30+ IKEA Hemnes Hack Ideas You Can Easily Make

I’ve got a great list of Ikea Hemnes hacks for you to try out and today I’m focusing on the Hemnes series. Follow along as we talk about some great ideas I’ve found!

I used to see so many people hacking Ikea furniture and I wondered why they would bother.

Why not just buy real furniture? Why take particle board and make it look pretty?

But some of their furniture is solid wood and most of their furniture is easy to hack!

Then, we built an Ikea kitchen at my daughter’s house.

At the same time that we put together a semi-custom kitchen at my other daughter’s house.

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the Ikea kitchen. I definitely went into the project as a naysayer and then I was totally turned around by the end of it.

So I added Hemnes dressers to our closet (in the house we recently sold).

Then we built in some Ikea Billy Bookcases and they are fantastic.

Now we’re working on a closet and using some Ikea pieces and some pieces we are building ourselves.

Why are Ikea Products so popular?

Well if you guessed price then you’ve probably hit the nail on the head.

They are an affordable and customizable line of furniture pieces.

They actually do have a line of solid wood furniture in their Tarva collection and yes I do have one of those pieces in my office.

Still waiting for paint, sigh.

But the customizable part is what really wins people over.

Many of their pieces are a blank canvas and while they look fine as is, there are endless ways to upgrade them and make them fit your personal space.

Enter the Ikea Hack

All you have to do is jump online and search for Ikea hacks and you’ll be flooded with ideas. (That’s the reason for this list – to narrow some of them down!)

Did you know there’s even a company that specifically makes doors for Ikea kitchens?

Semihandmade has built an entire business out of creating custom doors for customers building Ikea kitchens.

I mean, seriously. That’s a pretty big business right there.

Of course there are others, that’s just the first one that comes to mind!

And no, we didn’t upgrade the doors on the Ikea kitchen when it was built in. They were pretty happy with the doors that were included.

How to Hack Ikea Furniture

You can easily figure out that any Ikea hack can also be used on different furniture.

You can pick up a piece at a thrift store and reimagine it using the same principles that I’m sharing here.

Which is why it’s definitely worth searching out Ikea hacks. Try to be even more specific if you know what pieces you’re looking for. They Ikea Hemnes hack can be narrowed down by dresser, table, etc.

While these tips aren’t specific to an Ikea Hemnes hack, you’ll see many examples of these in the following projects.

How to upgrade your Ikea furniture:

• Paint or Stain – I say paint everything bold but you do what fits your decor!
• Change the Panels – Add trim or appliques or paint them!
• Change the Legs – Brass or Acrylic legs can provide a very high end look
• Change the Knobs – think of your knobs like they are jewelry for your furniture and they can be a great accent to upgrade a piece

Ikea Hemnes Hacks

So enough of my story, let’s get on with the hacks. I know that’s what you’re here for anyway!

I’m not sharing photo’s on all of these because I want to keep this list updated and it’s easier to give you the links to go check them out yourself.

I will try to give you a description of each of them so that you know which piece of furniture and a brief look at what was done to it!

I’m pretty sure that if you don’t own a piece of this furniture yet you’re going to need one before you’re done with this list!

Ikea Hemnes Dresser Hacks

The one thing about the Hemnes dresser is that it looks pretty even without a hack.

It’s a little plain but that just means that it will work in just about any space. It also means that there are tons of ways that you can dress it up.

It comes in several shades already finished so it will look nice without a hack.

Or, if it lives in my house, it will look nice while it’s waiting for me to pay attention to it!

Bright and Colorful by Naomi Davis featured on A Beautiful Mess

This is an older Hemnes dresser that she states is “on its last leg” but they weren’t ready to part with it so it got a bright bright update and moved into their children’s room.

A very bright sunshiney yellow make it a fun spot and mismatched knobs give it the perfect whimsical look.

But that yellow!

You know I love a bright color!

