Our somewhat Ikea “hacked” entertainment center and an honest Ikea besta review – almafied.com

Our somewhat Ikea “hacked” entertainment center and an honest Ikea besta review

home sweet home

Hey guys, it’s been pretty busy this past weekend as we celebrated Mr. J’s 28th birthday. It was an unexpectedly fun weekend, because he was actually scheduled to work overtime the whole weekend and at the last-minute on Friday, he heard the good news! I think I might have possibly physically jumped for joy while washing the dishes when I saw his text. It was a nice surprise, especially being stuck at home with a sick son for the last half of the week. It was the best news I could have heard at that moment.

It was a nice break, but I’m back and wanted to share our entertainment center with you! It is a fairly large cabinet, but even for my small home, it actually works really well. Does it look like one large piece of furniture..? Well, it’s actually 2 identical ikea cabinets connected together to make “one” large cabinet. Would you call it a hack.. Why not?! LOL

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Now, we actually had one of these cabinets already. But we were in the market for one bigger to better fit the needs of the space and better anchor the tv. After much thought and not seeing one within our budget, we decided to just get another cabinet just like it to make one big media center. We just added brackets from home depot to the back to attach the 2 cabinets together. They can just as easily be removed to use the cabinets separately if we wanted to. But, it’s the perfect size for this wall so I doubt we’ll be doing that any time soon.

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Have you ever felt like because your home is on the smaller side, you shouldn’t buy large items for the home. Well, in some cases this is very true.. For example, we bought a dining table that clearly made the room all table and no space for people to sit. LOL. That had everything to do with me rushing and just being overly excited. And it did cost me. Lesson learned, right?! So learn from my hasty, foolish ways and measure-measure-measure! Anyway, with that said, this isn’t always true. A lot of small items in a space can actually make a space seem crowded, smaller and cluttered. Not a good look right?? So just be mindful of that when you’re decorating and getting new furniture. I can be an impulse buyer, so I have to tell myself this too!

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TV13

Our cabinet carries everything and more, seriously. You would think it would take up the whole room with all that we’re able to store in there. On the left is all our board/card games,along with paperwork that I need within reach on the bottom shelf. On the right is all our movies/video games and gaming controllers. I chose these 2 end doors to be covered completely to tuck away and hide what would look unsightly with all the busyness going on in there. The 2 middle doors, on the other hand are glass faced so we can see the dvd player and gaming systems when it’s in use. Could you imagine if it was all glass doors. It would look so cluttered, no matter how organized it was.

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The great thing is that though it is large, it isn’t very deep, which is perfect for this space. Being right by the front door, you don’t want a piece of furniture that sticks out so far and get in the way of a guest’s line of sight. Or in the walk way of course, if you can help it. And because this holds so much, I really don’t need much more storage for this room to function well. Honestly, before we got this cabinet, this room was really hard to keep clean. Crazy what one (2 put together in this case) piece of furniture can do for one’s sanity! LOL!

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tv11 copy

So, on to what you might be wondering.. What do I really think of this Ikea Besta cabinet. Well, here are the pros: I have to say, I do love it! It might not be a show stopper with its looks. But let me tell you, we’ve owned this for about 2 years or so now, and it has held up well and served its purpose excellently. The clean lines of the cabinet makes it suitable in many different types of relaxed home designs. They also have different finishes and colors of wood so you can easily find one to suit your needs. The depth was perfect for our little home. It was fairly simple to build. I did this by myself with minimal help from my husband.. With this line, you can build different types of cabinets, customizing it to fit the needs of your home. It’s personalizing capable! Did I just make that phrase up.. Maybe. You never know with me! LOL. These doors, legs and handle pulls were my choice. Although, they do have some preset cabinets to choose from. It even has wall attachments if you choose to use it as a wall cabinet. At the price point, this really couldn’t be beat. I also noticed that often Ikea has these discounts if you have the Ikea family card with them, which is what we did on top of an Ikea sale that was going on. So it was well worth buying 2.

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The cons of this Ikea cabinet would have to be a not so stand out piece. It is very simple in design, which is why I love it but for someone who is looking for pottery barn, rustic and real wood, heirloom type pieces, this isn’t it. Would I love to have one of those, yes, maybe some day when the kids are bigger! But this cabinet is perfect for my small kids who I don’t worry too much about, as they go in and out of the cabinets grabbing what they need. Now if this piece was 3 times the price, I’d think twice about letting them. One other thing, is every now and then I do have to tighten a few screws on the cabinet hinges to get the cabinets to be perfectly aligned again. Not sure if its cause my kids are rough with it or if it’s the cabinets problem. But, honestly, for me, it’s not a deal breaker.

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Well, what do you think of our entertainment area? Doesn’t it seem kinda crazy having a cabinet this big in my little home? Crazy enough, it actually works. In fact, I think this gives the room an illusion that it’s bigger than it actually is. I kinda love it! Everyone who’s come over after we changed to 2 cabinets has said the room looks bigger. I just smile because I know it’s all thanks to this bad boy right here that tucks everything away and keeps the room tidy.. Well as much as possible with toddlers running around all day, of course! HAHA! Well, hope you’re enjoying your week friends and hope to hear from you!;) If you loved this space or found it helpful, or just feeling extra kind today, show me some love and pin a photo on your pinterest or share on instagram/ Facebook and/or twitter and tag me!! I wanna check you out! Thanks for coming by!

