The Effortless Way To Make Your Ikea Furniture Stand Out

Whether you're furnishing a dorm room or buying for a permanent residence, you can't go wrong with Ikea. It's affordable, stylish, and tends to go with everything. (Plus, they have some surprising finds there.) But just as showing up to a party wearing the same outfit as someone else kind of sucks, walking into the homes of friends and relatives only to see the exact Billy bookcase and Malm bed that are sitting in your own apartment can make you feel less-than-original.

It may sound like a first world problem (and, fine, it totally is), but apparently, we're far from the only people have who struggled with it. A whole industry that specializes in customizing Ikea pieces has sprung up over the past few years, meaning you can easily cover your stand-alone closets or reupholster that hand-me-down couch.

Ever the Ikea obsessives, we wanted to find out the best ways to personalize our pieces — and who better to ask than the people doing just that every day? Read on for their tips.