Shelves are such a practical way of storing stuff and you can’t ever have enough of them. You really don’t need to spend a packet on them either – there are plenty of cheap and basic shelves out there. But just because they’re basic doesn’t mean they have to be boring. With a little imagination even the most basic of shelves can become features in any room but I especially love getting creative with shelves in a kids room.
So here are five cool shelf ideas for a kids room that you can re-create using shelves bought from ikea. Each of these shelf spaces is unique and can be customised to your needs and tastes.
This is such a cool shelf space for a kids room (pictured at the top). It makes a simple but striking feature wall while still providing good storage. You can create similar using the ikea eket shelf units as the forhoja are no longer available. All you need is a few of these storage boxes and a large piece of ply. I like the natural wood look but you could also customise as much as you want using paint, wall stickers or wallpaper.
Backless shelves on a wallpapered wall look so stylish. You can easily get this look with ikea’s ever popular billy bookcase by simply leaving out the back – I did this in my last home and it worked really well. Add some colourful toys and artwork around the shelves and you’ve got a completely unique looking bookcase or shelf.
In this shared boys room, those box shelves in various sizes and shades of green look great on the wall. Instead of being boring boxes, they’ve been turned in to a feature because of the unusual layout, the colours and also using a mix of open and closed shelves. You can get the same look using ikea’s valje wall cabinets. Paint them in any colour, combine a mix of square and rectangular and a mix of open and closed. They’ll end up looking custom made.
How pretty are these shelves? I love the touch of pastel blue that has really made them look special. Using ikea’s bekvan spice rack, you can create a similar look. You don’t have to stick to the idea above, you could paint the whole shelf or you could go for two colours – whatever works for your kids room. And for more storage, create a floor to ceiling wall of these gorgeous shelves.
All shelves don’t have to be made of straight lines like this picture above shows us. What a creative way of storing soft toys. It adds so much charm to the room. You can do similar with ikea sinnerlig baskets (update Oct 16: sadly these baskets are now sold out but Ikea always have new ones coming in that can work). I’ve got one of these baskets which I love so I’m planning to get similar ones and do this in Anya’s new room. It’s a great way of making a feature of her soft toys while having a place to store them too. And of course it saves floor space too especially useful in a small room.
Love these ideas, and we need to brighten up girls’ bedroom, and these look perfect. We often shop at IKEA for kids furniture and for candles….. x
We go to Ikea often too – there is always something there that I have to buy! I too am thinking of one of these kinds of shelves for Anya’s room. So glad you liked them xx
Adore these ideas, you are so creative and just have the greatest taste x
Thank you lovely – Ikea is such a great place to buy cheap and hack in to something unique for your home. Lots more Ikea hacks coming over the next few months xxx
How would you attach the spice racks or the baskets to the wall?
I love the last one especially! It’ would be such a fun feature for Luxs wall as there’s still far to much white. I thought maybe I could spray paint wire baskets with.neon pink or gold and really brighten the room. Exciting! Thanks so much for the brilliant idea Nomita! Now to find some ‘healthy’ spray paint…
Hugs xx p
Thank you. That sounds like a fab idea for Lux’s room. Wire baskets would work really well. I love the colours you’re thinking of – another colour i’m currently obsessed with is rose gold. If you find some ‘healthy’ spray paint, let me know 🙂
With the spice racks, how did you move the cross bar out from the rack to put it across the front of the rack? Do these come with wall attachments? We’ve been debating which spice rack or picture shelf to use from IKEA!
Hi Lacey – I didn’t make this but you can use the Ikea Bekvam spice rack to create similar by using it as it is and painting the crossbar, if that make sense. You don’t need to move the crossbar to the front, just keep it as it is and it will work as a book holder. I don’t think they come with wall attachments. The Mosslanda picture ledge from Ikea is also another option.