Give the IKEA Fjellse Bed Frame a Little Spice

SK Allen
by SK Allen
11 Materials
$60
4 Days
Easy
My daughter was in desperate need of a bed, and I being in serious cash deficit after Christmas, got the brilliant idea of acquiring an inexpensive bed frame from IKEA and giving it a little pizzazz.

This project was incredibly inexpensive, and fun to do.
The first part of my journey was finding the cheapest available Ikea frame for a twin bed.
The Fjellse frame was the simplest and the best part was that it wasn't stained and was all natural wood.
I grabbed a gray wood stain by Minwax and metallic tempera paint I got at Michaels to stain the natural wood.
I used a paintbrush to place the stain on the wood, then used a Cheesecloth to spread the stain throughout the wood.
I also dabbed the cheesecloth with the tempera to add the blue and green tint to the gray. The result was this gorgeous stain and weathered wood look on the frame.
The result was this gorgeous stain and weathered wood look on the frame.
the next most intensive part of this project was getting the headboard together.
I went to Home Depot and got a 24"X32" pressed wood panel for 5 dollars to make the sparse headboard look more solid.
I went to Home Depot and got a 24"X32" pressed wood panel for 5 dollars to make the sparse headboard look more solid. Once I had lined up the headboard where I wanted it. I drilled holes on to the panel to line up with the headboard before I started to make the headboard more beautiful.
Using E6000 glue I began to glue down flooring samples down on to the panel. Starting with the thicker ones that would go under the three middle slats. I had collected three blocks of a thicker flooring that would serve as relief at the center of the assembled headboard without separating the back panelboard from it.
I arranged the thinner flooring in an aesthetic that was pleasing to my eyes. There is no real rhyme or reason to it. I just liked the way it looked. and glued them down.
Then I was left with this. I really loved how this turned out. But I still had a little excess.
I had planned to fill one of those sides on the headboard as a place where she would be able to put pictures and notes. So I did just that with the excess part of the panel. by taking some poster board and cutting it to size.
I took a $.97 scrap from Walmart in her favorite color and hot glued it on to the poster board. I also added some ribbon and decorative buttons. and glued the part down on to the headboard.
The hardest part of this was to get the headboard on. Mainly because the Panelboard had shifted a little bit, and the holes just did not line up properly. Once I got it figured out, it took about ten minutes to get the whole bed put together.
That is the end result .  Which promptly get covered by the Mattress and pillows.
Headboard is not visible because the mattress is not an Ikea mattress. the project looks expensive but the total cost was just around $60.
Suggested materials:
  • Fjellse Bed frame   (IKEA)
  • Minwax wood Stain   (Home Depot)
  • Metallic Tempera Paint   (Michaels)
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