Of all the Ikea products we feature for Ikea hacks I think the Ivar cabinet is our absolute favourite. It’s just a wooden box with a door. Perfect! So many opportunities!
There are loads of great Ikea Ivar hacks and we’ve had to condense a massive list down to these select few. That does mean, though, that these Ikea Ivar hacks are really good!
It’s so much fun having a completely blank canvas like the Ivar cabinet and the possibilities are endless. The following Ikea Ivar hacks demonstrate the versatility of this cabinet.
Don’t forget to save ideas that you love to Pinterest!
Let’s dive in and check out these stunning Ikea Ivar hacks.
This post may contain affiliate links. See my full disclosure here for more info.
Bold Arched Wardrobe Brightens Living Room
This vibrant orange arched wardrobe instantly grabs attention with its unique silhouette and rich, glossy finish. It transforms a simple Ikea ivar unit into a bold, artistic statement piece that anchors the entire room.
The black-and-white striped wall behind emphasizes the orange hue even more, creating an eye-popping contrast. Soft pink curtains and natural wood flooring balance the space, adding warm, inviting vibes inspired by @hannah_drakeford_design.
This setup shows how easy it is to inject personality into classic Ikea ivar hacks & ideas through color and form.
Bold 3D Dots Bring Ivar To Life
Who says storage has to be boring? This dark brown IKEA IVAR cabinet gets a whole new vibe with those playful 3D wooden dots covering every surface, turning storage into a sculptural centerpiece. It’s not just a cabinet; it’s a conversation starter that adds texture and depth.
Painted a rich mocha brown, the dots pop just enough to catch the light and create shadow, injecting serious personality into any room. Inspired by @eilandhuisjevanhetnoorden, this creative twist shows how simple shape repetition transforms plain furniture into quirky art.
Try swapping dot sizes or colors for a similarly fun effect that matches your own style.
Modern Minimalist Meets Rustic Charm
This dusty rose cabinet nails the balance between edgy and understated. The standout detail is those vertical ridges on the doors, giving it a custom, architectural vibe.
The warm matte finish sits beautifully against the soft taupe wall, making it feel both cozy and chic. Add quirky decor atop and mix personal photos for a lively, lived-in touch.
For a fresh take on storage, this idea from @eilandhuisjevanhetnoorden proves simple tweaks pack serious style.
Vibrant Cabinet Colors Brighten Playroom Corners
The deep mauve paint on this Ivar cabinet adds a refreshing pop of color against the soft pink flamingo wallpaper. It’s a lively twist that turns a simple storage piece into a standout feature.
Notice how the natural wood sides peek through, keeping the look grounded and warm. The addition of patterned knobs and a small wooden rack for hanging clothes brings in playful, functional details.
Created by @living_with_li, this setup mixes charm and practicality effortlessly.
Chic Blue Cabinet With Textured Doors
This muted blue cabinet flaunts charming corrugated doors that transform basic storage into a statement piece. The cream top adds a smooth contrast, making it perfect for any room needing a splash of character.
The piece clearly swears by the Ikea Ivar system, reinvented with handcrafted door cladding that plays with texture beautifully. Pair it with simple accessories like a playful vase or minimalistic chair to keep the look light and inviting.
Check out how @maiju_saw breathes life into classic Ikea ivar hacks & ideas with this ingenious rework.
Soft Pink Storage With A Bold Backdrop
There’s something charming about pairing a dusty pink cabinet against a deep navy wall that just works so well. This Ikea Ivar piece has been given a beautiful makeover, with smooth pastel paint and clean matte gold knobs adding a soft touch of elegance.
The swap to black legs lifts the cabinet off the floor for a sleek, modern feel while keeping it grounded in style. Add in vibrant vases and quirky figures like this chic gold giraffe, and the space bursts with personality and warmth. @interikleur nails this balanced, inviting look perfectly.
It’s a lovely way to bring color and sophistication into any corner without overdoing it.
