We Asked 4 DIYers for Their Fave IKEA Product — Here’s the Top Pick

IKEA hacks are a budget-saving way of life for DIYers. Experienced IKEA hackers don’t just see a BILLY bookcase — they see the foundation for an ornate, custom-worthy built-in. A MALM dresser isn’t a finished product; it’s just a starting point. And a KALLAX bookcase is one quick DIY away from a statement piece rather than a simple, modern open structure.

But there are some IKEA items that have gained icon status among the DIY community. They’re the best IKEA products for hacks, and DIYers use them creatively again and again, each one putting their own stamp on it.

“I love to use IKEA products in designing for function around our tiny rental. It is a low cost, and creative way to put my stamp on something in our home that improves our living space,” says Jacqueline Schowetsky, the DIYer behind @aurorabyjacqueline.

I asked for their favorite products to hack, and nearly every DIYer had a different answer. From coffee tables that turn into benches to simple shelving units that get a second life as built-in cabinetry, there are countless IKEA products that can be hacked. But only one got more than one vote (a testament to the versatility of IKEA!). Here’s that product, plus five others that made the IKEA hack hall of fame.

The Number One Product: KALLAX Shelf

The IKEA KALLAX shelf is a minimalist bookcase with open shelves on both sides, and it’s a favorite of DIYers looking for a solid base for a creative hack. You can’t beat the price, and you can usually find a shelf or two for sale on Facebook Marketplace if you want to drive the cost of your project down even further.

Don & Dandy Creative Studio hacked an IKEA KALLAX shelf into the most charming and colorful DIY cabinet, and it’s a product that they turn to again and again. “KALLAX is so versatile and you can turn it into many different ‘looks’ playing with shape, color, and size. It’s like a blank canvas!,” they say.

DIYer Jenn Lui echoed the sentiment, pointing to her impressive KALLAX hack that involved turning the simple bookcase into a cane bar cabinet with an attached wine cooler. “The cubes can easily be changed into a cabinet by adding doors to the front!,” says Lui.

The Runners-Up

BILLY Bookcase

While it was only pointed to by one of the DIYers I talked to, there’s little doubt that the BILLY bookcase is one of the most popular products for IKEA hacks. The simple bookcase is the right foundation for built-in looks and custom glow-ups.

DIYer Julia of Twenty Lot found a BILLY bookcase off Facebook Marketplace, making her hack even less expensive than if she’d bought the bookcase new at IKEA. “The options and creativity I’ve seen are limitless with this product. It was my first DIY/furniture makeover so I didn’t feel as ‘guilty” in case I messed up something. It was surprisingly an easy facelift and quite impactful,” says Julia.

LACK Coffee Table

The LACK coffee table has a minimalist basic look that’s just right for a DIY. But you might not think it’s the sturdiest furniture piece ever built — until you reinforce it and turn it into an item that can hold not only books and coffee but people. And that’s exactly what Schowetsky did.

“One of my favorite IKEA products is the LACK coffee table that I turned into a breakfast bench for the small dining area in our kitchen. This was designed to fit the aesthetic of the rest of the house and helped me to greatly improve the function of our home,” says Schowetsky.

MALM Dresser

The minimalist lines of the MALM dresser combined with its popularity as a college dorm purchase — and its subsequent prevalence on the secondhand market — make it one of the most popular IKEA items to hack. Chances are, if you find one of these dressers being sold for a song, it’s going to need some major structural and design help. And the DIYers are confident they can not only bring it back to life, but make it better.

Lui turned the MALM dresser into a chic, sleek dresser that has mid-century inspiration and a touch of modern glam. “The plain drawer fronts make them a great option for adding simple designs like fluting or rattan,” says Lui.

RAST Dresser

The RAST dresser has a major advantage over most other IKEA pieces when it comes to DIYs — it comes in unfinished pine and it’s solid wood. That means you’re not fighting the glossy MDF finish that makes painting and staining other IKEA products so difficult. This is practically designed to DIY.

“The RAST dresser is solid wood which allows for many DIY options! You can easily add details to the drawer fronts, cut down different sections, and paint over easily,” says Lui. She turned her RAST dresser into a stylish nightstand with an open drawer and fluted detail.

HAVSTA Cabinet

The HAVSTA series has solid wood living room cabinetry that looks nice on its own, but that also makes it an easy hack since DIYers only need to change the look of the cabinetry, not the structure itself. 

All you have to do is add hardware and paint, and you have a look that appears to be custom cabinetry. Julia of Twenty Lot explains, “I used the HAVSTA system to hack the built-in look, and I feel like this product was made for just that! It already included the foundations, so I feel like all the “upcycling” was purely aesthetic, which was great!”

Further Reading

We Tested (and Rated!) Every Sofa at West Elm — Here Are the Best for Every Type of Need

I Just Discovered the Smartest Way to Store Paper Towels in Your Kitchen (It’s a Game-Changer!)

We Tested (and Rated!) All the Sofas at Pottery Barn — Here Are the Best for Every Type of Need