Update A Boring IKEA Wardrobe With Bamboo Bath Mats

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Though many big box retailers have been struggling in recent years, IKEA remains a global powerhouse. However, despite much ink being spilled about the "IKEA effect," in which you have more attachment to something you build (and will generally pay more for those products), it's hard to deny the cookie-cutter nature of IKEA's DIY furniture generally results in similar-looking, monochrome pieces. Luckily IKEA also sells plenty of products you can use to customize these pieces. If you find yourself with something like a PAX / BERGSBO wardrobe, try filling the doors' recessed panels with pattern and texture using bamboo bath mat squares.

This is a quick and easy DIY hack as showcased by Abbey Brown aka casacrank on Instagram. All it requires are strong scissors, an adhesive, and a few bamboo bath mats of your choice, like this bathmat from Navaris. Ideally it should be flexible enough to roll, but with tightly-packed ribs so the wardrobe doesn't show through. There are plenty of ways to DIY your IKEA wardrobe into stunning entryway storage, be it with a new coat of paint or more crafty pursuits like pyrography. With this customization, however, you leave the BERGSBO's door panels (inside the molding) untouched, since you're measuring each panel and filling it with the bamboo mat (line up the edges between slats for easier cutting). Once the cabinet is painted and the bath mats adhered —with hot glue or museum putty — guests won't even know you began with a boring white canvas.

The idea behind this IKEA closet DIY is widely applicable to a number of different pieces within the retailer's PAX System. For example, IKEA's PAX / GRIMO wardrobe fits a similar build but with longer vertical panels, meaning you can use longer stretches of bamboo. Meanwhile IKEA's PAX / TONSTAD is a larger combination wardrobe with vertical glass panels rather than inset wood or MDF. That opens up more opportunities to layer visual effects, such as setting bamboo bath mats behind each window and complementary stickers on the front for different flourishes. You can even figure out how to frost your windows with a privacy film to give the bamboo a dreamy vibe.

Having enough material to spare can get expensive with this DIY project, especially if you're cutting more unusual shapes or getting creative with interlocking bamboo tiles. A set of two medium-sized bamboo bath mats from Umiboo, for example, can run upwards of $60. Luckily, there are other, more affordable, options that fill the same (literal) niche. Any nice piece of corrugated scrap metal could be cut to give the closet a more rustic-chic feel, for example. However, your creative energy can take you even further. Consider crocheting or quilting squares in original patterns to fill those gaps. Instead of gluing panels onto your IKEA wardrobe, you could also craft and install homemade beaded curtains with modern designs. Really the sky is the limit.