5 IKEA Nightstand Hacks You Shouldn’t Sleep On

If you want more storage in your bedroom beyond your dresser, the nightstand is the place to make it happen. The problem is, they can be sneakily expensive. The Componibili by Kartell that Domino editors know and love, for instance, is $345, while designer-made pieces, such as McGee & Co.’s Huxton nightstand, land you in the $1,200 range. Like anything else, when our first few ideas all come in way over budget, we turn to IKEA and ask ourselves: What has hacking potential? Turns out, a lot of the brand’s simple nightstands can be transformed into something luxe-looking with a little imagination. Here are a few of our favorite IKEA nightstand hacks that are like something out of a dream. 

The Fluted IKEA Rast Nightstand Hack

Instead of investing in a traditional nightstand for her daughter’s bedroom, blogger Ryia Jose turned a small IKEA Rast dresser into the exact piece she needed for a total of $75. Ditching one of the drawers to make way for an open shelf, Jose then clad the whole thing in fluted molding. To fill in any small gaps between the pieces of reeded trim, she filled the spaces with a bit of caulk and then painted the whole thing in Mount Etna by Sherwin-Williams.

The Woven IKEA Nordiska Nightstand Hack

Lita Lee’s dream nightstand was the Anderson side table by Amber Lewis: It has a stained oak finish, carved drawer pulls, and a rope cord shelf. The issue? It costs a cool $4,500. So Lee went the DIY route, combining the Nordkisa nightstand and a generous amount of hemp string to weave her own version. 

The Retro IKEA Malm Nightstand Hack

After seeing how contact paper could transform something as major as ugly kitchen countertops, Overice founder Meijun Li thought: Why couldn’t it do the same for a basic Malm nightstand? The project only cost her around $50, but it took five hours to cut the corners of each drawer with a hacksaw and round the edges with sandpaper before carefully cutting two blue ovals for the drawers.

The IKEA Glattis Tray–Turned–Nightstand Hack

In need of a thin, low-profile nightstand to fit in the tiny nook next to his bed, designer Malcolm Simmons built a sleek one by attaching a marble lazy Susan and IKEA Glattis tray to a 30-inch-long iron pipe and balancing them with a marble utensil-holder base.

The Antique-Inspired IKEA Hemnes Nightstand Hack

While the bones of this two-drawer piece are the same as where they started, the doors gained a chic addition in the form of pine chair rail molding. Cutting the trim requires miter shears, but beyond that, twin sisters Sara and Melissa used the obvious: primer, paint, wood glue, and brass knobs.

The Scalloped IKEA Hemnes Side Table Hack

After removing the bottom shelf from the Hemnes nightstand, Jen Brake of Half Painted House primed it with Zinsser BIN (it’s the best base layer for laminated furniture), painted it pink to match the wainscoting, swapped out the drawer knob ,and tacked on pre-made scallop edging from Nook.