Comments

  1. Reply
    Suzanne

    just curious – your IKEA hack for your entertainment center- what type of cabinet specifically did you buy. I can not find it on the IKEA website. Thanks Suzanne – reinbolts@hotmail.com

    1. Reply
      Almafied

      hi Suzanne! I basically bought 2 of these frames and then 2 of these solid doors and these glass doors. Hope this helps! They actually had a deal as a set and I was able to choose my own doors. So it was cheaper if you get that deal. But even without the combo, it seems to still be a good price!

      1. Reply
        Jessica Aguilar

        ALMAFIED, did you screw holes in the cabinets for the doors?? Or how did you do it? Please !! Thank you !

        1. Reply
          Almafied

          Hey there! No I didn’t have to drill any holes because it already comes with holes for the shelves and it’s the same holes you would use for the door hinges. Hope hat helps!

  2. Reply
    Kristen

    Can I ask what size TV that is for reference? Looking for a media unit & love how you put this together.

    1. Reply
      Almafied

      Hi Kristen, this tv is a 55 inch. thanks so much! this thing holds everything!

  3. Reply
    Anna Peralez

    What a great idea! I love it! Where did you get the feet for the frames? Does Ikea carry them or did you purchase them else where?

    1. Reply
      Almafied

      Hi Anna, the feet on the cabinet are from ikea. they are sold separately. hope this helps!

  4. Reply
    Ashley

    I love this!!!! I already ordered everything—I just have two questions. First, did you have to cut holes in the back of the cabinets to run the wires since this frame was not the TV frame? Secondly, did you find that shelf somewhere or make it yourself? I can’t seem to find any floating shelves long enough. Thanks!!

    1. Reply
      Kristen

      I recently just purchased this combo as well. IKEA sells both “tv” cabinets that have the cutouts & plain cabinets that have solid back. I opted for the tv cabinets to not deal with cutting holes & it’s the same exact ones.

      1. Reply
        Jessica Aguilar

        Karen, what is the name of the cabinets with the holes that you purchase. I can’t seem to find them. Please and thank you

        1. Reply
          Kristen

          http://m.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/art/40299890/
          You have to buy the doors, legs, knobs, hinges & shelves all separately.

          1. Jessica

            Thank you!! Did you have to drill holes for the doors??

  5. Reply
    Angineh

    Hi, I love this idea of putting the cabinets together. Do you mind sharing the link for it because I have been looking and can’t seem to find it. Thank you 🙂

  6. Reply
    leslie

    Hi! I love your cabinet! We are looking at Besta as well to build something similar. Do you happen to remember the name of the legs you used? Thanks so much!

  7. Reply
    Leslie

    Hi! I love your cabinet! We are looking at Besta as well to build something similar. I’m wondering if you remember the name of the legs you used? Thanks so much!

  8. Reply
    Christina Leinen

    Hi! I love this! What hardware did you use for the doors?

    1. Reply
      Almafied

      hi Christina these are knobs from ikea. they are the basic chrome ones. it was in their kitchen section. hope this helps!

  9. Reply
    Hông Vo

    http://m.ikea.com/us/en/search/?query=Besta&_=1451706261642#/us/en/catalog/products/art/80294503/

    Is this the frame that you used? I’m so excited to start on this!

  10. Reply
    Renee

    Hi, can’t seem to find the cabinet where can I find ?

  11. Reply
    Camille Horvath

    Just a thought… I may do this same thing but top it with some rustic reclaimed wood to give it that pottery barn feel but still keep the clean lines. Thanks for the inspiration!!

  12. Reply
    Nancy

    Where did you purchase the floating shelf! I have not been able to find one that is long enough.

    1. Reply
      Almafied

      hi there, the floating shelf was purchased from ikea. They have different kinds of floating shelves to choose from so you should be able to find one there!

  13. Reply
    AngieS

    Hi! Just found your page and love your entertainment center wall. Where did you find the clock?

    1. Reply
      Almafied

      Hi Angie! I’m glad you found the blog! The clock is from TjMaxx but I’ve also seen it at Homegoods and Marshalls. Hope this helps!

  14. Reply
    Karie Culbertson

    Hi! I love your lantern on the left side. Where is that from?

  15. Reply
    Rebecca Knapp

    Hi Alma! Just found your blog – just wondering, the top seems to be one piece as I can’t see a seam between the two pieces – how did you do that? Thanks for the ideas!

  16. Reply
    Nadiya

    Hello! How did you put the door handles on? Did you have to drill through the glass to get them on?

  17. Reply
    Mary E

    I love this and would like to do something similar. How did you remove the doors to have 2 right swinging and 2 left swinging?

  18. Reply
    Casio wall clock Brand

    Hello
    How are you? All the information inside your website is entered in many popular websites. I am very happy. I would like to have a relationship with you. If you agree, thank you.

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