This Simple IKEA Hack Turns a Plain Wood Cabinet Into a Gorgeous, Retro-Inspired Party

The best IKEA pieces to hack are often the ones that are so basic and bare bones, they can be taken in almost any direction, style, color, or theme. IKEA’s IVAR cabinet is the perfect example — plain, solid wood, and totally ready for a redo. Interior designer Melanie Lissack had just the plan: turn this simple pine cabinet into a super chic, retro-inspired bar cabinet. 

Melanie had spotted a few similar mint green bar cabinets at retailers like Anthropologie and John Lewis, but couldn’t justify paying such a high price for an accent piece. Instead, she decided to DIY one, using IKEA’s IVAR cabinet as the base. 

Because the plain cabinet was lacking in any kind of detail, Melanie cut a few curved pieces of MDF to affix to the front of the doors with wood glue, then primed and painted the whole piece a funky retro-inspired green (The Little Greene Paint Company’s Green Vertider).

Inside, she installed a few LOTS mirror tiles — another IKEA find — to the back of the cabinet for some glamour. The cabinet had two shelves already, but Melanie built some additional racks from which champagne flutes can be stored upside-down.

A couple of gold knobs and legs completed the piece. The new bar cabinet keeps glassware, drinks and accessories out of sight, while giving guests something stunning to look at instead. Melanie hasn’t grown tired of looking at it either. “It’s a stylish and functional piece of furniture and cost me a fraction of what I would have paid for one on High Street,” she said on her blog, where she breaks down the whole how-to. Cheers to that!

This post originally ran on Apartment Therapy. See it there: This IKEA Hack Turns a Plain Wood Cabinet into Retro-Inspired Party