base under a bed base slipover. As to how to attach it, that will depend on the fittings on the metal headboard. So you will just need to get the right hardware to secure the metal headboard to the wooden frame. And make some small openings on the slipcover to let the fixtures to go through. Jules Photo: IKEA.com Try these free-standing headboards for size A lime green and white headboard that takes centerstage in the r...

Kitchen renovation reveal: Rhombus wall steals the show

It’s been a while since I did a home tour. If you’ve missed the previous reveals, you can catch up with my Master Bathroom remodel and Guest Bathroom reveal . Today, let’s focus on my kitchen renovation. Hands down, this is the most used room in my home. I spend crazy amounts of time in here, even when I’m not cooking. Just off to the side of the kitchen I converted an awkward space into a reading nook . In the mornings, I sit and read or pray and meditate, before it gets too warm. And on the other side, there’s a work-in-progress plant wall / indoor garden which also takes up a lot of my time. So, all in all, lots of traffic in here, and that’s not even counting cooking and eating time. The kitchen is definitely my favourite room, because the transformation is huge and I love how it turned out. Kitchen renovation: The before House 17 when I first got it, actually had 2 kitchens, which is a very common “Asian” home concept. First, the “dry kitchen”, which is where you make simp...

IKEA sofa with genius armrest storage

Bet you never knew your sofa armrests were prime storage space. Ok, so the guys at IKEA are the masters of hidden / secret storage everywhere. In fact, one of the things I most loved about the ESKILSTUNA sofa series was the undercover storage on the chaise lounge, but… what? More than 80 liters of storage space wasted on the armrests? NO WAY! I really don’t understand how they didn’t take that opportunity with several different armrest modules. Mobile chargers, cup / can holders, foldable tables, refrigerators… there’s SO MUCH space in there. I can’t stop thinking on different options! For myself, I went for two designs. First, a “full space” design on the (right) side of the chaise lounge. (The cavity fits two foldable chairs). Second, on the left armrest — a flip open section for “mobile charger / remote control storage / etc.”. Below that, a full-depth pull-out drawer, tall enough to store A4 sized magazines. This is the final result: Full space design, rig...

Martin Cooper

Search This Blog