Give Your IKEA TROFAST Storage Unit An Aesthetic Boost With These Creative Hacks

Keeping our homes tidy is all too often an exercise in futility. Messes are a fast of life, especially as more and more items come into the house. And the storage furniture we use to manage the excess rarely adds to the décor. Understandably, functional pieces are always the priority here. But with a clever hack or two, there's no reason why they can't also look cute and fit in with your home's style and color palette. If you start with a versatile, no-frills piece like IKEA's TROFAST storage unit, customizing it to fit your space couldn't be easier. Open shelving, simple drawers, and a hassle-free assembly allow for all kinds of add-ons that can help you make your IKEA TROFAST work in any room with some creative DIY upcycles.

And if you need inspiration on how the trusty TROFAST can be transformed to meet your aesthetic standards, we've got you covered. Instagrammer @do.it.yourself.mum turned their TROFAST into a stylish tiered display. DIY door fronts hiding the storage bins and natural wood tops combine with a neutral greige color for a clean, comforting feel. Use it with bins for loose toys in the playroom or extra shoes in the mudroom. You can also add IKEA TROFAST Shelves to hold books and games in the living room or contain bedroom overflow, all while maintaining an attractive appearance throughout your space. Following this design offers a final product that can suit various styles, from transitional to minimalist, but there's also lots of room to tweak the details for a one-of-a-kind creation that could suit more maximalist or modern spaces.

Whether you're beautifying the particleboard or pine version, you can hack your TROFAST storage unit in various ways using @do.it.yourself.mum's tutorial as a template. Rather than use split dowels on your doors, for instance, you can add trim for a shaker aesthetic or cover the doors in wood slats for a sophisticated fluted design. Or, you could consider using an open wood frame for the doors, adding cane webbing inside the frame. Burlap or patterned fabric can also work in a pinch. If you want to cut down on the woodwork involved, you can even ditch the doors altogether and add handmade curtains on 13-inch rods to span each of the cubbies, or use tension rods, like this set of three OEH Short Tension Rods from Amazon.

What other possibilities are there beyond the paint, wood tops, and doors? If painting sounds like a pain (which it can be, particularly on particleboard) you could choose to wallpaper the piece. For extra pizzazz, you can elevate the design figuratively and literally by attaching legs. You could use legs from IKEA, such as the EKET Leg, browse ultra-stylish options from other retailers (such as these ball-shaped legs from Pretty Pegs), or even pick up some castors with brakes from Amazon to turn your TROFAST into rolling storage. For these upgrades, you may need to install a wood block on the base's underside to span the gap created by the toe kick.

The design possibilities for your IKEA TROFAST depend somewhat on which product you use. In @do.it.yourself.mum's tutorial, the DIYer uses the particle board version. Particleboard is inexpensive, but screw holes can strip easily and it may need more prep before painting. If you're purchasing a new unit and want a more stable construction with greater flexibility for updates, you may want to opt for the pine IKEA TROFAST. The solid wood version is almost $90 more expensive but supplies a better surface for gluing and screwing on design details like trim and hardware, and can also be sanded down and stained. Besides the price, the other downside is the size, as the pine version is slightly shorter and narrower than the particleboard model. If you are on a budget, don't feel like the particle board unit isn't a viable option — simply use this trick for painting difficult IKEA furniture surfaces, and you'll still be able to customize your piece. 

With the solid pine TROFAST, the unit already sports a natural look, which you can adjust by sanding the varnish layer and applying paint. Or, you can keep it as is, adding wood door fronts for a cohesive rustic look. Having all-wood parts, this model also gives you more potential places for add-ons. Want to attach a small exterior shelf to the side? It's no problem with the pine version, as long as you use sturdy brackets and choose the right screws for your DIY project. To make these updates to the particleboard TROFAST, make sure you drill pilot holes, use chipboard screws, and twist them in slowly to avoid stripping.