IKEA DUKTIG Kitchen Makeover hack

How many adorable tutorials for the IKEA DUKTIG kitchen makeovers have you seen? Probably tons! It’s a cute toy, very affordable, and making over a tiny kitchen is a heck of a lot more appealing than facing a major kitchen reno in your own home.

What about all the adhesives, finishes and chemicals that go into some of these makeovers? With Homestead House’s Milk Paint, the paint is biodegradable and is natural. Sounds much better!

IKEA DUKTIG Kitchen Makeover

For this you’ll need the DUKTIG, some painter’s tape, the screwdrivers you used to assemble it (since you need to take some parts off for painting) and of course, milk paint! To get this colour I mixed 2 parts Laurentian with 1 part Renfrew Blue (and the 3 parts water).

Painting IKEA Melamine

As with all milk paints, the colours might vary slightly depending on how well you mix the pigments and water, so I recommend mixing the dry pigments together before adding to the water. It will ensure a more even mixture, and less random pockets of colour.

Prepping IKEA Melamine to Paint

Before we get to that though, let’s talk prep! When painting melamine, it’s a good idea to use Fusion’s TSP to wipe down the surfaces first. It clears any residue or dirt, and makes for a better surface.

Bonding Agent

Next-up, you’ll want to add some Bonding Agent aka Ultra Grip to your paint mixture (once it’s been mixed). As always, follow the directions & proportions on the label, but given how much water you ended up using in your paint prep, you might want to modify accordingly.

Painting Children’s Toys with Milk Paint

Taping

You may also want to tape off some parts like the windows and counters, and remove the handles from the doors, but depending on how much you’re painting, that’s your call. We just wanted to keep it simple with one colour for the cupboards and wood countertops.

Painting with Milk Paint

Once your Bonding Agent / Ultra Grip & paint are mixed, and the DUKTIG has been prepped with TSP, it’s time to start painting! I find a wide brush is best for applying milk paint.

It took 4 coats to ensure complete and even coverage of the unit. I mix the paint in smaller increments to avoid wastage, but give how many coats were used you might want to mix bigger batches.

Customizing the IKEA DUKTIG

While we didn’t add anything fancy like a backsplash, or use a stencil to create a tiled countertop, we did paint the feet, handles, and sink white. Following the same process as above, We used Sturbridge White to finish those pieces. Once everything was dry we put it back together.