This Classic IKEA Storage Cabinet Is My Buy-It-for-Life Find (It’s So Multifunctional!)

There is so much versatility in a simple cabinet. When you’re short on storage space, a cabinet is an easy purchase — it can serve as a kitchen pantry, a bookshelf, or even as a place to store hobby supplies. My husband and I initially invested in an IKEA HAVSTA glass-door cabinet because we thought it would make a beautiful bookcase. The cabinet was styled in an in-store living room, all set with neat bookstacks, bouquets of flowers and picture frames. We were sold. 

We never would have guessed this cabinet would stick with us for three different moves over a number of years, and evolve into something new each time. It’s shifted with every phase of our home (and our marriage!), and it’s now settled as the ultimate hosting cabinet, proving just how versatile one good piece of furniture can be. 

The IKEA HAVSTA glass-door cabinet has three shelves, and the glass doors slide. The items placed here are meant to be displayed — almost as if anything inside is framed by the doors, and the styling options are truly endless. It’s made of solid pine and comes in three colorways: white, black, and gray-beige, all with clear glass.

You can rest assured that whatever you put inside will remain dust-free, and like many other IKEA products, there is a whole line of HAVSTA pieces to mix and match.  This cabinet measures 47 5/8 inches wide, 14 5/8 inches deep, and 52 3/4 inches tall, with a max load of 71 pounds, and it requires two people to put together. There is also plenty of room on top of the cabinet to display more pieces, so the cabinet can truly become an ideal spot for your favorite things. 

Furniture that has the ability to be more than one thing is ideal, especially for small-space living. After our cabinet served as a bookshelf, we moved to an apartment that had very minimal kitchen storage. In fact, the overhead cabinets weren’t even large enough to fit our dinner plates. Our HAVSTA then transformed into kitchen storage, and beautifully held our plates, mugs, pots, and pans.

Luckily, our current home has plenty of kitchen storage (and cabinets big enough for our plates!), so it was time for our HAVSTA to evolve once again. I had a goal last year to host my friends once a month, and as my collection of serveware and table linens grew, we needed a place to put them. So naturally, the HAVSTA was dubbed the hosting cabinet. 

Even though the design of the HAVSTA has changed a bit over the years, my cabinet looks and feels brand new. It has held up beautifully, and the versatility of the piece is what makes it a winner in my book. It’s classic, durable, and endlessly functional. 

Currently, one shelf of our HAVSTA includes dinner party plates, a cake dome, and serving platters; the second shelf has my growing collection of silver and glassware; and the bottom shelf has baskets full of table linens and paper products — all set for hosting. I love that the glass doors mix function and beauty, since stacked plates and fancy glassware are fun to have on display. Everything in one place makes hosting feel easy and accessible, and the cabinet is more than just a place to store things. It’s an opportunity to have fun with styling and to display my pieces like art. 

If you’d like to create a dedicated space for hosting supplies, books, or even just frames and pieces that you want on display, a glass-door cabinet like the HAVSTA is a great investment. A piece like this can grow with you, move with you, and make your everyday life a little easier. Not to mention it’s pretty! A cabinet like this can also help support you to live the kind of life you want to live. Turning it into a hosting cabinet made it easier for me to get into the habit of hosting my friends more often. It’s been part of multiple homes and has lived multiple lives, so even if you purchase it for one reason, don’t be surprised if its purpose evolves just as much as you do.

BUY: IKEA HAVSTA Glass-Door Cabinet, $445