The IKEA Children's Essential That Doubles As The Perfect Storage Solution For Your Small Space

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Child-sized furniture makes sense in places like kindergarten classrooms and home playrooms, where the biggest inhabitant in a chair at teatime is an oversized stuffed Pooh Bear. However, there is one IKEA children's essential that looks and feels right at home in a small but definitely made-for-grown-ups space. Thanks to its miniature size, the IKEA SMÅSTAD toy bench with storage compartment is great for playrooms, but it's also just the right fit for tiny homes and studio apartments.

Here are the particulars. The piece has two main components: a bench and the box. The two pieces fit together to create a rolling bench seat that also offers you plenty of storage. It's about 18 inches tall, 35 inches wide, and 20 inches deep — give or take. It sits on casters, which are included with the bench. These allow you to move the bench wherever you need, making it the perfect multifunctional piece to add to your small space. 

One minute, it's a bench for your table in the kitchen/entryway area. The next minute, it doubles as shoe and coat storage. Same area of the house, different function. That said, its contents obviously depend on where you put it and your lifestyle. If you're a crafter or artist, you could stash your arts and crafts supplies inside. In the mudroom, it's a receptacle for Fido's food, Spot's cat litter, and the various tools you need to scrape mud off your shoes. The best part? Because it's a covered unit, any kind of clutter is hidden away inside the recesses of the box.

The IKEA SMÅSTAD toy bench really is a blank canvas waiting for your personalizations. As is, it comes with the bench, the box, and the casters. Missing elements include handles and a cushion to sit on, so you're free to give it your personal touch. Plus, you have a choice of three colors: white, light blue, or light green. 

The kind of handles you choose will depend on your style of decor. For example, if you're a fan of industrial decor, then you may want to experiment with something like the TOIMIOTOIM Black Pipe Barn Door Pull Handle. Those would be in keeping with the black metal accents that are often the hallmarks of this decor style. On the other hand, if you're a lover of cottagecore style, you may want to reflect that in your choice for the bench cushion. The BÄNKKAMRAT blue/green striped bench pad from IKEA fits the seat and aligns with the conventions of cottagecore, which tend to embrace a mix of bold patterns and soft colors. Then again, you can mix things up a bit and add some YIVYI Vintage Floral Farmhouse Throw Pillow Covers to give your small space more visual interest. 

Finally, we'd be remiss if we didn't point out that plenty of DIYers paint their IKEA furniture to fit their design preferences. Even the colored versions of this bench are mostly white. Adding a coat of paint, like a dramatic red or a butter yellow, to the bench makes it a focal point instead of a side piece in your small space.