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You know I love a graphic line. Here they’ve used some leftover paint to create a custom piece of furniture and also painted the knobs.

Using leftover paint in a unique way – what a great idea!

Chalk Paint and Modern Legs by Angela Rose Home 

If you haven’t visited Angela Rose Home you need to check out all her fearless projects!

To update this Hemnes dresser she removed the hardware and the legs and then built new legs out of 2 x 4’s to give them a more modern flair. She filled the hardware holes and painted the whole piece with a velvet gray chalk paint and then added new pulls.

Not just any new pulls though, modern ones that sit at the top of the drawers!

Gold Glam Update by A Thoughtful Place

Courtney bought a kit to add details to the front of her Ikea Hemnes.

Of course that’s given me a whole new rabbit hole of ideas to wander down but I’ll let you get the information directly from her.

Anyway, her dresser has a beautiful grandmillenial style with the fretwork overlays and new ring pulls added to it.

Also, no paint. She painted the overlays before applying them but here’s a great example of updating a dresser without painting it!

Pink Ombre Paint Job by The Beauty Revival 

I do love pink and the pale shades on this dresser are no exception.

The best thing I read here though, she painted this dresser 7 years ago. And guess what? It still looks great and the paint is holding up well.

Wallpaper Update by Pillar Box Blue

This is a 3 drawer dresser that’s been updated but what wins is that the details are so well done.

Claire started off by painting the dresser a dark navy blue and then added wallpaper to the drawer fronts. She matched the pattern across the drawers so that it lines up perfectly when it’s finished.

Attention to detail is what puts this project right over the top.

It’s also what basically guarantees that I (probably) won’t ever attempt this project!

Contact Paper Update by Home Edit

If you liked that last project then you’ll find this one a bit easier. Stephanie updated the fronts of her drawers using contact paper.

You can cut out the paper and use painters tape to attach it while you’re laying out the pattern, aaaand you can lift and move the paper while you’re adding it. Just be sure not to stretch it out.

Add some colorful knobs and you’ve got a whole new look!

Appliques for an Anthropologie Look by Blesser House

This is a classy update using overlay’s on the drawers. Lauren elected to have the paint matched from the existing color so she only had to paint the overlays to match and then glue them right on the front.

If you didn’t know it was from Ikea I think you could agree it looks like a piece from Anthropologie.

Ikea Hemnes Chest Hack

Distressed Hemnes Chest Hack by Chisel and Fork

When Ryan and Lauren had a long weekend they just painted and distressed a Hemnes dresser that they were already using. The paint gives this piece an antiqued feeling and it fits in better with their homes aesthetic.

This chest was originally in the dark finish and had several coats of white paint put over it and then sanded for a beautifully distressed look.

Paint and Cane Webbing by Little House on the Corner 

This is not on the easier side of DIY. Or rather, it’s not a super hard project but it’s a very time consuming project.

But man oh man. You would never guess it’s a piece of Ikea furniture!

Christine and Jan actually used a saw to remove the center of the drawer panels and replace them with cane webbing, trim and paint. It looks amazing so you’ll definitely want to check it out!

Bedroom Furniture Ikea Hemnes Hacks

Leather Tufted Headboard Hack by And Then We Tried

Robin really wanted a West Elm headboard but the price was out of budget. This is a pretty extensive DIY and it’s also an entertaining read so well worth checking out.

Also, the end product looks really expensive! Well done Robin!

Ikea Hemnes Daybed by Robinson Van Noort

Would you ever look at this luxurious daybed and believe that it came from Ikea?

It definitely has a custom feel to it and the beautiful color and linens go a long way to showing you just what you can do with an Ikea Hemnes daybed.

Hemnes Coffee Table Hacks

I’m going to share these coffee table hacks but I feel like I need to point out that you can pick up a coffee table at a second hand store and use one of these ideas as well. You may even be able to find one for less money.

