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Adding this furniture wrap to the MALM changed everything

I wanted a quick, easy and uplifting project to get me out of the lockdown doldrums. And this project with Wrappyr ticked all the boxes. 

It was no sweat at all and the end results, better than I expected. 

I inherited this old MALM chest of 4-drawers and truth be told, it has seen better days. The white was yellowed and one of the drawer dividers was broken. An upgrade was in order. 

MALM chest of 4 drawers

MALM 4-drawer chest — before

While I’ve seen lots of IKEA furniture embellished with decals, I’ve never used one before and Wrappyr’s ability to customize your own designs is pretty unique in the marketplace. If I knew how easy it was, I would have tried them out much earlier. 

Related: How to fix broken MALM drawer divider

GETTING MY DESIGN

First thing I did was to browse Wrappyr.com. The website has all the instructions on how to use the design platform.

The design platform starts with a series of graphical interview questions where you can search for the exact IKEA furniture you have or a portion of the furniture, be it one drawer, the top of the furniture or even the sides in some cases. 

I picked the MALM from the list of IKEA furniture. Which then took me to the design page — an online editor where I can upload, design my own prints or choose from the themes they’ve designed.

Editor Page

I chose to play around with their extensive library of shapes and patterns till I found one I liked. And then I tweaked the size of the pattern and colours to my heart’s content. When I was finally happy with it, I placed my order and waited for my custom decal to arrive, which are delivered for free worldwide by track and trace post for all orders over $20.

wrappyr roll

What’s great about Wrappyr is each Furniture Wrap is cut to match the dimensions of the chosen IKEA furniture. There’s no second guessing. Just peel and stick, literally.

The material is of high quality, with a lightly textured finish and the printing, to my pleasant surprise, vivid and crisp.

INSTALLING THE FURNITURE WRAP
  • I unrolled the Furniture Wrap and placed them on the floor for 12 – 24 hours to flatten them out. 
Wrappyr furniture wrap
  • Next, surface prep. I cleaned and dried the surfaces of the furniture with a mild detergent.
surface prep
  • To apply the wrap, I partially removed the backing paper (there’s a tab to make it easier) and positioned the wrap against the corner of furniture. I found it best to start at the top and use a plastic card to swipe from left to right to smoothen the wrap and remove all air bubbles. Then, I gradually removed the backing paper, smoothening as I went till the end.
Applying furniture wrap
  • I did get the wrap skewed on first application. So I slowly peeled off the wrap and started again, making sure the edges were properly aligned. Going slow is key. 
Removing furniture wrap

All in all, it was a quick process and to be honest, thoroughly enjoyable. So happy it turned out just as I imagined!

QUICK EFFECTIVE UPGRADE

BEFORE: A plain white MALM.

MALM chest of 4 drawers before

AFTER: MALM wrapped in deep blue waves. 

MALM chest of 4 drawers with waves furniture wrap

I felt the pattern getting too busy, so took a pair of scissors to the wrap for the top drawer. You don’t have to, but hey, you can if you want to. This shows you can still apply your touch to the wrap. 

I love how easy it was to do this. And if I do get tired of the design, I can peel the stickers off without damage to the surface. Then, stick on another set of decals, if I so wish.

malm with furniture wrap

A simple upgrade but a huge difference to this previously dull corner. It is for sure a more welcoming dresser for the guest room.

MORE ON WRAPPYR

Now, a bit on Wrappyr. The company is founded by 3 friends who have been buying IKEA for years. And increasingly, their apartments began to look too similar.

One day, they lamented that they would love it if their furniture was unique to them. This one comment started them down the path to create an online platform that would give IKEA furniture owners the ability to create fully customisable, unique furniture wraps for their IKEA furniture. 

And thus, Wrappyr.com was born.

waves furniture wrap

They researched the most popular IKEA pieces and got the exact measurements. To date, they cover the following ranges: MALM, BILLY, BESTÅ, LACK, MALM beds, PAX wardrobe system, cots, KALLAX, STUVA and selected IKEA wardrobes.

Then, they built an online editor that allowed anybody to edit, combine, upload or create their own unique designs for their IKEA furniture. There’s also a growing list of readymade themes to choose from.

malm furniture wrap

The enterprising trio decided that whoever built and bought a design from Wrappyr, they would ship the furniture wrap to them for free worldwide. Just so they can share the joy of customising mass produced furniture.

If you’re looking for an easy project to do this season, give Wrappyr a whirl. 

*This post is in partnership with wrappyr.com. All photos and opinions are my own.

The post Adding this furniture wrap to the MALM changed everything appeared first on IKEA Hackers.

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