Harold's Renovation Blog: How to use kitchen cabinets for small bedroom storage

Here comes one more hack from me. It’s my deco pink-coloured spare bedroom/ office. And I hope to inspire you with my small bedroom storage idea.

Maybe not the most advanced IKEA hack, but it shows one of many other ways you can use IKEA products for purposes other than what they were not meant for.

The IKEA METOD cabinets can be used for many other things besides normal kitchen use. And a quick and cheap way to change the look is by painting the doors.

The METOD series comes in many sizes. The top cabinets are not so deep, and was the perfect setup for this room.

By integrating the IKEA kitchen cabinets and painting them, they blended in nicely, and give the room a luxurious look, at low cost.

IKEA items used

METOD frame x 5
HÄGGEBY doors x 5

Other materials

Primer
Paint
Foam roller

How I use kitchen cabinets for small bedroom storage

I had a small room about 3 meters x 2 meters. At first, I placed a regular bed in this room, but then, there was no room for anything else.

As a spare room in my apartment I could not live with a solution that occupied a room, which was only occasionally used for guests. At the same time, I also needed an office. So I started brainstorming some ideas.

I came by some stackable box beds online. They are only 30cm in depth, and contain a 200cm x 80cm bed (regular single bed size). It gives 50cm floor space when in upright (closed) position. The set came with good hinges/ gas springs, which made opening and closing the bed an easy task.

(The box beds are made in Norway, from a company called Corcella. I’ve heard box beds are quite popular in some countries, due to city apartments being very expensive and you need to think smart to use the rooms in most functional and space saving ways.)

Fixing the angled wall

First problem I had to solve was shape of room. Due to an angled wall, I did not have 2 meters of wall available. So it was hard to attach the beds securely to the wall since there was a big gap, between the bed and wall. I built a new faux wall to even out the space and get a safe way to attach beds.

How to use kitchen cabinets for small bedroom storage

Then I secured the beds to the new wall.

Adding in kitchen cabinets for small bedroom storage

After finishing the construction of the wall, I had spare room on top of the beds, with a depth of 40 cm. Which was a perfect space for 5 METOD kitchen cabinets. How to use kitchen cabinets for small bedroom storage

I intend to use the cabinets for storage of seasonal clothes, etc.

I chose the plain white HÄGGEBY doors in simple white and white METOD frames.

How to use kitchen cabinets for small bedroom storage

To paint the kitchen cabinets, first I cleaned and dried them. Then, I rolled on a primer as a base coat so the top paint would not chip. After the primer has dried, I applied the finishing coat.

How to use kitchen cabinets for small bedroom storage

I’ve used the cabinets for a year now, and still no sign of the paint chipping. In other words, IKEA kitchen cabinet fronts can be painted if you put some primer on first. I used a foam rubber paint roller to get an almost perfect finish. It looks nearly original.