Painting Your IKEA KALLAX: DIY-Tips and Inspiration for a Beautiful Ambience

5 min reading time

Who doesn't know the indestructible, practical and inexpensive shelves from IKEA that offer so much welcome storage space? Unfortunately, there's only a limited choice of colours, so you might miss a bit of individuality too. So if you want to turn an ordinary piece of furniture into something really special, grab a paintbrush and paint your KALLAX shelf.

Would you like to paint your KALLAX?

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Table of content

1. Turning old into new: repainting KALLAX shelves
2. Before and After photos from our community
3. Painting an IKEA KALLAX shelf: how it works
4. DIY Scandi look or shabby style - paints and varnishes for your new KALLAX shelf
5. Little helpers: Buy tools from MissPompadour

Turning old into new: repainting KALLAX shelves

You're probably asking: Can KALLAX shelves be painted ? Does the paint stick to a smooth plastic surface? Yes, you can easily paint all IKEA furniture with plastic veneer without sanding!

Painting furniture with plastic surfaces is a popular IKEA hack. At MissPompadour, you'll not only find the right paint and the perfect painting tools - you'll also find ideas and inspiration here. And the exact instructions you need to pimpyour EXPEDIT or KALLAX .

Inspiration: This is how you could use your new KALLAX shelf and showcase it

As the KALLAX shelf is open and without a back panel, you can not only place it against the wall, but also use it as a room divider. If you want to paint it, consider painting not only the outer walls but also the inner walls. It may look good to paint the front edges a different colour.

Another option is to paint the IKEA shelf exactly in wall paint. This gives it a restrained and discreet look. This is especially recommended for smaller rooms. If you have matching pieces of wooden furniture, paint them in a matching colour as well. In our article on painting wooden furniture, we show you how to do it easily!

With new legs and matching doors, which you can also colour, your KALLAX will easily become an individual chest of drawers.

Why the re-use? This is why you should paint your KALLAX and not buy a new shelf or chest of drawers

One thing about IKEA shelves is that they are sturdy and virtually indestructible. And why throw away something that can last for many years to come?

By giving your KALLAX or EXPEDIT a new coat of paint with our colours, you get a new piece of furniture. Your KALLAX will probably look like no other in the world. And the environment will be happy about it. Why not give your other IKEA furniture a new, individual look? We show you how to easily paint your MALM chest of drawers.

Video: Kallax Regal streichen

In unserem Video siehst du ganz genau, wie es geht.

Before and After photos: Kallax transformations from our community

Let our prank community inspire you! Our customers have already embellished many Kallax shelves.

LittlePomp Apricot & Cheerful

Before After

Suitable for children

- This black all-world shelf has become a highlight for the children's room.

MissPompadour Green with Forest

Before After

In love with detail

- Our customer was fed up with her IKEA furniture and designed a completely new, elegant look.

MissPompadour Grey with Green

Colourful

- The white elements give this shelf a special chic look.

MissPompadour Pink with Grey

Before After

Chic

- A design piece in pink has been created here.

MissPompadour Green with Sage

Organised

- This Kallax is well organised, but not at all boring!

MissPompadour White with Melting

Before After

Umgestaltung -

Mit Rollen und neue Türen hat unsere Kundin ein individuelles Lieblingsstück geschaffen!

How to paint an IKEA KALLAX shelf

With precise instructions, you can achieve a perfect result even if you're a "painting layman". If you really don't know what to do, just contact our friendly and competent customer service team, which is there for you almost around the clock.

Degrease, sand or simply paint?

Cleaning and degreasing IKEA furniture before painting is absolutely essential. The colour must be able to adhere well. The best way to do this is touse our mild MissPompadour To Cleaner. Even if your KALLAX is completely new, you need to clean it thoroughly. Because even new furniture has residues of grease or silicone. Rinse well with clean water and allow the furniture to dry thoroughly before painting.

KALLAX chests of drawers have a smooth, non-porous plastic surface. You should not sandthem . If you want a secure hold for your paint, we recommend our primer MissPompadour To Bond & Block. This primer creates a perfect base for your colour. It is important to use separate, really clean rollers and brushes for primer and varnish.

Tips for painting the plastic surface of the shelf

The smooth plastic surfaces of IKEA shelves are easy to paint. Leave the primer to dry for approx. 3 hours, preferably overnight. Now start painting your EXPEDIT or KALLAX. Regardless of which varnish quality you choose, always paintat least twice. For the smooth surfaces of the KALLAX, we recommend working with a varnish roller.

Tip: If you are using your shelving unit as a shoe rack, for example, or if it is subject to heavy use in any other way, we recommend applying an additional coat of MissPompadour To Seal, at least on the shelves. This will make your coating even more impact- and scratch-resistant and longer-lasting!

DIY Scandi look or shabby style - paints and varnishes for your new KALLAX shelf

The choice of colour should match the rest of the room. Light colour shades that go well with the Scandinavian furnishing style underline the character of KALLAX. Or choose an intense colour to give your KALLAX shelving unit a new look. With the right decoration, it becomes a real eye-catcher. With its strictly geometric shape, the KALLAX is less suitable for the shabby style. But with a soft pastel colour, it will also find its place in a vintage interior. By the way, it's no problem to paint a black KALLAX white, because the varnishes from MissPompadour provide fantastic coverage.

Which colour you use to paint your KALLAX depends on your personal taste, of course. We recommend varnish colour in any case. Choose between our slightly glossy MissPompadour Eggshell Varnish or our matt MissPompadour Matt Varnish. Both are available in many great colour shades. If you're having trouble deciding which colour to paint your KALLAX in, our colour cards are sure to help.

If you want to grab your shelf with chalk paints, you will find a large selection of soft, rich chalk varnishes with a chalky, velvety finish in the CosyColours collection and the LittlePomp collection.

You can also paint your KALLAX with chalk paint. Please note, however, that wall paints do not achieve the same durability on furniture as varnishes.

Little helpers: Buy accessories from MissPompadour

Every handyman and do-it-yourselfer knows it: without good tools, the job won't work. You also need the right tools to paint your IKEA furniture. First, cover the floor under your work well. MissPompadour has a particularly environmentally friendly film for this, which is even compostable. If you like to work with a paint roller, we also recommend our compostable paint tray. Our environmentally friendly paint rollers make working on larger surfaces much easier. If you prefer a brush to paint your IKEA shelf, we recommend our fine MissPompadour brush . With its soft trim, you will achieve completely smooth surfaces without brush marks. How practical, order your painting accessories at the same time and save yourself a trip to the DIY store!