Decorate Your Small Apartment DIY Modern Furniture

There is often a rift between one’s tastes and one’s access to–or willingness to part with–the kinda money needed to satisfy those tastes. You might want that beautiful, $8K mid-century modern sofa that you know will last a lifetime, but your budget is $800 and you’re in a rental you’re not sure you’ll be in for more than a year. Rather than selling blood and hocking all of your possessions to afford the sofa, you do what most people do: go to IKEA. IKEA has the right price, their stuff looks good enough, functions well enough and if you have to toss it (which is de rigueur for many IKEA purchases within their first five years), you don’t feel so bad about it. “Less, but better” will have to wait for the next time.

A new book called DIY Furniture 2 might have an alternative to IKEA. Industrial designer Christopher Stuart put this book together, which contains step-by-step instructions for making 30 pieces of furniture from different makers, designers and artist. All of the furniture is made from easy-to-source materials. And the DIY-phobic need not be afraid, most of the designs require little or minimal carpentry chops.

We’re particularly enamored of the leaning rack by Love Aesthetics, which reminds us of a piece from the IKEA PS2014 collection, albeit sturdier and sleeker. It shows how a few simple, sturdy parts, along with a coat of paint, can make an elegant piece of minimalist furniture.

Similarly, Niccolo Spirito’s Diablo Chair is made of common PVC piping, coated in grasshopper-y green paint to give it a funky, modern look. We can’t vouch for its comfort, but it looks pretty cool.

Head on over to Fast Company, where you can see several other of the designs along or pick up the book on Amazon.