A TikToker transformed an abandoned Ikea cabinet into a $1,400 brand-name dupe – and the video of how she did it has been viewed 2 million times
IKEA #IKEA
Christina Clericuzio, who goes by @flipdaddie on TikTok, transformed an Ikea sideboard she found on the side of the road into something that looks like it could sell for $1400 at Wayfair. @flipdaddie/TikTok
TikToker Christina Clericuzio flips used furniture into expensive-looking brand-name dupes.
A video of her transforming a discarded Ikea cabinet has been viewed over 2 million times.
Clericuzio said in another video that she sells her flipped furniture for about $300 apiece.
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Christina Clericuzio, 24, flips used and discarded furniture into expensive-looking dupes of items from brand names like West Elm, Potterybarn, and Anthropologie.
Her TikTok videos of the transformations have been viewed millions of times since she joined the platform in September with the handle @flipdaddie. Since then, she’s been gaining a steady following of fans on the app, but Clericuzio really reached new levels of virality with her April 11 video that was been viewed over 2 million times.
In the video, Clericuzio shows how she transformed an Ikea sideboard that she found discarded on the side of the road into what looks like a similar sideboard currently selling for $1,400 at the online furniture seller Wayfair.
Clericuzio took her followers through her process, step by step. First, she sanded down the piece and filled in spots with wood filler. Next, she painted the cabinet’s wood top and white sides a light shade of pink from the paint brand Behr called “lotus petal.” She then installed a $22 wine rack in the bottom drawer.
In addition to the pink paint, Clericuzio dressed up the entire piece with gold accents. She used blue tape, paper scraps, and plastic wrap to spray-paint thin gold lines onto the doors.
Christina Clericuzio spray-painted thin gold lines onto the surface of a discarded Ikea cabinet in order to transform it into something that looks like a $1,400 Wayfair sideboard. @flipdaddie/TiKTok
“OK, I know this looks stupid,” she said of her spray-painting setup, “but just trust the process.”
After sealing the paint with a varnish, she spray-painted the sideboard’s nails and hinges gold and added $19 lucite-and-brass drawer handles plus $25 gold table legs to the piece.
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The before-and-after result is pretty staggering.
Clericuzio shared the hardware and tool brands she used for the project in an Instagram story reel after posting the video to TikTok.
This is not Clericuzio’s only remarkable before-and-after. On her TikTok page, Clericuzio has also transformed free nightstands she found on Facebook Marketplace into a $900 Anthropologie dupe, a $15 rolling end table into a $400 Pottery Barn clone, a free end table into a $350 West Elm copy, and much more.
She said on TikTok these side projects have also earned her extra income. In a recent video posted on April 29, Clericuzio, who according to her LinkedIn is an account executive for Indeed.com, said that she resells her furniture for a profit on Facebook Marketplace for around $300 for each piece.
In the same video, Clericuzio explained a common misconception about furniture flipping is that it’s a hobby only for middle-aged moms.
“I’m 24 and I do it, so eff the haters,” she said.
Clericuzio did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
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