Stuva goes retro! Then meets Dr Seuss

Materials: Stuva Wardrobe, Lialotta plastic coated fabric, Rationell Variera bag holders (x2), furniture tack's, PVC pipe, hammer, screws, double sided tape

Description: I wanted wardrobe for my kids playroom to store all of their dress up's & costumes, but I didn't want to spend a lot - I found a secondhand Stuva wardrobe for $40 (bargain!! retails for over $200), but.. it had Birch colour doors & the room is mainly white with the colourful trofast boxes & a bit of a retro spin to it. So, I could have bought two new doors for $80 from Ikea, or I could set out to change them myself for next to nothing!


Step 1: I bought 1 metre of the yellow check plastic coated fabric from ikea (Lialotta?) & took the doors off the wardrobe & laid them out onto the fabric & cut around them leaving about 3cm's around the edges.

Step 2: I then got double sided tape & folded the fabric over the inside of the doors & then tacked it into place using the small furniture tacks, I then attached the doors back onto the Stuva wardrobe.

Step 3: I also wanted some storage for my boys swords & light sabers (they have A LOT!) so I thought of using the Ikea plastic bag holders (Rationell Variera), I simply screwed them to one side of the unit - you can use the doubled sided tape to attach them if you don't want to drill holes into the unit. I also attached some hooks on the side for their masks etc.

Step 4: I needed a hanging rail in the wardrobe because it only came with two shelves & a wire basket - they retail for $15 at Ikea, so I decided to make my own to save money. I got a piece of PVC pipe from our shed & cut it to size & got two screws & put them into the pre-drilled hole's in the wardrobe & with a bit of effort the PVC pipe clicked into place!

I added an Ikea pingla box on top of the unit for more costume storage!! Works a treat!

But later ... I got sick of the Stuva Wardbrobe covered in oil cloth too. So I decided to make the stuva doors really fun & cover over them in my boys two favourite Dr Seuss books.

Step 1: lightly sanded the birch doors & ripped the pages from 2 books cut them to the same size. I then glued the pages to the doors with PVA glue & once dried coated it in a clear sealer.

Step 2: I added Rationell Variera bag holders to the side of the Stuva with screws, but you could just used double sided tape - they store all of my boys swords & light sabers!! Perfect size & shape.

Step 3: I used PVC pipe to make a hang rail for the wardrobe by cutting it to size & putting two screws into the pre drilled hole & popping the pipe in there.

The boys love the 'new' doors & it doubles as reading practice too :)

~ Peita