We’ve had the same IKEA TV stand in our home for a long time…probably 20 years. This thing is so old, they don’t even make this piece of furniture anymore. It’s the IKEA Markor media cabinet, but it looks similar to some of IKEA’s current Havsta, Besta, Brimnes, Kreative and Hemnes entertainment systems.
Our IKEA entertainment center has been here for so long because:
- It still works
- It’s cheaper to keep this tv console than buy something new
- This piece of IKEA furniture has held up REALLY well for its age
- I love all of the extra storage room it provides for books, board games, our DVD player etc.
But as I looked at this thing in our living room day in, day out, I felt like it could benefit from some kind of update…a fun IKEA TV stand hack that would give this guy a bit of an update.
And although I love that this is a deep cabinet with plenty of storage, I didn’t necessarily want to SEE everything inside of it all the time.
I also didn’t want to go overboard doing something that would be a) expensive, or b) time-consuming because to be honest, this piece of furniture isn’t worth THAT much of an investment or Herculean effort.
I hemmed and hawed about different things and potential ideas, but finally settled on the concept of installing some DIY cane cabinet doors! I’ve always loved the look of cane furniture…it’s such a classic design look that never seems to go out of style. I’ll show the step-by-step tutorial in case you decide you’d like to try the same!
DIY Cane Cabinet Doors: Supplies
Here’s what you’ll need for your own DIY cane cabinet doors IKEA TV stand hack:
- IKEA cabinet (ours is a Markor, but this would work with most IKEA styles that have glass doors)
- cane webbing (measure the size or your doors plus at least 2-3″ overhang on all four sides of the glass panel to ensure you’ll purchasing enough material)
- scissors
- glass cleaner (if keeping the glass in your doors)
- staple gun with staples (I love this particular tool/brand that I’ve had for several years)- I used 3/8″ staples
- screwdriver or power drill driver
- sink and water
- wood-grain tape to finish raw cane edges (optional)
- new cabinet/drawer pulls (optional)
How To Add Cane Webbing to Your IKEA Cabinet Doors
Some IKEA doors have an inset in the glass doors, in other words, the glass sits in a bit of a cavity so that the glass is not flush with the back of the cabinet door.
If that is how your IKEA doors are made, it would allow you to tidy up the back of the cabinet door easier because you’ll have a cavity to fit the cane webbing inside of.
In that situation, you’d be more likely to install a precisely cut cane panel (I’d recommend using a utility knife) on the inside of the door. In this situation, you wouldn’t use staples, but rather wood glue or hot glue to affix the cane panel inside the lip of your cabinet door.
On the Markor doors, however, that cavity was not present. So I either had to do a lot of work with our Kreg Jig (amongst other tools) to create a cavity, or just settle for mounting the cane flush with the back of the door.
I chose the latter (easier) option because this is a 20-year old piece of furniture, and I didn’t feel like I wanted or needed to devote that much time into this DIY project.
1. Soak cane webbing.
The first step in this process is to soak your roll of cane webbing in water. This is because your webbing will arrive tightly coiled, and as you’ll see when you attempt to unroll it, it immediately will want to recoil.
Put enough water in your sink or bath tub to soak the entire roll. Allow the cane to sit in the water for 30 minutes up to a couple of hours.
You’ll know it’s ready to work with when you can unroll it, and it doesn’t fight back so much. You won’t ruin it by soaking it like this. It will make it much easier to work with, and the overall installation will be much better in the end.
2. Remove IKEA doors from cabinet.
The next step is to remove your IKEA cabinet doors. Ours are held in place by two hinges. Each has three Phillips head wood screws. Use a screwdriver or power drill driver to unscrew each screw. Save them in a safe place.
3. Clean glass.
If you are not removing the glass in your doors, you’ll want to give both sides a good cleaning before moving on.
4. Staple cane webbing to back of cabinet doors.
On top of a hard surface, unroll your cane webbing onto the back of your cabinet door. The cane webbing will have one side of the roll that is sewn. Don’t cut this end. Keep that edge intact.
Staple along each side of the glass panel, trying to keep your staples in a nice, neat line. I stapled about every 1.5″ or so.
Make sure to avoid covering the hinges! You don’t want to install your cane over top of where the hinges attach your doors to the cabinet. This will make it harder to re-install the doors, and prevent your cabinet doors from closing.
Pull the cane as tightly as you can while stapling, but don’t fret if it doesn’t feel extremely taut. The wet cane will shrink and tighten up as it dries!
5. Cut excess cane webbing.
Grab your scissors (any pair should do), and carefully cut the excess cane webbing.
6. Apply wood-grain tape (optional).
After allowing your cane to dry completely (I dried ours overnight), I used a roll of wood-grain finishing tape (basically duct tape with a wood finish print on it) to clean up the cane edges on the back of the cabinet doors. It worked ok…I won’t say perfect.
But it did help clean it up a bit since our Markor cabinet doors didn’t have an inlay panel that would allow us to install the cane more or less inside the door frame. We had to settle for installing our cane on the surface of the back of the door.
If the raw edges of the cane webbing don’t bother you on the back of the doors, it’s definitely ok to skip this step!
7. Re-install cabinet doors.
All that’s left is to re-install your IKEA tv stand doors.
Grab the screws you removed earlier and your screw driver, and simply re-attach your new and improved doors to the cabinet hinges in the same way you took them off.
DIY cane cabinet doors results and FAQs
How long it take to add DIY cane cabinet doors
This whole project (not counting time spent soaking the cane, or time spent allowing the cane to dry) took about an hour to complete, or 30-minutes per door.
I didn’t mind the dark wood stain on this media console, but you could choose to paint your own. If you go that route, it would obviously add time to the project.
How Much Do DIY Cane Cabinet Doors Cost?
The roll of cane cost $18, and the wood-grain tape (again, optional) cost $12. So for a total cost of $30 I was able to give this old IKEA media center (and our family room) a whole new look with these simple DIY cane cabinet doors! I’m really happy with the finished product and the unique look this gave our old piece of furniture.
Happy building and IKEA hacking!
On the hunt for more simple furniture projects, IKEA hacks, or home DIY projects? Be sure to check out these articles, too!
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Pin this project for later! And if you decide to try it, leave a comment on the pin! That helps others know whether they want to try it, too!
Don’t leave empty-handed! Grab your free copy of our “25 Best IKEA Buys For A Stylish Home On A Budget” list! It’s the next best thing to an IKEA cinnamon roll (and if you haven’t tried one of those, you are missing one of life’s biggest joys)!
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