Woman Transforms An IKEA Lack Coffee Table With Silver Foil
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If your old coffee table has turned into the landing zone for your latest stack of bills or leftover sticky dishes, it may be time for an upgrade. More than just a convenient flat surface to set your stuff, the best coffee tables to accentuate a room also add a little storage and lots of visual punch. That’s one of the reasons thousands of IKEA customers have opted for the Swedish chain’s LACK Coffee Table, a simple option available for $30. Although the affordable find is available in several neutral colors, TikToker mimicai___ figured out a way to make her white one way more elegant in no time by covering it in sheets of budget-friendly craft foil.
While silver lovers have plenty of elegant coffee table options to choose from, many of them are extremely expensive. High-end metallic coffee tables can cost thousands of dollars, and even similarly-sized ones at Walmart are close to $300. Whether you already have a LACK Coffee Table or you need to buy one, you’ll spend a fraction of the price turning it into an elegant silver version yourself.
Since the IKEA bestseller measures 35 x 22 x 18 inches overall, you’ll need approximately 35 square feet of leafing foil to completely cover it. Opting for an imitation silver material made from aluminum will keep your overall cost down. Products like the $9 Cunhill 100 Pcs Silver Leaf Art Foil Sheets from Amazon should be more than enough. You’ll also need a set of gilding brushes and leaf adhesive, both of which you can find online for around $10 each.
Use imitation silver leaf to upgrade a LACK Coffee table
Gilding is one of the retro design trends that are making a comeback in 2026, and the DIY process is simple. Working in sections, use a cheap paintbrush to apply leafing adhesive smoothly across your LACK tabletop and legs. Leave the adhesive alone for around 10 minutes until it’s tacky, then begin applying your silver foil leaf one square at a time. Because the leaf is extremely delicate, make sure to handle it carefully using the tissue paper squares that divide each sheet. You can also use wax paper to gently lift the sheets before pressing them into place. Consider overlapping them slightly to ensure full coverage, or a lot if you want to create texture through the seams.
@mimicai___ My @IKEAUK lack coffee table is next level , inspired by @Jess Cheng #silverfoil #diyproject #ikea #coolgirl
Using imitation leaf doesn’t just keep this project affordable. It also keeps it quick, since aluminum sheets don’t require the same stone burnishing process as real silver. In fact, rubbing it with a traditional burnishing agate is likely to rip your sheets instead of bringing them to a nice shine. Instead, use your gilding brushes to gently press the sheets into place, lifting off any excess where the foil has overlapped. Since it can tarnish over time, consider applying a thin clear acrylic topcoat to seal it.
If the idea of covering an entire coffee table in delicate leaf is overwhelming, it’s also simple and affordable to paint IKEA furniture instead. Since the LACK Coffee table is made from particleboard, you’ll need to wipe it down with trisodium phosphate (TSP) before gently buffing it with fine grit sandpaper. Then, apply thin coats of metallic silver spray paint.