Rustic Floating Cabinet With Warm Woodgrain
This floating cabinet is a brilliant Ikea ivar hack & ideas example that proves minimalism doesn’t have to be cold or boring. The woodgrain stain brings rich, cozy vibes to a space painted in muted olive green, making it feel earthy and inviting.
The sturdy paneling behind it creates texture and depth, complementing the dark cabinetry perfectly. Small tweaks like removing cabinet legs and mounting on the wall add modern flair while maximizing floor space, a smart move everyone should try.
Candlelight and florals add warmth, making this practical storage both stylish and comfy.@mungatorpen
Rustic Texture Transforms Ikea Ivar Cabinet
This earthy Ikea Ivar cabinet takes natural texture to a whole new level. The wood grain effect, enhanced with a hand-sculpted look on the door handles and surface, adds warmth and character that feels truly organic.
Decorative candlesticks with a rough, bark-like finish tie in perfectly with the cabinet’s texture, bringing a cozy, forest vibe to the room. The addition of sculptural art and dried florals by @sachaknight complements the earthy color palette brilliantly.
This is a flawless blend of nature-inspired style and practical storage that inspires you to rethink plain Ikea furniture.
Scalloped Painted Cabinets Elevate Storage
This room puts a fresh spin on Ikea Ivar hacks & ideas by blending natural pine with a muted gray scallop design on the cabinet doors. It’s a playful yet chic way to add personality without overwhelming the space.
The upper cabinets feature a unique perforated cane insert that brings texture and a subtle vintage vibe to the storage. Mixing materials like wood and cane creates a light, airy feel that balances beautifully with the deep green walls.
The charming styling and pastel accents by @miss_sophie_und_mama makes this a sweet, practical idea for kids’ rooms or cozy nooks.
Bold Black Frame Shelves Organize Everything
The standout feature here is the black metal frame paired with natural wood shelves, giving the classic Ikea Ivar a fresh, industrial vibe. This combo creates a sturdy, stylish base that holds a mix of kitchen essentials, perfectly balancing function with aesthetic.
The open shelving makes it easy to find plates, bowls, and even coffee gear, while the wood surfaces add warmth against the sleek black frame. This customizable layout allows for creative storage that fits your space and style, like the little veggie terracotta pot up top adding charm.
It’s a smart, affordable way to upgrade your kitchen storage that feels both inviting and purposeful, inspired by @akidfromkibble.
Ikea Ivar Cabinet with Cane Covered Door
This is such a good Ikea Ivar hack to start on. Cane is a really popular material right now due to it’s association with a bohemian look. This hack from Hunker uses cane beautifully to upgrade the Ivar cabinet.
They have cut out a section in the centre of the doors to accommodate the cane webbing and then added some stylish hairpin legs underneath to raise the unit up a bit.
We’d definitely have this piece of furniture in our house!
Naked Ikea Ivar Cabinets
We love minimal effort in an Ikea hack unless necessary and these gorgeous Ivar cabinets by Josel.Chen on Instagram look stunning!
They have added some angled wooden legs underneath to transform the cabinets into a proper piece of bedroom furniture. It’s surprising how much of a difference the short legs make.
It’s simply a celebration of wood and why not!?
Bright and Glamorous Ikea Ivar Drinks Cabinet Hack
Wow! What a change from the previous Ivar hack! This amazing drinks cabinet hack from Melanie Lissack Interiors really packs a punch in terms of colour.
Turning the Ivar into a drinks cabinet is inspired and just demonstrates it’s versatility. The combination of the turquoise and brass is brilliant.
The scalloped pattern added to the front of the doors just brings a little bit of interest to the look.
Neon Pop Ivar Cabinet Hack
If you are after another minimal effort Ikea Ivar hack, then this naked cabinet with neon legs from Make It Yours might be just what you need.
They have simply added some staircase spindles to the bottom of the Ivar cabinet and painted them neon pink.
We love a pop of colour, especially when it’s bright and fun like this!
Elegant Ikea Ivar Sideboard Hack
It’s all about the legs with this gorgeous Ivar sideboard featured on Pretty Pegs. The legs are from Pretty Pegs, who make products specially designed for Ikea furniture.
