How I Turned IKEA Kitchen Cabinets Into Chic Office Storage With $20 Barbecue Skewers

PublishedJul 26, 2022 1:10 AM EDT

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OK so my mom is a motivational keynote speaker, and like everyone when the pandemic hit, her work went virtual. The problem wasn’t that she couldn’t still inspire people behind a screen—it was her office. There was only so much moving around the house she could do to find a decent background that didn’t include peeling wallpaper or mismatched furniture. Luckily, I (an avid HGTV binge-watcher who’s convinced Joanna Gaines is her soul sister) had two years of sleepless nights to dream up a vision for my mom’s workspace. I was living in the U.S. when COVID hit and couldn’t get home to Australia until late December 2021. So when I finally landed in Sydney, it was straight to Bunnings (the Australian Home Depot), and Project Green Room was officially on.

Originally, my goal was to build a built-in storage unit from scratch—I’m no Jonathan Scott, but I know my way around tools and carpentry. But between time constraints (and probably my mom’s fear of my workmanship falling on her), we went the flat-pack route. By using IKEA kitchen cabinets for the structure, the supplies we needed were basically just stuff we already had around the house, like drills and Allen keys. There was never an exact spoken budget, but thanks to the savvy-shopper gene I inherited from my grandma, the total came to about $1,400 AUD ($975 USD). But the biggest saver of all was having three generations of my family plus talented friends happily chip in and lend a hand. That’s something money just can’t buy.

Going green took a LOT of convincing, since my mom definitely errs on the side of neutrals. Every time we passed a green wall—whether it was a neighbor’s fence, the hardware store, or IKEA itself—I’d make her pose in front of it to convince her it was her color. Eventually I won, and we went with Black Water by Dulux.

Mom was captain of painting because, apparently, my struggles to color within the lines are grounds for not being allowed near a paintbrush (lol). While she swathed the wall in that rich emerald hue, I assembled the four IKEA kitchen base cabinets, which we chose for their sturdiness and deep storage. The Bunnings staff suggested topping them with $100 heavy-duty pine plywood-blend pieces for the tabletop. Since the surface needed to span nearly 4 meters, we bought two slabs, cut them to size, and secured the full length with liquid nails and wood filler to hide the seams.

While I’d agreed to use stock storage units, I was still dead set on adding my own design to the $35 IKEA doors. I was really drawn to a fluted look, and while the dowel design was simple, the price was not. With the number of channels I’d need to cover the fronts, it would’ve cost over $3,000—nearly triple the entire project budget.

For weeks I racked my brain for alternatives, and despite my mom’s wishes, I just couldn’t let it go. Then it hit me: skewers! We immediately headed to a barbecue store and bought 1,000 for $20. The only thing left to do was trim the pointy ends.

OK maybe I’m biased, but my grandpa is the most talented and wonderful man. No matter the problem or project, he’ll find a way to make it work. But like his daughter, he’s a total perfectionist. His catchphrase for even the slightest issue? “Big problem.” So when I brought over the 1,000 skewers to be cut, I naively thought it’d be an afternoon job. Little did I know this “big problem” would cost me tears of frustration and take more than two weeks to solve. I was happy to individually cut off the points with scissors, a saw, a knife, or the pruning shears a Reddit thread suggested—all strategies that mortified my grandpa, who quickly pointed out they’d never all be even that way. After testing one contraption after another, the winning solution was a $2 sanding disc, and ironically it only took 30 minutes to cut all 1,000 bamboo sticks. But that major brainstorming delay meant it was all hands on deck to finish my must-have fluted doors.

Mom stuck to painting through most of the skewer drama. Since the shelves only came in a darker shade, the Bunnings color experts tinted the primer with some of the same Black Water paint so we wouldn’t have to do as many green coats. Looking back, sanding the bookshelves first would’ve made the whole process way smoother (painting straight onto laminate means it keeps peeling off even when lightly knocked).

It was my last day in Sydney when everything finally came together. While my grandma sat and watched in support, my grandpa (who would never let me tell you his age, but let’s just say he was born in 1925) was on his hands and knees helping install the doors, the shelves, and everything in between.

This project was a total labor of love and genuinely a team effort. Our neighbor saved the day after I accidentally cut off our internet, and my electrician friend installed the light fixture and dimmers. Working with my family is a memory I’ll always hold dear, but trust me, it wasn’t easy. We all have different personalities, visions, ideas, and ways of doing things, and we definitely vented to each other… about each other. But in the end, with communication, high-fives, and a little give-and-take, my mom got her dream Zoom backdrop.

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