IKEA Malm Hack Grasscloth Table With Peel And Stick Wallpaper

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I love doing little DIY projects that are low in cost and can be completed in one day! This was the case with this very simple IKEA Malm hack – I covered this simple dressing table with faux grasscloth for a very high-impact final result.

The Inspiration

I have been eyeing grasscloth furniture pieces for quite some time now. Grasscloth, caning, and bamboo details are making a huge come back. (Read my last post for my new faux bamboo dining chairs.) The grasscloth provides visual interest and texture to an otherwise simple and modern design.

Unfortunately, that type of furniture is costly. I couldn’t bring myself to spend thousands of dollars on something with such simple construction. I even thought of building a table myself but then I spied the perfect design on this very inexpensive IKEA Malm table.

Even though the expensive furniture is covered in real grasscloth, I decided to use faux grasscloth for my first attempt. It’s much cheaper and it’s peel-and-stick, so I wasn’t too worried about messing it up. The kind I got is the one by RoomMates and is available both on Amazon and Target online.

The Ikea Malm Hack

I used the Ikea Malm Dressing table because it is the closest thing I could find to the inspiration table. But first, a word about IKEA furniture. Yes, it’s very affordable, but you get what you pay for in most cases. The compromise comes in the type of materials used – usually laminated fiberboard or very thin pine – and in the assembly. I wasn’t too worried about the inferior material and finish because I knew I was going to cover it up. To reinforce the construction and prolong the life of the piece, I added wood glue at the joints. Hopefully, that’s sufficient for now.

The Wallpaper

This is what the paper looks like up close. Smooth surface with the grasscloth printed on it. It doesn’t have any texture. There’s paper backing that you just peel off – like a sticker. This wallpaper is removable without leaving any damage to the surface. You can put it on and lift and readjust as much as you need.

I cut a large piece to wrap the outside of the table and tucked the paper underneath the feet. The hardest part is smoothing the air bubbles that tend to form. I just used a wallpaper smoothing tool to do that as best as I could. The print of this paper is very forgiving of any imperfections.

I wrapped the excess paper around the legs and cut the corners to create that mitered look. Kind of in the way that you would wrap a present. Then two other pieces covered the inside of the legs, right over those holes you see up there. I ran my fingers over the area of the little holes and marked them on the wallpaper. That’s where the drawer gets attached after.

I thought I needed to order a second roll of paper for the drawer but was able to cover it entirely by using remnants. There are probably four or five pieces covering the drawer. You can’t tell where the seams are even if you looked closely. That’s how user-friendly this paper is!

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