A few weeks ago I read this awesome Ikea Hack post by Dreieckchen where one of the girls tells us all about building a bar from an Ikea trolley. I got so excited about it, and honestly I am not a DIY kinda girl in real life ;-), that I decided to turn the Ikea cupboard (Kallax), we planned on buying anyway, into a bar. This blog is not about DIY posts, but it’s about our lifestyle and this is one of the stories where one of us found some inspiration on another blog and just did it. Also I like to share with you the fact that you don’t have to be overly talented to build yourself something exciting. Just do it!

We got pretty much everything we needed from Ikea and our local construction market. We paid just around 100€ which I think is pretty cheap for a bar cupboard.

What you need

-a cupboard of your choice (Ikea’s Kallax it was for me)
-metal glass rack holder
-LED lights
-metal angle connectors (in case of Kallax)

LED lights with changing colors

metal angle connectors, screws, nuts and bolts

glass rack holders

Tools

-bolts and nuts
-screws
-hammer
-level
-screwdriver

The simple way to turn Kallax into a bar

It’s so easy. We bought the cupboard in white, so we didn’t have to do anything with paint. So build your piece of furniture. In case of Ikea use the manual 😉

After it’s built choose where to put the glass holders and use the level to get them even. We had to get angle connectors from the construction store because the glass holders are designed for kitchen cupboards which are much deeper than Kallax. Always check the measures out before you start.

We even got them in white which is perfect. You also get them in regular metal or black. If you need another color just buy the white ones and spray them. I guess that works perfectly.

As I am a big fan of lights, especially indirect one, I love LEDs and what you make with them. You get them in so many different designs, shapes and sizes that you can install light pretty much everywhere you like. And they don’t need much energy. That’s a plus.

We got those light changing LED sticks from Ikea and installed them after we positioned the glass holders. They are made to be put into furniture so it’s absolutely save to use them. And the best thing is you get little glue pads with them so there is no complicated installation needed. There are easy and stainless to remove. Just in case that’s necessary.

So that’s it – our little bar cupboard I am very proud of. It just feels so good to something yourself and not just buy something. The four shelf compartments under the bar compartments are designated for all the books I read for #artbookfriday. That’s why we needed the cupboard in the first place to be honest. I just ran out of space during the last month and this is the only affordable piece of furniture which is perfect even for the biggest art books I know and own.

Of course I also bought some stuff I didn’t plan on buying at Ikea. You know that one I am sure. On the other hand we needed some decorations to go on top of the new cupboard anyway. Oh well and that’s me on the right wearing my guilty Ikea face 😉

Who can go into an Ikea and not buy decorations and candles?

Me and my guilty face wearing my new dress by Trinkhallen Schickeria.