Turn an IKEA Frosta into a designer coffee table
The best-known IKEA hack, and all its variations
IKEA's £15 Frosta stool can become a £50 designer coffee table. One of the best-known hacks, and rightly so.
The £15 IKEA Frosta stool has a perfect shape for becoming a designer coffee table. With a few modifications, you get an object worth £200-400 in shops.
The basic hack (£50)
What you'll need. - 2 IKEA Frosta stools IKEA at £15 each = £30 - 1 oak or walnut board 80×80×2 cm Leroy Merlin or Castorama = £30 - Wood screws, varnish or oil (£10)
Method. Remove the seat from one Frosta, place it on top of the other stool flipped upside down, fix the oak board on top. You get a cylindrical tripod coffee table (on 3 legs).
Alternative tip. Place a circular top 60 cm in diameter on a single Frosta. Side-table effect.
Variation 1, marble top (£80-150)
Replace the wooden board with a marble slab 60×60 cm. Smarter effect, more contemporary.
Sources. Local stone yards (£50-150 for a slab), or IKEA Lack table with integrated marble top (£40).
Variation 2, travertine or raw stone top (£70-200)
Even more signature. Top in travertine (pale veined stone) or in washed raw stone.
Sources. Reclamation yards, flea markets, Etsy craft sellers. Budget £70-200.
Variation 3, paint the legs
The Frosta is in pale beech. Painting it in matt black, forest green or brushed brass radically changes the look.
What you'll need. Metal undercoat plus acrylic paint. £20.
Variation 4, add metal legs
Replace the Frosta legs with matt black or brass metal legs, for a hairpin-leg effect. Screwed directly onto the top.
Sources. Hairpin legs on Amazon Amazon or Etsy, £30-60 for a set of 4.
The rule for not getting it wrong
Check stability. A tripod Frosta can tip over if too heavily loaded on one side. More stable with two Frostas inverted as explained in the basic hack.
Get the height right. The ideal coffee-table height is equal to or slightly below the sofa's seat (see rule 03.2). The Frosta is 38 cm, perfect with a sofa with 40-45 cm seat.
The visual result
Inverted Frosta plus marble top plus painted black legs = "Scandinavian designer table" feel for £150, resembling models sold at £800-1,500 in shops.
## Key takeaways
The Frosta is not a stool, it is a chassis. With a beautiful top and a careful leg finish, you get a designer coffee table at 1/5th of the price. The rule, invest in the top (the visible part) and save on the structure (the invisible part). Method similar to tip 02 on the Pax.