Out of Office: My First Ikea Hack

There are a wealth of creative posts about how to DIY any IKEA item out there to make it look super custom and super expensive. And I love it.

I bought two IKEA Lack Side tables in a turquoise color when I first moved into my apartment to use as coffee tables. They have served me well, but I was getting bored with them and decided it was time for a change. Enter- the Ikea Lack Side Table Hack. There are many tutorials floating out there on the internet, from converting them to ottomans, to adding decorative trim or brass corners for a more campaign style, to adding nail head trim for a more sophisticated look. You wouldn't even guess that the two tables cost less than $20 for both! This was my inspiration, minus the nail head trim.

Here is a before picture of my tables and how I had used them as ~~dinner~~ coffee tables. The main focus of this pic was obvi my new couch, but you get the gist of how I used them.

Here are the steps I followed to create my new custom side table:

Step 1: Unscrew the legs to one of the side tables so that you have one of the tables in tact and just the top to the second table.

Step 2: Place the side table with the legs on top of the second table top and position how you want them. Lightly mark the outline of the legs so that you know where to position when it comes time to glue.

Step 3: Use the glue you have selected and place a small amount on all surfaces (the four legs and the four places on the top where the legs will be placed). Wait 5-10 minutes until the glue becomes tacky.

Step 4: Once the glue has become tacky, carefully line up the legs with your markings and press down on the top of the table. You can place some books on the top of the table in order to weigh down the table during the drying process if you want. Glue should be dried after about 2 hours.

Step 5: Style your new table as desired! I used some of my favorite coffee table books, a cute pottery barn, LOL tray, my favorite VOLCANO candle, and a gold tray to have somewhere appealing to keep remotes. Whats nice about this DIY is that now there is a space underneath the table to place a basket of my magazines.