The exaggerated height of the legs give this sideboard some real presence and elegance. The added texture on the doors is a great touch.
They have created the ridged pattern on the doors by routing the original Ivar doors, so this hack involves a little more work than some of the others. Although you could get a carpenter to do it for you!
Bank of Ikea Ivar Wall Units
A great way to upgrade your Ivar cabinets and make it seem like they are an integral part of the room is to paint them the same colour as the room.
This bank of cabinets from PaulSvera does just that. The fact that they have used as many cabinets as they could fit on a wall helps them blend in.
The Ikea Ivar cabinet gives this wonderful geometric quality when stacked up like this which we love. So much better than floor to ceiling doors that are just a flat surface all the way up.
Scallop Decorated Ivar Cabinet
This seems a fairly standard Ikea Ivar hack from Rum Hemma, with some round peg legs added to the base, until you see the finishing touches that are added to the front!
We love this scalloped pattern which seems a little painstaking to create, but worth it!
This highlights the best thing about the Ikea Ivar cabinet: the customisable door surfaces! We will see a few more examples of original ways to make the doors stand out.
Retro Ikea Ivar Paint Job
We love this retro paint job on an Ikea Ivar cabinet from Styled By Naomi.
We have just been talking about the possibilities available when thinking of painting the doors on an Ivar cabinet and this is a great example.
The colour block rays of paint against the stained wood is just stunning. The mini hairpin legs add the perfect finishing touch.
Ikea Ivar Artwork
Just to drum home the point about customising the front of the Ivar cabinet, this brilliantly creative Ivar hack from Ikea makes a strong impact in the room.
It’s fun to think of all the possibilities with some paint and a brush. The Ivar effectively can become a blank canvas for you to create your artwork.
At the same time, it provides loads of storage space!
Ribbed Ikea Ivar Cabinet Hack
It’s not just paint that you can use to update the Ivar doors, although this hack from An Interior Affair does involve painting everything!
They have added some half dowels to the fronts of the doors to give a ribbed effect and have totally transformed the look of the cabinet.
A little bit of simple styling on top and the look is complete!
Glamorous Black Ikea Ivar Sideboard Hack
Another Pretty Pegs Ivar hack, this time with some ribbed panels added to the doors.
We love these black and gold legs that raise the sideboard up quite high. The whole look is very glamorous and would look great in any setting.
Who needs to spend several hundreds on a high end piece of furniture when you can do this!?
Gold Inlay Ikea Ivar Sideboard
You don’t have to be a master craftsman to do a gold inlay effect such as that seen on this great Ikea Ivar hack from Paulsvera. All you need is some gold tape.
This is such a great effect against the wood and really elevates the look of the sideboard.
The added black and gold legs are a great touch to really complete the look.
Dark Ivar Cabinets with Leather Pulls
We haven’t talked about handles for these Ikea Ivar hacks yet and this dark Ivar hack from Livet Hemma has the perfect examples.
These leather strap pulls are so simple, yet elegant and they are available from Ikea so you don’t even have to shop around!
They work so well against the dark cabinets but would also look great against any number of finishes.
Mountain Range Kids Ikea Ivar Hack
This stunning mountain range paint effect on Ikea Ivar cabinets by kotirakkaudelle on Instagram is a great way to hack the Ivar.
It is perfect for a kids room and provides some simple, Scandi style storage with a fun, yet stylish finish.
This is easy to do with a bit of masking tape.
Cane Ikea Ivar TV Cabinet Hack
Another cane based Ikea Ivar hack, this time as part of a TV unit from Make It Boho.
The use of the cane on a TV unit is a great idea so that remote controls can still work!
We love the curved cut outs in the doors for the cane to add a bit of interesting form. The styling around the cabinet is spot on too!
The Ikea Ivar is a great piece of furniture and one of an Ikea hackers biggest assets. There is so much you can do with it, just grab one and start playing with ideas!
Hopefully we’ve given you plenty of inspiration to carry out your own Ikea Ivar hack.
If you come up with an Ivar hack that’s completely different, we’d love to see it!
Enjoy your Ivar hacking!