Here's How To Make Your Standard IKEA Furniture Look Stunningly Vintage

An authentic mid-century modern cabinet can cost you more than a thousand dollars. If you're a person who lives on an IKEA budget, spending a grand on a record player or shoe cabinet isn't the best option. However, if you happen to be crafty, like DIYer Breeya Shade, it's possible to mimic some of the retro design trends that are making a comeback in your decor, provided you have the right tools. Additionally, the principles she used to turn her IKEA HEMNES shoe cabinet into a mid-century modern replica can be adapted by any DIYer transforming their HEMNES cabinet into chic shoe storage, mimicking any design style.

However, in order to know how to hack an IKEA cabinet and turn it into a retro piece, it's helpful to first take a look at the elements that make up a particular style of vintage furniture. We're looking at the details of mid-century modern decor here, but this principle applies to converting any modern or inexpensive piece of furniture into a stylish retro replica. Once you understand the elements, you'll have a better idea about what kinds of aging techniques and add-ons you need to make the piece look truly vintage.

Mid-century modern furniture is marked by contrasts: It combines modern materials like fiberglass or plywood with traditional natural materials like wood and metal. It additionally embraces geometric shapes and form over function in its design. Finally, mid-century modern also features what is now considered vintage hardware, (though when it was developed, those designs were new). All of these elements should be addressed when you're attempting to recreate this look.

The IKEA HEMNES shoe cabinet is made of particle board. In this particular redesign, most of that will remain intact. Adding real wood elements helps create the vintage vibe, including a wood replacement for the top of the piece and some semi-circle wood craft design discs on the front. The two different building materials replicate the mixing and matching of materials common in authentic mid-century modern furniture.

The replacement wooden top will be a roughly 8-inch by 42-inch piece of wood — ideally teak or oak, since that fits materials of the era (but any wood works). You can either find it at a home improvement store, or if you're fortunate, on Facebook Marketplace. If it's already used, you may have less distressing to do. Many pieces from the era now look a bit beat-up and worn. This step recreates what time has done naturally. To distress the wood, pound dents along the top with a hammer, then chip away at the edges with the hammer's claw. 

After all that work, sand the wood to remove splinters and ready it for staining. Several coats of dark wood stain on both the replacement top and the semi-circle elements mimic the dark stains you'll often find on vintage pieces. Next, you'll sand, prime, and paint the entire IKEA cabinet to alter its color and texture. This makes it less austere and gives it an aged look, which is what you want for a faux vintage piece. Finally attach the wood top and design elements like the discs and retro hardware.

Two additional features assured the IKEA cabinet looked like a retro replica — the vintage-looking hardware handles and the wooden semi-circles which were glued on the front. These two elements embraced the simple, straightforward style of the era. The IKEA piece's original round knobs were replaced by rectangular pull knobs. If you're looking for furniture ideas for a mid-century modern style, note that many cabinets of the era featured this type of sleek hardware.

As for the semi-circular pieces of craft wood — which you can find at the Handmade Store on Amazon — those were in keeping the era. Adding them in a distinctive pattern of alternating circles and hourglasses evoked the design sensibilities of the mid-century modern style. It's a handsome piece all-in-all, with the circle motif creating a visual juxtaposition to the boxy, square shape of the IKEA cabinet.

Finally, the original build of the cabinet, with its support legs, played nicely into the intended retro style. Many mid-century modern cabinets, like TV sets and record player consoles stand on small peg legs. You just have to play with the elements already on this cabinet to make them fit in with the style you're trying to mimic in your redesign.