The first time I saw the Ikea Cabinet being used on Instagram was by Robin @robinschoutenart and I thought, what a cool set up as the display cabinet looked really clean in her space. The trend did catch on pretty rapidly and I found myself thinking, ‘Should I get one?’. I decided to take the plunge and get the Ikea Milsbo Cabinet in black (they come in black or white) once I moved to the new flat as it made sense having my plants in a contained space and not having to worry about mould as I’m still renting.

The only reason I was going back and forth for a few months was obviously the price: Milbo Cabinet was £179 and shipping (always ruins the fun) was £49 express delivery = £228 total. Of course you don’t have to worry about the delivery price if you have an Ikea close by! I was debating buying the smaller option which was from the FABRIKÖR range which was £150 although I knew in my mind I’ll regret it as it was a lot smaller [81x113cm]; the Milsbo is 73x175 cm aka. more shelves and space for plants to grow. I guess it would depend on what types of plants you own and the size too.

Once Robin started her other page @ikeagreenhousecabinet I came to realise there were endless possibilities when it comes to DIY such as adding self timers for lights, fans, humidifier, peg boards etc. I did my research and looked at what others were doing and kind of decided I wanted to make this set up as simple as possible… and by that I mean, I didn’t change anything lol. Let me explain.

Humidity: The first week I put a small humidifier in and the humidity was around 90-99% which would definitely be too wet in the long run but also means water marks on the glass, you’d have to have a fan inside to generate better airflow etc. Other people do opt for customised wired shelves instead of glass for better distribution to help with that but I’m just not a DIY girl! I decided to take the humidifier out and evaluate the situation since plants when gathered together can create their own humidity, and I did have a few self-watering moss poles inside as well. Using the hygrometer to keep track over a week — with no humidifier, the humidity sat around 70%+ which to be honest, I was quite happy with. So from then on, no humidifier inside and no misting for me as well which was GREAT — 2 tasks eliminated from my plant care: having to fill the humidifier and misting.

Temperature: My new flat is so much warmer than my previous flat and I appreciate not having a conservatory as it is now so much easier to control the temperature. Although the cabinet sits close to the window, it stays above 20°C with normal amount of heating on in the flat.

Light: All of my plants were sat in a south facing conservatory with A LOT of light. The new flat has east facing windows so it does go pretty dark after 12pm, it’s worst now because there is barely any light in the winter! If you follow me on Instagram, you know I’ve initially got a black strip light (not specifically for plants) off Amazon to put in the cabinet as it fitted in with the cabinet’s aesthetic — does it provide enough light? No. My next option was to get an Ikea lamp with LED grow bulbs to put outside the cabinet inspired by both @flatwithplants and @houseplantfoodies which seems simple enough but also, the lamp can be moved anywhere and not fixed in one place. I personally don’t like the look of strip grow lights in the cabinet too, I know it’s practical but I’m just ready to commit. Also, for a girl who hates DIY, I was also avoiding the task of having to drill holes in the cabinet to draw wires out. Anyways, decided to get the HEKTAR floor lamp in grey (£50) and also 3 VÄXER LED bulb for cultivation (£10 each/£30 total) = £80 total + shipping… you should definitely do this in one go to save on delivery. Now, if you want this set up, learn from my mistakes lol. I didn’t realise that the lamp is made for E14 bulbs (the diameter where the bulb screws in) and the VÄXER bulb is E27 — you need to buy an adapter for this.