Oh boy, do I have a great Ikea hack for you! I have been searching high and low for the perfect shelving/desk unit for our son’s room. It’s been challenging to find something that does not have a large footprint.
I decided the Ikea Svalnas series would be a perfect fit. The shelves are only about 10” deep and the desk is less than 14” deep. The best part is the whole unit hangs on the wall, so it’s not taking up any floor space. I am just making some cosmetic updates to it for a more mid-century modern vibe.
THE PLAN & SHOPPING LIST
This is the combination I purchased with a few modifications.
There are two widths available for the Ikea Svalnas unit—they are roughly 32” wide and 24” wide. The left side of my shelving unit will be the larger 32” wide size to accommodate the desk and the right side will be the smaller 24” wide size.
So overall I ended up with:
- 1 x Ikea Svalnas desktop with 2 drawers
- 2 x Ikea Svalnas shelves (32” wide)
- 4 x Ikea Svalnas shelves (24” wide)
- 3 x Ikea Svalnas wall uprights (aka the posts)
STAINING THE SHELVES
I plan to refinish the shelves in an acorn brown color to match the other furniture in the room. The shelves are made of some sort of bamboo veneer. They are not ideal for refinishing, but with a lot of sanding and some prep work, it can be done.
First step—get sanding! The shelves got really white and cloudy when I sanded them. I am not sure why—I don’t think I’ve ever refinished bamboo before. I am assuming it’s either because they are a veneer or because they are bamboo.
After sanding, I wiped them down with a damp rag to remove any dust. I could definitely foresee these shelves getting blotchy when staining them, so I highly recommend using a pre-stain wood conditioner. I followed up by staining them with this Zar stain in Modern Walnut. After they had a good 24 hours to dry, I finished them off with 2-3 coats of matte polyurethane.
PAINTING THE HARDWARE
All of the hardware and the posts will be painted gold. I used this metallic gold spray paint on everything, but in the end, I wasn’t entirely happy with how the color turned out. It was a little too fake-looking and was more of a bronze than a gold. So I ended up applying Rub n’ Buff Gold Leaf to all of the hardware and posts. I am so much happier with the results after using the Rub n’ Buff!
INSTALLING THE SHELVING UNIT
Finally, it was time to install the shelving unit. I personally love assembling Ikea products, but I know there are many people who don’t. The Ikea instructions included templates and measurements, so I felt like it was pretty straightforward. I started by placing the wall uprights (aka the posts) approximately where I wanted them on the wall and then installed them according to the instructions.
There are many different ways you can arrange the shelves. I hung the shelves so that the right side and left side shelves would line up with each other horizontally. I think it gives the shelving unit a cleaner look this way. Time to fill these shelves!
What do you think? Good little hack? The possibilities are endless with this shelving unit. It could easily be painted or stained a number of different ways. Happy hacking!
SOURCES
Ikea Svalnas series shelving unit | Baskets | Dinosaur bookends | Glass jars | White picture frame | Corkboard | Desk lamp | Cotton Canvas Pouf | Floor lamp
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18 Responses
This is amazing! I’ve been looking for something similar to this for my new mudroom. Trying to figure something out for the wall that allows for storage and maybe some decor as well.
Awesome Amy– I’m so glad you found this helpful! Good luck with your project!
Hi Erin,
I’ve been looking high and low for cheaper alternatives to the royal wall system and this is the best solution so far! I’m just wondering if you had any advice for the Svalnas system for the living room with a tv in the middle – would you have a suggestion as to what combination would be best? I would so appreciate this, thank you!!!
Hi Victoria! That is hard to say, I think it would depend on the size of the TV. You could do the wider shelving in the middle and two shorter shelving units on each side? You might also just be able to make your own shelves at a custom length depending on your needs. The Svalnas series also has cabinets which might be nice for storing electronics/cords under the tv. Hope that helps! Good luck with your project!
Great hack! Looks lovely. Do you think sanding would be necessary for painting the wood white or do you think a high quality primer do the trick?
I’m going to try this hack! How’d on you get the Rub n’ Buff To stick to the white metal brackets? It seems like a paste wouldn’t stick to the coated metal.
Yay! So excited to hear that! So… my experience with Rub n’ Buff is that it will only stick to a surface that I just painted. So take all of the metal pieces and give them a quick coat of spray paint (black or gold) and then use the Rub n’ Buff on top of that.
Thank you Hayley! No, you definitely would NOT need to sand as much as I did if you are painting the shelves. I think I would still sand very lightly to rough up the surface so that the paint adheres well. Or you can always test one of the shelves with no sanding and just primer and see how it holds up?
Hello,
I’m in lovvvvvvvvvvve with this room and would like to replicate it. Can you please tell me where you purchased the antique brass bed frame.
thank you so much
Aw thank you Linda! It is actually an antique I found through Craig’s List. It needed a lot of cleaning, but worth it! Hope you can find something similar.
This looks amazing!!! The stain and the painting of the hardware make it look so classy.
I’m thinking about getting this desk/shelf for my apartment as working from home will probably the norm for a while. Do you feel the desk has good support? Im only looking to put a laptop on it but I’m always a big wimp about wall mounted things – I’m afraid Im going to tear it off the wall if I lean on it by accident! haha
Thank you so much Michelle! The entire system is very sturdy. As long as you get the wall slat on snug against the wall, it feels very secure. My 4 year old practically climbs up this thing to reach books, haha!
Hello! I was just looking to see what color paint you used on these walls! I love that green, hope to hear back soon!
Thanks Samantha! It’s actually a custom color, but I have a picture of the paint can lid formula and more details on this blog post:
https://hamiltonparkhome.com/2020/05/modern-vintage-boys-bedroom-one-room-challenge-week-3/
Beautiful! Working on something nearly identical. Did you only need one can of spray and one tube of rub n buff? If so, did you have some remaining?
I don’t quite remember how much I used. Probably 1-2 cans of spray paint. For sure only one tube of rub n buff. That stuff goes a long way!