Here’s the IKEA Malm Hack We’re Stealing From Our Summer Issue

And three more we’re ready to try.
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Bedroom with pink Malm bed
Photography by Line Klein

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Truth: We love an IKEA hack around here. From transforming Pax shelves into a Parisian-looking closet to coating Billy and Sektion bookcases in paint, we thought we’d seen it all—until we put out our Summer issue, which is chock-full of brand-new ideas for using the beloved Swedish brand’s wares. Here are our four favorite IKEA hacks from the magazine. 

Bright Idea

Magenta kitchen with IKEA cabinets
Photography by Annie Schlechter

In Goop senior beauty editor Megan O’Neill and her husband Jesse Bull’s kitchen, fuchsia IKEA cabinets with Semihandmade fronts—painted Hot Lips by Benjamin Moore—aren’t just a focal point, they’re a conversation starter. “It’s funny, my friend asked me, ‘How did you get your husband on board with a hot pink kitchen?’ And I said, ‘It was literally his idea!’” says O’Neill. The hue is actually Bull’s favorite color; his late father had a 1959 candy-apple magenta Cadillac when he was a kid.

Booster Seating

Living room with IKEA sofa
Photography by Yoshihiro Makino

In Julia Sherman’s Pasadena, California, home, leafy trees envelop the living room, thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows. If you’re lucky enough to get an invite, you can take in the entire view from a Söderhamn sofa that Sherman upgraded with wood legs. 

Pretty in Pink

In Danish creative Céline Hallas’s Copenhagen house, even bubblegum pink is a neutral. “I always want to communicate in my home that you do not need to be scared of living with color,” says Hallas. That even goes for the less-than-$200 IKEA Malm bed that she gave a lick of a bright rosy paint called I Never Promised You a Pink Garden by File Under Pop.

Cozy Cabinets

Kitchen with beadboard fronts
Photography by Chris Mottalini

Though you’d never guess, Susan Woo’s kitchen in her Clinton Corners, New York, home was actually a budget affair. The La Cornue range is a floor sample that Woo picked up at 40 percent off retail. And the bespoke cabinets are actually IKEA frames with Semihandmade beaded fronts. The result is a fresh farmhouse feel—without the hefty price tag.

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Julie Vadnal Avatar

Julie Vadnal

Deputy Editor

Julie Vadnal is deputy editor of Domino. She edits and writes stories about shopping for new and vintage furniture, covers new products (and the tastemakers who love them), and tours the homes of cool creatives. She lives in Brooklyn.