IKEA FORHOJA Kitchen Cart Hack | DIY

For my second DIY project, ive decided to transform my boring yet very functional kitchen trolley into something more eye pleasing. I bought the IKEA FORHOJA kitchen trolley (see here) in a bid of creating more counter space for my appliances, like in every other aspect of my life i tend to get carried away and purchase every gadget under the sun.

The IKEA FORHOJA is a great size, affordable and can house a multitude of things. Only one complaint against it: it comes only in unpainted, boring brown birch wood. Which is lovely and all if you have a rustic theme, but certainly didn’t go with my white and grey kitchen notions.

So no surprise that i went looking for furniture paint options that wont break the bank, but still work towards my esthetic goals. I chose again the Rust Oleum brand (had great success with their Bright Copper Spray Paint when i’ve up cycled my bar cart – see here) and went for their furniture chalky finish matte paint. I got a full tub of the Antique White for the frame and a sample size of the Anthracite for the counter top and drawers. I bought them both in HomeBase, the big pot was around €26 an the sample one about €7. I still have half left of both, so they worked out great value for money.

Luckily i didn’t need to prime the surface as it was a new furniture piece, just dusted it and made sure that there were no stains. One coat was all was needed, the paint becomes more opaque as the time goes on and after the 4 hours recommended my table was fully transformed. I only touched up lightly on the areas i might’ve missed a spot. One thing ive noticed, the chalk paint its not great for layering even after the 4 hours have passed so make sure you take your time and you don’t count on the second coat too much.

Overall im over the moon with how it turned out! Now it fits perfectly in my kitchen and looks way more expensive than the €100 ive payed for it.

Next project is my shed and garden fence, so watch this space!

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