IKEA Cabinets - Kristy Letterly (@designingparkside)

Reduce, Reuse, Restore: Turn Old Shelves into a Rolling Cabinet

We’re excited to share this brilliant hack from Kristy Letterly (@designingparkside) who not only saved three shelving units from the landfill, but she also created a huge, rolling cabinet that would normally cost hundreds of dollars brand new. 

In one of our favorite sustainable DIY stories yet, Kristy found three IKEA Kallax 2x2 shelving units on a local resale site. The shelves were in rough shape, but she fixed them up and gave them a second chance as a totally new, useful piece of furniture using Loctite adhesive and a fresh coat of paint.

Watch Kristy’s process in the video below.

See how she did it in this written, step-by-step breakdown. 

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:  

  • 2 or more shelves in need of a second life - Kristy used 3 pre-owned Kallax shelves originally from IKEA (do we need to backlink to Ikea if we reference them? What are the rules around this?)
  • Optional: Cabinet doors
  • Loctite® Power Grab Ultimate Crystal Clear Construction Adhesive
  • Plywood
  • Saw
  • Paintbrush
  • Primer
  • Cabinet-grade furniture paint in a color of your choice
  • Castor wheels 
  • New hardware

Directions

1. Fix up shelves

If your shelves are in rough shape like Kristy’s, give them a little TLC with Loctite® Power Grab Ultimate Crystal Clear Construction Adhesive. Kristy reattached trim that was falling off the edges of each shelf. Loctite® Power Grab Ultimate Crystal Clear Construction Adhesive has a zero-second instant grab, dries clear and works in all weather conditions to bond lots of different materials, including two non-porous surfaces.

2. Optional: Add custom doors

Because Kristy’s cabinet was originally from IKEA, she was able to order a new set of Kallax-style doors and spruce them up before attaching them to her shelving units. You have the option to leave your shelves as is or get creative and make your own doors. 

Kristy even went a step further and added Shaker-style trim to her doors using ¼-inch 1x2 poplar boards. She first cut the two pieces on the side of the door to size, then cut smaller boards for the top and bottom in Shaker style. She attached all four pieces with Loctite® Power Grab Ultimate Crystal Clear Construction Adhesive before adding the doors to the shelving units. 

3. Attach shelving units together

Next, use Loctite® Power Grab Ultimate Crystal Clear Construction Adhesive once again to attach your shelving units together and turn them into a larger cabinet. Kristy attached two shelves together, both facing the same way. Then she attached a third shelf to the side, creating an even, 3x2 cabinet with plenty of shelving.

4. Cut new base and top

Next, measure the top for your cabinet and cut two pieces to size out of plywood - one for the top and one for the base. Attach both pieces with Loctite® Power Grab Ultimate Crystal Clear Construction Adhesive.

5. Paint full cabinet

Once set, sand down your new cabinet, and add primer. Paint two coats of a color of your choice and let dry.

6. Add castor wheels to base 

If you would like to make your cabinet mobile, flip it over and install four castor wheels to the base. 

7. Optional: Add new handles

Finally, you have the option to add new handles or hardware to your cabinet doors. Kristy chose brassy gold handles to compliment the blue paint she used on the cabinet itself.

From three shelves falling apart on a resale site to a new, mobile cabinet capable of storing any number of DIY project supplies. No wonder this is one of our favorite, sustainable DIY projects yet!

If you’re looking to upcycle something in your home, Loctite® Power Grab Ultimate Crystal Clear Adhesive is the easiest way to DIY your next project.

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