Since I found out about it in<b><a href="http://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/house-home/ten-ways-to-give-your-home-a-new-look-for-a-new-year"> Pallavi Dean's feature</a></b> for us a couple of weeks ago, I've been itching to have a go at <b>Ikea hacking</b>. This is altering or customising a piece of their furniture to give it a new purpose, a completely new appearance or at the very least make it look a little less like everyone else's Ikea furniture.<br/><br/><br/> It's unusual I know, but I really, really like going to Ikea - for reasons too many to list here, so this is right up my street.<br/><br/>I've already had a rudimentary bash at customising a couple of their dark wood <b>Hemnes </b>wardrobes, bought second-hand (I painted them in an eggshell white - radical!). But after visiting the <b><a href="http://www.ikeahackers.net/">Ikea Hackers</a></b> website, where DIYers post pictures of their creative makeovers, I want to tackle something more ambitious.<br/><br/>Not as ambitious as this, however: a double seater baby feeding station converted from a <b>Bjursta </b>dining table (the holes can even be covered up when the adults want to eat there).<br/><br/><br/> Or this - using a as a room divider in a studio flat. I was thinking more along these lines (as spotted on ): an old buffet transformed simply with some turquoise paint and white stenciling. With the junk cleared out and replaced with neatly arranged books, yarns, mementos and other pretty things, this took just a day to complete. Another simple project - this time with spray paints and the cabinet - achieved this... A different type of hacking is changing how you use an object. This <b><a href="http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/40070185/"> Bekvam</a></b> <b>spice rack</b> , for example, serves as a shelf for recipe books after being painted white. Not bad for Dh17. Ta-da! Inspired? I am. Of course with it being wall-to-wall Lack, Expedit and Hemnes over at mine, there's a lot to experiment on. Time to get the spray paint in. <b><a href="http://blogs.thenational.ae/make_it_home_blog_roll/assets_c/2012/01/DSCN2520-thumb-461x640-2476.jpg"><br/></a></b>