When it comes to home improvements & interior design on a budget, Ikea nails it most of the time. We love Ikea products because they are so versatile an easy to adjust or use in creative DIY projects. Problem is that almost everybody you know probably already own half of the furniture you do also, so the key in having a uniquely decorated house would be to DIY and improvise a lot. But that’s where all the fun is anyway.
Our latest project is actually something for my baby girl. She is at the age when she wants her own table, built to fit her size. She wants to get creative, play roles and just have fun while still feeling comfortable.
So we’ve bought the Ikea Latt set with a simple table and two wooden chairs for which we paid something around 20$, a real bargain I might say. Cheap & well made for a simple Ikea hack for kids.
Sophia’s room is not yet finished, but I knew from the start that I wanted the color palette to be something around white, peach and mint. This Ikea Latt set made of untreated pine wood was the perfect base for what I had in mind. an easy, affordable, hassle free project I could finish on my own.Ca-am decis astfel sa ii fac ceva personalizat dar in care sa nu investesc foarte multi bani si timp. Am mers pe varianta masuta de copii Ikea si am cautat cateva tutoriale pentru a gasi optiuni fiabile de a modifica acest set.
I knew I wanted something cool but yet feasible and versatile too. Something that if it would get destroyed quickly I wouldn’t be too upset about. And that’s a real scenario considering Sophia’s age.
What I used
- White water based paint + pigments
- adhesive band for masking
- upholstery stapler
- upholstery fabric + buttons
- foam for cushioning the seats beneath the upholstery
Steps to follow
- First, I upholstered the seats. Measured the board so that I’d know exactly where to drill in order to get that tufted look I wanted. To be sure the foam would stay in place while I work on it, I glued it down on the outline. I glued fabric on my buttons but if you want a perfect result, get the covered by a professional.
- I used masking tape for the chair and table legs when applying the white coats. After 2 coats of white, I removed the masking tape and placed it on the white part so I’d get a perfect line for the color touch. Two coats here as well, 6 hours apart.
- Then I just mounted everything together using a rubber hammer. It was pretty difficult with the seats because they where much thicker after I added that upholstery, but everything ended up really nice in the end.
As costs concerned, it all depends on what you already have at home. I had two old pillow that I cut open and used the foam and I also had the stapler from another project. The fabric cost about 10$ and the paint also around 9-10$. I bought pigments so that was cheaper than buying each color of paint. They were 2$ each. The buttons I already owned and I used a glue gun to cover them in the same fabric as the seats.
Basically the investment wasn’t much more than $25 plus the Ikea Latt set used for the kids table set hack.
I played with the basic colors I wanted her room to be in. The peach was more pink-ish just because I couldn’t find any splattered upholstery fabric that would pass the test of time with all those paint colors Sophia would use. But because the Ikea Latt set was so cheap, in the end it doesn’t really matter if she will destroy it.
The edges of the color changes were perfect because I took the time to add the masking tape perfectly. This is a very important step if you want a perfect paint job.
The whole project took a day max in total. I worked about 3 evenings because that’s when I had time. It could have taken less if I wouldn’t have needed to wait for the paint to dry:)
I am really happy how this Ikea hack Latt set turned out and I am thinking of a new project again.
What do you think? Would you try it?
Before After
