How To DIY A Replica Of The Beloved IKEA ENETRI Shelf

Never mind that it looks like scaffolding erected by, or for, housecats. Never mind that nobody has ever been surprised to learn that its designer, Niels Gammelgaard, used to work out of a shopping cart factory. And never mind that IKEA doesn't (usually) even bother to make it anymore. The IKEA ENETRI shelf that TikTok is going nuts over was a brilliant bit of design, and it's no wonder that it periodically captures the imaginations of the stylish and design-literate. 

TikTok is agog, as only TikTok can be, by its streamlined flexibility and tight marriage of form and function. It's a cool-looking shelf, at home in an MCM living room or a dorm bedroom (or, in fact, a food service storeroom). Everybody wants one, but since IKEA hasn't made them since a 2018 rerelease, you're going to have to do some digging. Or make your own.

Before you undertake the challenge of a DIY ENETRI replica, there are some important things to know. First, you probably won't be making an exact replica, because trying to approximate the engineering that made this lightweight, spindly thing work will almost certainly result in a collapse that will ruin your minimalist record player, vintage photography equipment, and interior design books. Instead, what you want to do is capture the vibe and look. You should go for the open, quasi-industrial feel, the recklessly cantilevered shelves, and if possible, a touch of the shopping cart wire that makes it a Gammelgaard... even though yours won't be.

It has been said, possibly, that shelves should be — first and foremost — shelves. So, let's start with the ENETRI's boards. Being an IKEA product, they are, of course, not boards at all, but hollow-core constructions reinforced at the edges and anywhere screws will be used. They are pretty strong, and since they don't add a lot of their own weight to their load, they can be cantilevered like a diving board, assuming your vintage camera collection isn't too heavy. The easiest solution is the path TikTok user @laurencewatts8 took, which was to use melamine-faced particleboard and carefully paint it to recall one of the original 1980s ENETRI varieties that had red, blue, yellow, and green edges. Aside from weight, low-pressure laminate melamine boards are a good choice because of their durability and finish.

The original, reversible ENETRI shelves were white on one side and anthracite gray on the other, meaning you'd only have to paint one side if you go with white melamine. But any board of the right size will work. Given the 67-inch length, just be sure any wood product you select is perfectly flat and thick enough to hold the necessary weight without bending noticeably. And don't forget the magic of vinyl adhesive shelf liners, which can be used to give just about any flat material the look of wood or marble on a budget.

Gammelgaard acknowledges that the IKEA Guide shelf (later renamed ENETRI) was inspired by shopping trolleys, and that inspiration is of course most visible in the thick wire frame. Unless you're as lucky as @laurencewatts8 was in finding an ENETRI frame, you might have difficulty matching the exact aesthetic. Muji sells shelving unit components similar to the ENETRI's, and TikTok DIYer @kevinconcepts was able to buy the frame for his ENETRI lookalike for $220. The closest thing we found was hot-dip galvanized masonry ladder wire, a reinforcement mesh used in concrete block structures. But these are easily bent, often before they reach the hardware store. You'd probably need to weld two together to have enough strength for each vertical support, and welding galvanized steel comes with unique dangers and challenges most DIYers aren't quite prepared for. 

Other metal options don't have the same shopping-trolley-wire thinness, but might otherwise fit the bill. These include data center cable ladders and scaffold frames. But the heart of home DIY is building with wood, and that's the approach YouTuber @Craftydust took. Abandoning the thin frame concept, she used some 1.4 x 2.4-inch wood studs for her vertical supports. Painted black, the wood gives off an industrial vibe that's not exactly the same as the original ENETRI design, but definitely reminiscent of it, resulting in a look not unlike other stunning shelving systems TikTok users create with wood. Not exactly the ENETRI, but an excellent replica.