5 Ikea Home Improvement Products You Didn't Realize Existed

Ikea is one of the most fun retail stores in the world. You can buy virtually anything there, from home goods to textiles and furniture (and meatballs). It is not only possible, but easy to furnish almost an entire home using Ikea's selection. The brand even sells some pretty cool electronics like Bluetooth-equipped lamps and induction cooktops. The brand has a design and planning tool to help you visualize how furniture and other products will look in your home. In short, it's a good place to spend an afternoon if you need to fill out your home. 

The Swedish retail giant has no intention of stopping when it comes to filling out its product library. Over the last decade, it started dipping its toes in other products, such as its smart home lineup, which includes smart light bulbs, plugs, and motorized smart blinds. Ikea has also explored the home improvement category with some tools that are surprisingly affordable. Don't get us wrong, Ikea's home improvement products aren't competing with the best tools you can buy, but that doesn't make them bad by any stretch.

If you're in the market for some home improvement products and have a trip planned to your local Ikea, here are a few products you may not know you can buy at Ikea. After all, the brand's lineup is so vast that there are probably a hundred things in there you didn't know they had. That's half the fun of shopping at Ikea. 

Ikea sells a cordless drill, and it's actually pretty decent for the price. The package includes a drill, a battery, and a small storage case with an extra slot for a spare battery — should you want to buy one. Unlike most conventional cordless drills, where the battery charges from a base, the Ikea Trixig cordless drill charges via USB-C, like any current Android phone or iPhone. That makes it a boon for households without a garage to store, as it keeps everything in a nice, neat package. 

In terms of functionality, it works like other cordless drills. There is a torque wheel to adjust for harder jobs, along with an LED light to see into dark corners while you're drilling. Ikea also includes a helpful magnetic strip on top of the drill to hold onto screws for you. In terms of power, there doesn't seem to be any indication of torque on the spec sheet. It likely isn't as powerful as more powerful drills from the major drill brands. Even so, based on customer reviews, it seems more than good enough for household stuff. 

The big deal here is that it's surprisingly inexpensive. For $70, you can get the drill along with a spare battery to fill out the case, and have enough power to do most DIY things at home. Ikea also sells a 20-piece drill bit set and a 5-piece hole saw set to complete the cordless drill collection. 

Another home improvement gadget you can get at Ikea is the Trixig cordless screwdriver. This little guy performs most of the same functions as a drill but with less power. Much like the Trixig drill, the electric screwdriver charges its internal battery over USB-C, giving you the same convenience of charging it over the same cable as your smartphone. The smaller stature makes it perfect for simple tasks like screwing in furniture screws, taking apart or putting together electronics, and other small tasks where a drill would be overkill. 

Ikea keeps it simple here. The package comes with an electric screwdriver with the battery already installed. You only need to take it out of the pack, charge it, and you're off to the races. It's also compatible with Ikea's 20-piece drill bit set, so you can actually get the drill, the bit set, and the screwdriver and use them all with each other. Like the Trixig drill, it comes with a little light in case you need it and a magnetic strip to hold screws along the top. 

Regular drills can get up there in terms of power, but electric screwdrivers don't need nearly as much power. Thus, while the Ikea electric screwdriver isn't on our list of the best electric screwdrivers on the market, it's probably just outside of the list and can likely compete with the lower brands on the tier. At a scant $30, it's an easy product to recommend as well. 

Hand tools come in all shapes and sizes. The best hand tool brands usually have some pretty hardcore tools with lifetime warranties that are built to withstand stuff like fixing cars and other, more professional uses. If you don't need that kind of power, you can get a reasonably good set of hand tools for much less money through Ikea. The retail giant sells its hand tools under the Trixig brand like its cordless drill and electric screwdriver. 

The centerpiece product is the 15-piece hand tool set that comes with basics like a hammer, screwdriver (with bits), a crescent wrench, and a pair of pliers. There's a similar blue and white container as the Trixig drill, and the two containers are meant to be stackable, which helps save space. In any case, these tools won't compare to something built to withstand professional environments. For household use, they're perfectly reasonable. Ikea also sells a tape measure, a 25-piece screwdriver set with bits, and a carpenter's level. They are all very reasonable for their price tags.

In fact, the price tags are what make these hand tools so appealing. The 15-piece hand tool kit is $16, and the other three hand tools combined are $13. That means for under $30, you can get a basic set of hand tools that will let you hang pictures, drive in a nail, or do other stuff around the house, and since the containers are stackable, they'll be easy to store almost anywhere. 

Of all the things Ikea sells, paint, oil, and wood stain were not on my Bingo card. Admittedly, the selection here isn't large. Still, the fact that you can get some basic paint or wood stain from Ikea is convenient. It can't compare to home improvement stores like Home Depot, where you can get 64 different shades of white for indoor, outdoor, and hobby use, but sometimes, you just need a clean, white paint, and for those use cases, Ikea's selection is good. 

Ikea's Poppare paint comes in three colors, including black, white, and gray. It's a water-based, low-gloss paint that Ikea says is suitable for indoor use only. It's mostly made for unfinished surfaces, like wood, although Ikea also says that it works on metal. These are reasonable options to paint an unfinished bookcase or nightstand, or even touch up a white wall, assuming it's actually white and not one of the dozens of near-white colors out there. For the wood stain, Ikea's Varda wood stain only comes in one color, which is clear. It is suitable for indoor or outdoor use and keeps the natural luster of the wood. For the wood oil, Ikea's Stockyard works best on wood countertops, cutting boards, and things like that. 

Ikea doesn't stock these in every store, and the company doesn't ship them either. So, you'll want to check online if your store has them in stock before heading out to get some. You may wind up needing to go to Home Depot anyway. 

Ikea is known for its countertops and other topping materials, so the fact that the brand sells decking materials isn't terribly surprising. Before anyone gets any ideas, you can't build a traditional deck with the stuff you get at Ikea. However, if you ever want to cover up an ugly patio with something that adds a little flair and color, then Ikea has you covered. The brand sells three varieties of decking that the company says work great on patios, balconies, or other such areas where the foundation is already there and you just want to make it look nicer. 

The aptly named Runnen decking is a wood-style deck material that makes your patio look like an honest-to-goodness wood deck. It comes in six total variants, including fake grass. Altappen features a lattice design that lets water through, making it decent for areas where you want water to seep through. Finally, the Ultangan is a hardwood floor-style design that comes in two modern colors. All three types of decking are sold in nine-square-foot segments, and all three are easy enough to cut to fit curved areas. 

In addition, Ikea sells edging strips and corner pieces, allowing you to get all the material you need in a single place. The strips and corners are all black, but fortunately, black goes with everything, so it should still look good either way.