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IKEA Shoe Storage Makeover

jlhelms92
Feb 8, 2018
4 min read

Two weeks ago I finally made it to the new IKEA in Fishers. My best friend volunteered to go on this crazy adventure with me and 5 hours later we made it through the entire store. My biggest and most exciting purchase was the $99 Hemnes Shoe Cabinet!

I've been searching for a cabinet to replace the shelf in the entryway which would have storage space for Nate's hats, Trinity's leash and harness, and other miscellaneous outerwear. Trouble is our entryway is so narrow that a cabinet's depth could be no deeper than 9.5". Finding a cabinet that narrow is near to impossible. The few I found were extremely overpriced and weren't the right color or style. I discovered that IKEA has two skinny shoe cabinets, the Hemnes Shoe Cabinet and the Stall Shoe Cabinet. Both are very simple in style and have about the same amount of storage space. I ended up choosing the Hemnes cabinet because I like trim, style of the piece and the numerous possibilities to dress it up with hardware.

The day following my exciting purchase, I began my first IKEA build...and it took me roughly 3 hours to complete. I'm not beating any records that's for sure. I removed the shelf from the wall and installed the new cabinet. While enamored with how perfect it felt in the space, I definitely noticed the cabinet wasn't a true white. With a slight cream tint to it, it didn't quite match my SW Bright White trim. I left it in place for about a week while I had already begun researching how to spruce up the piece with a new paint job and inspiration for nicer hardware. In that short time, I had opened the cabinet enough to know that the placement of the hardware was too low as well. I had to tug way too hard on the door handles to open them. I now had a better reason to paint knowing I was now going to have to fill and paint the hardware holes in order to then drill new ones higher up on the doors.

At the end of last week, I had all the supplies necessary to paint a laminate cabinet. I began by taping off the cabinet and doors with painters tape.

Next I had to remove the laminate finish because paint will not properly adhere to it. With 150 grit sandpaper and my brand new Ryobi sander, I began taking off the finish. The idea is to avoid going down to the brown MDF layer, but instead just sand off the shiny coating that is the laminate. In areas there was barely any finish and it sanded down to the particleboard, but for the most part it seemed to be pretty even.

I made the awful mistake of not using ventilation or a mask while sanding and my whole house, including myself, felt like it was coated in paint dust. I ended up propping the front door open and letting the cold air whip through the house to try and pull some of the dust out. After I wiped down the furniture numerous times with a damp cloth and dry towels, I finally had all of the dust off of the piece.

From the numerous DIY blogs I read on painting over difficult surfaces, Zinsser's B-I-N Shellac-Based White Primer is one of the best primers. It's known for sticking to almost any surface and has a fast dry time. If you ever use it, I suggest shaking the ever living crap out of the can and scraping and stirring the bottom with a paint mixing stick. This primer is VERY thin and watery. The shellac in it will settle to the bottom. It stinks horribly like alcohol and like I said it dries super fast, so be prepared to paint quickly and close the can's lid! I used a small 4" roller with 1/4 nap (for ultra smooth surfaces) and covered the whole cabinet frame. I didn't paint the inside of the of the cabinet because it won't be seen. 45 minutes later I added a second coat. Be careful to not have too much primer on the roller or brush as it will leave streaks if it pools, and that can easily happen.

Before filling the old hardware holes on the doors, I used my knob alignment tool to mark the new placement for the holes. I decided on about 1.5" higher for the placement of the new knobs. I wanted to fill the holes and prime before drilling the new holes because at the time I wasn't sure which hardware I was going to use, as it hadn't arrived in the mail. I also wasn't sure how high up I wanted it, so I ended up tracing the alignment tool with sharpie on the taped top part of the door (kept it center). I did this on 3 of the doors and left the 4th one as is so I could test new hardware and placement on it. I used a basic white wood filler to fill the old holes, waited 2 hours, then sanded it down with 220 grit sandpaper.

I decided to drill new hardware holes about an inch and a half higher than the original holes. My system for tracing the alignment tool worked well and I drilled the holes after the primer dried and before adding paint.

Out of the four hardware options I purchased, I decided on the Liberty Clear Bubble Glass knobs. There's something simple, elegant and beautiful about them. Yes, nice new hardware makes me smile!

I ended up doing 2 coats of primer to make sure I completely covered the particleboard (and any missed laminate surface) and 3 coats of SW Bright White latex paint. Once the paint cures, in roughly 30 days, I plan on using a sealer, Polycrylic Protective Finish for Interior Wood. This should prevent the paint from chipping or fading over time. Besides sealing it, I (may) replace the top panel of the cabinet with a beautifully stained piece of wood. However our new flooring will determine this. Anyway, here's my IKEA makeover!