This IKEA Bread Bin Ended Up Looking Like a Designer Side Table
IKEA’s MAGASIN bread bin was designed to sit on a kitchen countertop, with a solid beech body and roll-top door for storing bread. The curved slatted front opens without the clearance required by a hinged door. It was never designed to become furniture.
TikTok creator @saniashome gave the bread bin a different use by turning it into a side table. Bread-bin sections formed the cabinet body, while black paint, slim handles, and metal hairpin legs changed the proportions and appearance.
The biggest clue to its original purpose remained in place. MAGASIN’s narrow wood slats became the fluted cabinet front, turning part of a bread box into the detail that gives the finished piece its designer furniture look.
IKEA Bread Bins Supplied the Cabinet Bodies
MAGASIN bread bins already have several parts needed for a small cabinet: a solid wood box, an enclosed compartment, a movable door, and a curved front. Using the existing structure avoided building those elements from separate boards.
The slatted roll-top doors also provided the surface detail. Once repositioned for the new furniture shape, the strips of beech read as fluting across the cabinet fronts.
Bread Bin Sections Were Joined Together
Wood glue was applied where the bread-bin sections meet, joining them into taller cabinet bodies. The existing boxes provided the structure while keeping the original doors in use.
Curved edges line up across the sections, preserving the rounded profile instead of creating the square front found on many small cabinets.
Black Paint Framed the Natural Wood
Painter’s tape protected the sections intended to remain bare before black paint was added to the tops and edges.
Leaving the beech fronts exposed created contrast between the pale wood and dark frame. Grooves between the slats remain visible, so the texture continues across both painted and unpainted sections.
New Hardware Changed the Bread Bin Profile
Original wooden handles were painted black to match the dark sections of the bread bins. Keeping the existing handles preserved the working roll-top doors while changing their appearance.
Black hairpin legs were then attached underneath, raising the bread-bin bodies from the floor and bringing the tops to side-table height. The black handles, painted sections, and metal legs create contrast against the exposed beech fronts.
Roll-Top Doors Became Fluted Cabinet Fronts
MAGASIN’s slatted doors remain functional after the conversion, leaving enclosed storage inside each table. Small items can sit behind the curved fronts while the upper surfaces remain open for a lamp, books, or decor.
Once upright, the narrow strips of wood create vertical lines across the fronts. That change in orientation makes the original bread-bin doors resemble the fluted and tambour fronts used on contemporary cabinets and side tables.
Finished Pair Looks Far Removed From Kitchen Storage
Placed together, the finished pieces read as a coordinated pair despite their different heights. Natural beech fronts sit between black tops and bases, while the hairpin legs keep the cabinet bodies raised above the floor.
Much of what defines the finished tables was already part of the bread bins. Curved doors provided storage, wood slats supplied the fluted fronts, and solid beech formed the cabinet bodies. Paint, handles, and legs changed how those existing parts are used.
Would you recognize the IKEA MAGASIN bread bin if you saw one of these beside a sofa?
All image credits: @saniashome