Hello! I won't dwell on the fact that, once again, it's been a very long time since I wrote in this space, that just seems to be the way of things for now. Moving swiftly on (very pleased to see you here)...
At the weekend, over on my Instagram Stories, I was discussing the storage issues in our home, in particular our kitchen.
As someone who styles imagery as part of their living, who's very house is the subject of their work, the accumulation of items, used for inhancing little moments here and there, for promoting products I sell at the Alice in Scandiland Shop and hopefully creating inspiration for others, is unavoidable.
I had been trying to "declutter" and reduce, something I've been pretty good at for several years now, however it just hasn't been happening this time around and I have been getting so frustrated.
Then I had an epiphany - I am a stylist, it is a huge part of what I do. The "things" I was struggling to get rid of or home in the house are things that I DO need, not daily, not even weekly, but definitely monthly.
I like to have them to hand, to create a beautifully styled table or shelf, for a stock photo for the shop, or for Instagram. The fact my house is so often the subject of my work makes things a little different to the times, in years gone by, when I've purged our belongings, reduced and rehomed. I've created my own job, but the house hasn't completely kept up.
The vintage lockers here are a great idea in theory, but the shelves above don't work for me any more. Perhaps if the lockers were six high this could be good, but I want something less fussy, fewer small doors and more options.
The trouble with open shelving
Currently it is all far too on show for my liking, I want to create some harder working storage. But on a budget, in a room that I hope, one day, will change again when we eventually update the falling apart kitchen cupboards, stained worktop and rotten sink (painting a pretty picture, aren't I!), how can this be done in an effective, affordable, future adaptable way?
IKEA Ivar, that's how.
I don't know about you, but the Ivar range, the cupboards in particular, really capture my imagination. I think it's how incredibly functional they are but also stylish and timeless too. The Ivar range has been around a good while now, so this post is nothing new as such, but I feel these cupboards continue to be one of the best, affordable options out there.
Sadly, for so many wanting to tackle their storage issues, to tweak areas of their homes and to do so with relative ease and minimal skill, IKEA have been out of stock for quite some time now. It would seem C-19 wants to spoil even our small scale home improvements this part year. There's no escaping it!
And so, for now, whilst I patiently wait, along with thousands around the country, I've been collecting together some of my favourite interiors images which use the Ivar cupboards. Whether left natural, painted, clad, fancy legs added, what ever hacks have been created, what I love is this is achievable on a small budget, in the most part with minimal diy ability.
IKEA Ivar inspiration
This - Ivar cupboards in their simplest form, wall mounted, is exactly what I want to do in our kitchen. I would use a Lye treatment to keep the Pine light.
This little unit in a child's room is lovely, with the added Pretty Pegs legs.
Rattan door IKEA Ivar hacks
Above you can see an example of the Rattan Ivar doors which IKEA brought out after the initial release of the Ivar range. I think they're nice, but I wish they didn't have the cross piece, separating the door into 2 squares.
Overall, across many doors, I feel it becomes overly fussy. This said, I wouldn't totally rule them out as a quick and easy change to the look of the cupboards (covering myself here, just in case I end up going down this route!)
Here you can see a door hack which I really love. The rattan sheet has been fixed over the top of the original doors, with a trim added to finish. I do like the lightness that being able to see through the weave of rattan gives, but this is also effective and means you don't need to do any modifying of the doors beforehand.
I could really see this working in our kitchen, with the cupboards wall mounted. I'm not convinced I actually want to half see the contents, so the solid door makes sense to me.
Katy over at Apartment Apothecary has created an amazing door hack, you can read her full blog post here. I'll definitely be coming back to this post if I can ever get my hands on some cupboards!
Of course my lovely Swedish Instagram friend Ida, Nordic Remake would appear here, she is the queen of beautiful transformations after all and she has worked some serious magic with IKEA Ivar cupboards here...
I really love this line of units in this child's room, ending with the handmade house shelf. The little dansette legs help to ground the design and add a little extra playfulness.
Another wonderful transformation by Ida is in her son's bedroom, with this fish scale paint job and Pretty Pegs Hillevi 170 legs.
A beautiful, simple take from one of my absolute favourites, Janniche at Bloggaibagis.
These wall hung cupboards (below), painted the same colour as the wall, make for wonderful storage but also a beautiful backdrop to the lovely kitchen belonging to Petites Lunes, a wonderful account I follow on Instagram.
Monica Karlstein IKEA hacks
I think the crowning glory for IKEA Ivar hacks has to go to Monica Karlstein, author of the Swedish blog Hemmafix - this woven door hack is the stuff of my dreams!
Monica has written a book, 99 Hacks, full up with amazing ideas on how to change up mass produced items, to give them a more personalised look. Unfortunately, as far as I can see, this book has not been printed in English. I think we should start a campaign to rectify this, as I suspect we all need this little book of inspiration in our lives.
Take a closer look at the creation of this IVAR hack here.
I guess I shouldn't forget to add in my very own IKEA Ivar hacks..
IKEA Ivar shop fittings
At the Alice in Scandiland shop we wall mounted two-and-a-half of the shallow IVAR cupboards (my dad cut a cupboard in half as I didn't want it any wider than this).
The units were wall mounted on a thick wooden baton, at the back, allowing them to sit forward of the wall a few inches, creating the room for a deeper worktop (pine board) and a sink. This does mean there is some wasted space behind the cupboards, but that wasn't an issue here.
See more from my shop here on Instagram. And if you like anything you see in these pictures, you can buy online at the Alice in Scandiland shop.
A bespoke wardrobe using IKEA Ivar
In my youngest daughter Eula's bedroom, we created a bespoke wardrobe for her, using the IVAR Drawers and deeper cupboard. Eula's room is rather tiny and for the time being this has been a very good addition to the space.
You can read all about it here.
So there we are, whilst we all wait, impatiently, for the IKEA Ivar cupboards to finally be restocked, we can all ponder how best to utilise them in our homes.
Which of these versions was your favourite?
