DIY A High-End Looking Side Table With Just A Few Items From IKEA

IKEA is full of simple but quality furniture and decor pieces, which make it a DIY heaven. There are seemingly endless IKEA hacks we've found on TikTok and YouTube, which can help you level up nearly every part of your home, even if you're on a very limited budget. And, as DIYers have seen time and time again, there are hundreds of different ways to repurpose a wooden cutting board into stylish furniture. For this DIY hack, use a SÅPÖRTMAL wooden cutting board and four LÄMPLIG trivets, commonly used as cooling racks, to create a chic side table in no time at all. 

Side tables are a great design element to bring a little extra flare into a living room or bedroom while providing convenient table space to hold drinks, books, flowers, and more. Just a quick visit to a furniture store will reveal some of the modern trends in side table decor — and right now, slim, wooden side tables are all the rage. Vertical striping from metal columns on the sides of a table are another trend in the industry, which is replicated by the stainless steel trivets. While you could grab a similarly styled side table for upward of $400 from high-end retailers, the savvy consumer can DIY your own narrow living room side table with these items from IKEA for about $50. 

For this project, you'll use the IKEA SÅPÖRTMAL cutting board as the tabletop and LÄMPLIG trivets as the legs of the table. The SÅPÖRTMAL cutting board also features geometric lines carved into the wood on one side, which will make your end product look all the more elevated and chic if you choose to have that side facing up in your own version of the craft. If you prefer a smooth table surface, just flip the board so the lines are facing down.

To construct the table, start by centering the four trivets on each side of the cutting board, using a pencil to mark in the juice groove where each spoke of the legs should connect to the cutting board. Using this groove to align the legs helps ensure that your lines are straight and lessens the amount of wood you need to drill through. Then, drill holes at those exact points. Match your drill bit to the size of the LÄMPLIG's spokes so that it's a snug fit; the holes should be just big enough to pressure-fit the cutting board onto each spoke but not so big that it slides on too easily. Smooth out the areas around the holes with sandpaper, and apply a wood stain or polish if you'd like. From there, slide the spokes into place so the board rests flush against the horizontal support bars. If needed, use a rubber mallet to work everything firmly into place. 

Give your side table some extra personal flare by adding storage underneath it. One way to do this is by skipping the fourth trivet and, instead, keeping one side of the table open. Grab a second SÅPÖRTMAL, and mark the same holes as the tabletop, but only drill these ¾ of the way through the surface. Insert the bottom spokes of the LÄMPLIG into the divots. If it feels unstable, add a wood-to-metal adhesive, like a high-strength oily wood glue, into each divot. With this alteration, you get a second shelf under the table that also provides extra support to keep all of the legs securely in place. 

If you want to stick to the basic project but don't think exposed stainless steel would look good in your home, personalize your table by changing the color of the trivets. Shades like gold, bronze, or black may fit into your home more seamlessly. Just be sure to use a primer and spray paint formulated to stick to metal surfaces. You can also apply a dark wood stain to the cutting board if the light beech wood isn't your thing. 

Similarly, if the SÅPÖRTMAL isn't a great fit with your aesthetic or you want a different sized table, shop around for other wooden cutting boards so long as they are at least 11 inches long on each side to fit the length of the trivets — the APTITLIG butcher block and LÄMPLIG bamboo cutting board are other excellent and affordable options that are a bit larger and also have the helpful juice groove.