It is solid wood, but that wood is pine. Pine tends to be softer so you may find that the surface of this particular table scratches or dents easily.

Which isn’t a consideration for most of these projects!

Farmhouse Table by The Creative Mom

Natalie took 1 x 4’s, stained them and glued and screwed them to the top of her table to create a farmhouse style for her living room.

Barnwood Hemnes Coffee Table by City Farmhouse

Jennifer made her table in a similar fashion but she used different shades of paint instead of stain. Her table is definitely farmhouse looking but I’d say it has a more coastal feel to it as well.

I really love the finish on her table.

Chalkboard Coffee Table by Ikea Hackers

This one’s pretty straight forward. They took a black Hemnes coffee table and painted black chalkboard paint on the top surface.

So still a black table just a fun surface to use!

Table to Ottoman Hack

This is a project shared on Ikea Hackers but the only photo’s are of the finished project. If you can follow the written directions then you’ll be a-okay.

They’re actually written much better than many of the Ikea manuals!

I’d say that many of the table hacks I found were painting projects and I decided to only share a few here since they started to look very similar while I was researching.

More Ikea Hemnes Hack Ideas:

Since there were only a few of these projects sprinkled about I just included them into one section. These are kitchen, living room and storage ideas that you can make and you’re going to love what you see!

Shoe Storage Hack by Semigloss Design

Emy added can webbing and trim to personalize this shoe cubby so it fits into her entryway decor!

Easy step by step directions on how to make one for yourself.

Antiqued Shoe Storage by Ikea Hackers

This is definitely a show stopping Ikea Hack!

Definitely check out the quick tutorial on how they changed a simple Hemnes shoe storage into this amazing piece that looks like an antique!

Flip Top Double Desk Hemnes Hack by Remodelaholic

Cass took the Hemnes desk and created an adult version on top and kids version inside to create a piece of furniture that will pull double duty in your household. Then they put two of the desk back to back and created four workzones.

Definitely a great solution for a homeroom or classroom!

A long desk by Jones Design Co

Emily used three of the small Ikea Hemnes dressers and a wood countertop to create a custom desk. The dressers divide the space into two workspaces and they’re fitted onto a long wall.

This is an inexpensive way to create a custom workspace and you can find all the details on how their family made it work.

She shows you the pros and cons of this particular hack so you can decide for yourself if they are things that you can live with.

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Woodstone and Linen uses a Hemnes dresser in her kitchen as part of the customization. Her feed is beautiful and worth a few minutes of scrolling to see how she painted different pieces to create a custom kitchen.

I don’t see that she has a blog or another place to see photo’s but you can see quite a lot of her kitchen progress on her instagram.

DIY Pantry by Blesser House

This is a gorgeous and totally practical makeover to create pantry storage in a small space.

Lauren used two Hemnes glass front cabinets, painted them a gorgeous shade of green and built storage where there was none before.

But the best part? She used mirror film in the glass to hide everything!

What a genius way to keep the beautiful glass feeling but not show what all you’re hiding in the cabinets!

Build a Mudroom Bench by House of Hoff

I might have saved my favorite one for last!

I really loved the green kitchen and the green pantry but this mudroom bench is definitely a great custom look built out of Ikea pieces.

The paint and the details are what really make this space so you’re definitely going to have to go look at the photo’s, but basically April used a Hemnes TV Unit and Hemnes Wall Shelves to create a custom mudroom bench with storage.

And they did a great job with it!

So there you have it!

All kinds of Ikea Hemnes hacks using quite a few different pieces from this line.

The Hemnes line, by the way, is solid wood. That’s the reason I like to see these hacks!

I hope you found one that you can copy, or one that you’ll use as inspiration to create your own Ikea Hemnes Hack!

Be sure to follow me on Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest for more inspiration!

You might also enjoy:

• This amazing bathroom transformation
• Wall mural installation hack
• Shiplap Wall Hack