IKEA Vittsjo Hack

My husband hates when I do Ikea hacks. 

That's probably because usually I'll solicit his help to do the parts I don't want to do.  ;-)

 

But this particular Ikea hack is so easy that I didn't even need him!  In fact, I completed the entire project in a single afternoon.

Did I forget to mention that the finished project costs only $70?

Heck yes!

 

Here's what you need:

 

Ikea VITTSJO shelf

 

Gold Spray Paint

 

Single piece of glass cut to shelf size

 

Single piece of mirror cut to shelf size

Prep Work:

When you take all of the pieces out of the box, you'll see that it comes with several glass shelves, as well as 2 black particle board shelves.  You can go ahead and throw the black shelves away, because you won't be using them.

Instead, take one of the glass shelves to your local custom glass & mirror store and tell them that you want:

• (1) piece of glass that exactly matches the piece that you brought with you
• (1) mirror cut to the exact dimension as the glass piece

Depending on how busy they are, they can usually cut both pieces in a few hours.  I placed my order in the morning, and it was ready that afternoon.


How To:

 

1.  First, I assembled the metal frame of the shelving. 

Side note: I left off the metal stabilizing brackets because I think it just takes away from the overall look.  However, if you are going to be putting anything heavy on the shelves, then you need to do the assembly with the brackets.

2.  Next, I spray painted the frame using a metallic gold spray paint. 

I prefer Rustoleum Metallic Brass spray paint.  But since I can't find it anywhere anymore, I've started using Krylon Metallic Spray Paint in Metallic Brass -- it seems to be just as good.  It takes about 2 cans to properly do each shelving unit. 

Side note: Don't forget to spray paint the little black feet that go on the bottom of the unit!

3.   After it dries, all you have to do is place the glass & mirror shelves in place.  The mirrored shelf goes on the very bottom, and the clear glass shelves go on all the rest of the shelf brackets.

 

Voila!

I used two of the VITTSJO shelves in my sunroom to flank either side of a little seating area.  Because I didn't want to block the light from all of the windows, these work really well.  After I accessorized them, my hubs didn't even recognize that they came from Ikea!

 

When I told him that they both cost me less than $150 total, he practically did cartwheels.

 

Now that's mission accomplished! 

I'm working on some new window treatments for the sunroom, so hopefully you'll get to see the big reveal of the whole room in a few weeks. ;)