Photo by Infectious Stitches
There’s a reason crafter are drawn to IKEA to organize their workspaces: the simple design, clean lines, and clean solid colors helps us stay organized and lets our materials to be the stars of the craft room.
A well functioning studio space is about the balance between storage and functional work surfaces. Check out these clever hacks for off-the-shelf IKEA furniture to take your craft room to the next level.
And good news! IKEA now has flat rate shipping ($9.99 for small items and just $39.99 for furniture, even a large order that includes many large boxes). That means there’s no need to wait until you can find a day to head to the store.
RASKOG + SKANDIS Becomes an AWESOME Sewing Cart with Ruler Storage
Photo by Infectious Stitches
Emmely at Infectious Stitches brilliantly combined two beloved IKEA products, the ubiquitous RASKOG cart and the SKANDIS peg board into one amazing piece that, among other things, stores her cutting rulers. Clear instructional photos are on her blog showing you all the parts you need to make this hack.
KALLAX into Sewing Machine Storage and Window Seat
Photo by Sarah Khandjian
Sarah Khandjian put otherwise wasted space under a window to good use with a KALLAX 4-cube shelf unit lying on its side. Many sewing machines fit right into those cubbies, which is just what Sarah did with hers. She added charming legs from the home improvement store to her KALLAX.
Photo by Mommy Vignettes
You could use the top for more storage like Sarah did, or make it a window seat like this one from Jill at Mommy Vignettes. (The shelf unit in this blog post is EXPEDIT, which IKEA replaced with the KALLAX.)
Photo via OrganizeMore
The Kallax is so popular, there are now companies that make organizing inserts that fit just right into the Kallax cubes. These inserts can holds 49 bottles of craft paint bottles or many, many rubber stamp pads.
LINNMON Table Top + KALLAX + OLOV Legs = Counter Height Craft Room Worktable
Photo by Landeelu
Though it doesn’t look that big in this picture, that tabletop is 59” inches long. Blogger Landeelu wanted a counter height workspace and plenty of storage. What’s great about this project is that no sawing or sanding is required.
FORHOJA Kitchen Cart into Ironing Surface and Storage
Photo by Intentional Hospitality
Ironing boards are never big enough, are they? Over at Intentional Hospitality, we’ve got the solution with an IKEA kitchen sideboard with built-in storage plus ironing board material on top. The sideboard she used is discontinued at IKEA, but try the FORHOJA sideboard/kitchen cart as a good substitute.
BESTA TV Bench with Doors into Ironing Surface
If you’d prefer a white unit with doors, here’s another take on an ironing station with storage. Lori of Crossquilt blog made one with the BESTA TV Bench.
BRATTVAG Leg + KALLAX and ALEX
Photo by Jennifer of JenniferMaker
To avoid the “oh, you got that at IKEA, didn’t you?” look, customize your pieces by adding adorable legs. Jennifer at JenniferMaker blog shows how to raise your storage pieces off the floor and elevate the style of the whole craft room.
VARIERA Plastic Bag Holder into Organizer for Rolls of Vinyl
Photo by Melissa Viscount
Clever Melissa Viscount at the Silhouette School blog figured out a creative reuse for these rolls storing vinyl for her electronic cutting machine. With them on the wall, she can see at a glance what colors she has.
KUNGSFORS Knife Rack for Sewing Nook Storage
Photo by See Kate Sew
Kate of See Kate Sew created a sewing nook as part of her sewing room where everything is within arms reach. She used three of the KUNGSFORS magnetic knife racks on her pegboard to keep a wide array of needles and more.
We hope you enjoyed these IKEA hacks for your craft studio! Make sure to check out these IKEA Hacks for Craft Show Displays, to sell art prints, jewelry, pottery, clothing, home décor, and more.
Do you have a favorite IKEA hack for your craft room? Please tell us in the comments!
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Elaine Luther is an artist and arts writer. She makes assemblage sculpture about how much she hates housework and “Medals that You Wouldn’t Want to Earn,” such as, “I Just Want to Buy Flowers at the Grocery Store without Thinking about How Much They Cost.”
She writes for Craft Industry Alliance and Moore Women Artists as well as her own blogs. She and her kids host the podcast Being Bold. (She buys the flowers now.)
Not a hack so much as a repurposing – the Mala art paper cutter as an embroidery stabilizer cutter.
Ah! Yes, I love the Mala rolls of paper, very cool! I’m not quite sure what you mean by the paper cutter, do you mean this? https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/mala-tabletop-paper-holder-10149350
Thanks!
Yes, that’s it. You press down on the top piece while pulling up on the paper and it tears cleanly.
Oh, very cool, thanks for clarifying that!
Great article! Have added to Pinterest.
Thanks!
I literally just put in my first IKEA pegboard from the SKADIS collection. I use it to organize sewing odds and ends. I used it as it is, but you pick all your pieces individually, so I guess each one is a hack. No two are really the same. I like it so much, I’m going to do a smaller sized one in my bedroom (hung behind the door so it’s out of sight) to organize my vanity items and get all that stuff off the table top so it looks neater.
I just ordered one for my kitchen! I’d love to see a picture of your set up you described!
Actually, I did a whole video on how I selected my pieces AND how I installed it. IKEA is a little light in terms of installation instructions, so I show exactly how I did it. I’m doing one for my bedroom next to get the clutter off my vanity. I absolutely love how this one cleaned up my sewing room!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=171-vdhS_v8
I hacked a FINNAVARD into a Yarn winding Station: https://karenwhooley.com/ikea-hack-yarn-winding-station/
Oh very cool! I’ve had problems like that too, with things that clamp on. Great solution and a nice blog post, thanks for commenting!
Love this Elaine! Didn’t even realize you wrote it until after I read it! Cool.
Hi! Thanks! Researching gave me lots of ideas, I’m about to improve my studio a lot!
Most of my sewing studio is furnished with freestanding IKEA kitchen cabinets. I prefer to work at standing height, and I’m too tall for standard sewing furniture. The pieces moved flawlessly from my previous studio into the current one 8 years ago despite a very different floor layout. Great stuff!
That’s so great! I agree, the flexibility is a huge plus!
I use Kallax-like storage shelves with a fabric cube in each square. I have tons of fabrics and have them by color. One cube for each color. Easy to pull out, carry around and see what’s inside. Love them.
Sounds great!
Awesome post and comments! I am in the process of setting up a new sewing space (my youngest has moved out and I’m taking over her bedroom!) and these ideas are great! Thank you!
So glad it was helpful to you, Cheryl.
Congrats on your new sewing room!
great ideas I’m going to head to my Ikea shop
I love my IKEA peg board! However just a note on the $39.99 furniture shipping — $39.99 is the least they charge. It goes up the further away from the source of shipping you are. My son wanted to buy a simple 3-piece desk combo, but the shipping from mid-Utah to southern Idaho was $379!!
Yikes! That’s a really high shipping price! Looks like their shipping prices have gone up since this article was written in 2019. Plus, as you point out, the distance.
Oops yes, I guess I didn’t look at the date of the article! Shipping is crazy these days!