Ikea Besta Hacks: Upgrade Your Home on a Budget
Transform your living space without breaking the bank! These ingenious Ikea Besta hacks demonstrate that you don’t have to sacrifice style for affordability. The Ikea Besta system is incredibly versatile, and with a little creativity, you can customize it to perfectly fit your needs and aesthetic.
Are you a fan of Ikea’s Besta furniture line but crave a more personalized and unique touch? You’re in the right place! We’ve curated a collection of the most inspiring Ikea Besta hacks that will help you transform these adaptable storage units into functional and stylish pieces tailored to your individual taste.
We have a long-standing love affair with Ikea hacks, especially those involving the Besta cabinet. We’ve incorporated Besta units into numerous home renovations, including our rental apartment, townhouse, lakeside home, and most recently, our charming cottage house. The Besta’s modular design makes it incredibly adaptable to different spaces and styles.
From sleek and modern media consoles to elegant and practical sideboards, discover how you can customize and repurpose Ikea Besta furniture to maximize storage and add a personal flair to your living space. The possibilities are truly endless, limited only by your imagination!
Table of Contents
- Color Block Besta Storage
- Rattan Besta Ikea TV Stand Hack
- Floating Credenza Ikea Hack
- Retro Sideboard
- Faux Built-in Storage to Keep Organized
- Add a Toe Kick to the Besta Cabinet
- Besta Window Seat
- Fluted Sideboard
- Reclaimed Wood Buffet
- Built-In Entertainment System
- Ikea Besta Office Desk
- Montessori Toddler Wardrobe
- Custom Banquette with Seat Storage
- Simple Handle Free Floating Credenza
- Build a Birch Plywood Frame
- Mid Century Starbust Cabinet
- DIY Litter Box
- Kids Corner Desk with Shelving
- Custom TV Cabinet with Contrasting Extension
- Customized Add-Ons That You Can Buy
- Furniture Overlays
- Angled Wooden Legs
- Industrial Metal Legs
- Prefabricated Fronts, Panels, and Hardware
- More Ikea Hacks to Try
- DIY Ikea Play Kitchen Hacks to Make it One-of-a-Kind
- 16 Genius Ikea Desk Hacks You Need In Your Life
- 22 Home Office Ideas that Promote Productivity & Creativity
- 15 Entryway Storage Ideas to Tame Your Cluttered Chaos
22 Inspiring Ikea Besta Hacks
1 — Color Block Besta Storage
One of the simplest and most effective ways to customize your Besta units is with a splash of color. As we did with our DIY color block storage cabinets, simply spray paint the cabinet doors in your favorite hues. This is a fantastic way to inject personality and vibrancy into your space. Tip: For a flawless finish, spray paint the door panels before attaching them to the frame.
2 — Rattan Besta Ikea TV Stand Hack
Embrace the rattan furniture trend by transforming your Ikea Besta units into stylish cane decor. This DIY rattan TV unit combines Besta cabinets with Sindvik doors, which are then covered with woven grass wallpaper, creating a textured and visually appealing piece.
3 — Floating Credenza Ikea Hack
The Besta cabinet’s versatility extends to its ability to be transformed into a floating cabinet using a Besta suspension rail. Simply attach the rail to the wall studs and hang the frame as demonstrated in this DIY floating credenza. To further customize it, add a sanded and stained wood panel countertop for a touch of elegance.
4 — Retro Sideboard
While the Ikea Besta boasts a minimalist and modern aesthetic, it can easily be given a vintage makeover. Follow this DIY retro sideboard tutorial to learn how to add brass door knockers as pulls and additional wood legs, instantly transforming your Besta into a stylish retro piece.
5 — Faux Built-in Storage to Keep Organized
Built-in storage can be incredibly expensive, but thankfully, the same look can be achieved using Ikea cabinets. Our kids’ playroom features Ikea Besta cabinets as the base of the built-in, with Kallax shelves stacked on top to create drawer inserts and additional storage space.
6 — Add a Toe Kick to the Besta Cabinet
Elevate your IKEA Besta cabinet customization game with a simple yet impactful addition – the toe kick. Toe kicks cover the gap between the floor and the base cabinets. By introducing a toe kick to your Besta cabinet, you’re not only enhancing its aesthetics but also adding a touch of functionality and polished design.
So even the smallest details can make a significant difference in your interior space. We included a toe kick in both our lakeside living room makeover and our townhouse makeover. Our home office makeover also was fitted with wall to wall Besta cabinets with a toe kick for added height.
7 — Besta Window Seat
This DIY window seat is constructed from the Ikea Besta TV unit. It serves as not only extra seating but as a storage unit. Honestly, all that needed to be done to call this a window seat was to place a large cushion on top! Easy, right?!?
