Ikea Hack Vittsjo Shelving {spray paint + wood shelving}

Who loves Ikea? I do! We are fortunate to have a new store about an hour from our house, just south of Boston. I don’t get there as much as you would think, considering we live so close but I did make a trip last fall to pick up a set of black Vittsjo shelving units for the playroom. What do I love about Ikea? Most of their items are inexpensive and excellent quality. I never feel bad about modifying anything from Ikea.

We needed a small shelving unit on either side of our fireplace in in the playroom and these shelves were perfect but they were the wrong color and had glass shelving.

I removed the glass shelves and spray painted 2 coats of gold Rust-oleum.

I picked a windy day to get these sprayed and I remember thinking, “why am I doing this right now?”

Once they were sprayed, I let them dry a couple hours in between coats. Two coats did the job. Once I removed the glass shelving, I custom cut pieces of 1/4″ plywood to create new shelves. I used the same measurements as the glass inserts. I decided to paint them the same color as the walls in the playroom to help create a cohesive look.

Nothing fancy and I was lucky, we had a large piece of plywood left over from a previous projects so my new shelves were free!

After two coats of paint on the top, sides and bottom, my new wooden shelves were finished.

They are perfect for books, games and other smaller items that you would find in a playroom.

In my opinion, glass is not appropriate in a playroom especially when there are usually 2 or 3 eight year olds in there at a time creating chaos. The wooden shelves were a perfect solution. The Ikea Vittsjo shelving units are only $49 a each. So for the cost of the metal shelves and spray paint, I was able to add functional storage that is designer friendly. I am hoping to share the entire room soon with the new shelving and a few new accessories. You should see what the room looks like behind these pictures! A mess!!!