IKEA IVAR Hack

At some point, procrastination should be embarassing, right? I mean, this really was sitting on my workbench for over a year. It was mostly finished, I just had to paint and add the pulls. When I moved it into my new workshop in that same condition, I realized I really needed to put this puppy to bed. So I quickly got it done during the same painting swoop as my hallway console. I was finally going to post it.

And yet, here we are. I took these pics before I put together my hallway. This poor guy just can’t get any love.

So without any further ado… my IVAR hack.

The IVAR isn’t the most hacked piece. It is a blank slate of solid wood, but my guess is the price makes it less appealing than the ever-popular Rast. I’ve seen some awesome built-ins using IVAR, but I wanted to do a standalone piece.

Supplies

• IVAR Cabinet, assembled
• 3″ craft circles
• 3/4″ door stop for trim
• Wood Glue
• 1″ dowel – 4 @ 37 3/8″, 4 @ 9″, 4 @ 4 1/4″
• 1 1/2″ pocket hole screws

Steps (kinda!)

1. I purchased 3″ craft circles, like these here. So that they would be thick enough, I glued two together, placing them under weights until they were dry. I spackled and sanded around the edge to make them appear as one piece. Once dry, i glued them to the middle of each door.
   
2. I received some free trim pieces that I thought would work well for this. They are 3/4″ stop molding, like this here. I outlined each door and side, then laid, marked, and cut the Xs. I attached with Gorilla Wood Glue and my nailer.
   
3. Once assembled, I spackled to fill in around where trim pieces meet circles and clean up any gaps.
   
4. The bottom is made of 1″ dowels, attached with 1 1/2″ pocket hole screws. I made two rectangles using the 37 3/8″ and 9″ dowels. I then attached the two rectangles together with the 4″ vertical pieces. I attached the base with screws from inside the cabinet and into the dowels.

The Pulls

And then for the pulls! There are a lot of round ring pulls out there, but I wanted something that would be perfectly round to fit evenly in the circles. Now, I ordered these things back in 2017. And I could not, for the life of me find them again. And then, lo and behold, I found my order confirmation email 😉 (and my husband wonders why I don’t clean out my email!) Of course, they don’t have them at the same store anymore, but I was able to find them here at Vandyke’s. I sprayed them with my favorite gold spray paint: Rustoleum Metallic Gold. (don’t be afraid of how shiny the cap it is – this paint is beautiful!)

If these aren’t your speed, I’ve no doubt you can find some that are. Here’s a search to get you started: Ring Pulls on Amazon.

The Paint

This piece is painted in the same color I used on my Hallway Console Rast Hack. It’s halfway between SW 9136 Lullaby and 9137 Niebla Azul.

Shop The Look

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FINALLY got this one out to you guys! I apologize if my directions are murky… it’s been a while!

P.S. This mirror goes out of stock often. Just sign up for an in-stock alert, then grab it when you can!

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