8 — Fluted Sideboard
Fluted furniture has made a huge comeback. This DIY fluted Ikea Besta sideboard tutorials shows you how to replicate the design by using round moulding. Complete the look with a glass top. It’s optional but we really think this finishing touch makes the piece look even more high-end. Plus, Ikea has different affordable pre-cut glass top options, specifically cut for the Besta.
9 — Reclaimed Wood Buffet
This DIY reclaimed wood buffet combines modern functionality with rustic charm. It’s a unique scrap wood project idea. Simply screw wood panels over the Besta door fronts. This particular buffet utilizes timber wood from discarded pallets. Then, stain the fronts for a weathered reclaimed look.
10 — Built-In Entertainment System
Ikea is well aware of all the cabinet hacks. So they launched the Besta Storage Planner for home owners to create 3D mockups of the Besta storage system. This makes designing a custom DIY built-in entertainment system an easy task!
11 — Ikea Besta Office Desk
One of our favorite Ikea desk hacks is this DIY office desk that allows for 2 workstations that hide your electronic cords. If your home office is only for 1, all this extra space is great for a crafting area too.
12 — Montessori Toddler Wardrobe
This Besta Ikea hack merges the principles of Montessori philosophy with creative IKEA hacking to craft a wardrobe that empowers your toddler while maintaining a sense of style and practicality. This versatile idea also functions as a diaper changing station.
13 — Custom Banquette with Seat Storage
Maximize your space with a dining room DIY Besta bench with clever seat storage. This innovative design project only costs $300. It’s perfect if you’re lacking kitchen storage.
14 — Simple Handle Free Floating Credenza
If minimal is your style, fit your Ikea Besta doors with soft closing/push-open hinge to avoid needed door handles. Another easy hack is to simply paint the unit as seen with this Besta DIY credenza. Hanging a shelf write on top makes it appear as if it is a part of the cabinet.
15 — Build a Birch Plywood Frame
We love this idea of building out a frame for your Besta unit to even include legs and open side storage channels.
16 — Mid Century Starbust Cabinet
Don’t be afraid to paint a fun design. This Ikea hack brings a touch of mid century modern with its starburst pattern, created by a lot of sanding, priming, tape and paint.
17 — DIY Litter Box
Probably one of the most unique hacks is turning the Besta into a pretty kitty litter box. We even seen some retrofitted with a side door for your furbaby to access. We constructed our own litter box, but we love how this idea completely hides the box.
18 — Kids Corner Desk with Shelving
Transform your child’s workspace with this clever Ikea Besta corner desk hack that maximizes storage and function in one stylish setup. Using off-the-shelf BESTA units as the base, this DIY project creates a smooth, spacious desktop perfect for homework or crafts. The result is a customized, space-saving workstation that looks clean, modern, and perfectly scaled for kids.
19 — Custom TV Cabinet with Contrasting Extension
This custom TV cabinet is a stunning Ikea hack that combines sleek design with DIY creativity. This project transforms 2 Besta cabinets and contrasting pine planks into a modern floating media unit with a bar-like extension. Finished with mitered corners and coated in hard wax for a polished look, it’s a budget-friendly way to achieve a bespoke, designer-style entertainment center.
Customized Add-Ons That You Can Buy
Take the guesswork out of customizing your Ikea Besta furniture with these readily available add-ons.
1 — Furniture Overlays
The easiest way to revamp the Besta unit is to apply an overlay. These decorative wood panels are handcrafted from 100% natural oak veneer. Choose from different finishes such as walnut, natural oak, ebony and more. The best feature is that this is simply a peel and stick application.
2 — Angled Wooden Legs
Upgrade your Besta with angled wooden legs. There are so many lengths, color and finish options to suit any preference. The legs work with other Ikea furniture and most sofas, cabinets, TV-units, side desks, and more (as long as they have built-in hanger nuts).
3 — Industrial Metal Legs
For a more modern and industrial look, opt for metal legs. We love how these particular ones are adjustable, allowing you to customize the height of your Besta unit.
4 — Prefabricated Fronts, Panels, and Hardware
Consider purchasing prefabricated fronts, panels, and hardware from specialty shops to create a truly unique and customized Ikea Besta piece.
More Ikea Hacks to Try
Ikea furniture is a blank canvas brimming with potential. For more Ikea hacks, check out some of our favorite DIY’s below —
- DIY Vanity Ikea Hack: Create a floating vanity with Ikea’s Eket cabinets.
- Kids Activity Table: Perfect for storing art supplies, LEGOs, toys and more.
- DIY Wood Headboard: Turn the classic Malm into a rustic bed.
- Distressed DIY Shelves: Showing you how to give those Ikea shelves a distressed weathered look.
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