We love this hack on the most vin ordinaire of Ikea beds by stylist Meta Coleman in her home in Provo, Utah: paint it PLAID. It made us realize that the plain white Ikea Malm Bedframe is really a nice blank palette with many possibilities…
Ikea’s description says that this particle board bed is “printed and embossed acrylic paint”. All our research advises to prime the surfaces first, but we’d try a patch unprimed….just to see. (A lot of people have successfully painted Ikea’s MALM, so there’s ample info on the internet.) This diy diva painted a twin MALM bed a swell shiny gray bed; she gives her technique here.
ikea.com
As for plaiding, here are a few tips:
—Dilute the paint if you want thin, light stripes.
—Decide on the size of your squares and mark off the horizontal lines with a chalk line. Paint on the horizontal lines first. To get the effect of fabric, drag the stiff bristle brush through the wet paint. More info here.
A Cup of Jo
But that blank palette bed makes us imagine other designs…
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3 replies on “That Plain Ikea Bed is a Canvas You Can Paint”
I don’t use Ikea furniture or furnishings but I love seeing what people do with them. This is particularly inventive. I can see someone copying a Van Gogh on the headboard (his room in Arles, perhaps, or Starry Night?) or even an 18th-century landscape. Those could be so beautiful to sleep under.
I’m so excited to try this, this week! We have an Ikea bed which I loathe, and we’re stuck with it for at least a few more months until I can get the time/resources together to build my own. Spiffing it up a little in the meantime seems such a nice way to personalize it and add some fun to our otherwise very neutral bedroom 🙂
Yeah, it has huge possibilities. Miro-like cut-outs?
I don’t use Ikea furniture or furnishings but I love seeing what people do with them. This is particularly inventive. I can see someone copying a Van Gogh on the headboard (his room in Arles, perhaps, or Starry Night?) or even an 18th-century landscape. Those could be so beautiful to sleep under.
I’m so excited to try this, this week! We have an Ikea bed which I loathe, and we’re stuck with it for at least a few more months until I can get the time/resources together to build my own. Spiffing it up a little in the meantime seems such a nice way to personalize it and add some fun to our otherwise very neutral bedroom 🙂
Yeah, it has huge possibilities. Miro-like cut-outs?