Amazon versus Ikea shoe cabinet

Today I wanted to do a quick review of my recent purchase from Ikea. I bought a few things from Ikea and one of the items were the Hemnes shoe cabinet for $100 in dark brown/black. The price was okay, the size was perfect for my little space, and the color and look was what I was searching for. The Hemnes took my younger brother about two hours to assemble and he has no experience with putting anything together.

This is how the dresser looks in the guest bedroom before anchoring it onto the wall. I like that it sits flush against the wall. 

Once anchored onto the wall I searched for accessories I had around the house and also went to Ross to find a mirror to place above the cabinet. I knew I wanted a mirror that was not square or rectangle in shape because I wanted to break up the sharp angles. The color of the mirror was perfect, had extra chunky molding, and very light weight. I think its made out of some kind of plastic. I purchased it for $25 and hung it up with my beloved Command strips. 

Here's the inside of the cabinet. Its a perfect size for holding larger shoes and can fit a few shirts and towels in one cabinet.  The only pet peeve I have about the Hemnes cabinet is how hard it is to pull out the cabinets. I'm hoping over time it will smooth out and be easier but as for now its very hard to open. 

After looking at the mirror in place for about half the day to see if I really like it on that spot, I hung the mirror up with the help of Binh. Took us literally ten minutes to hang it up and it was so easy. This is how it looks with mismatched accessories. Clear vase was something I had already from the Dollartree, green tray was from $1 bin at Target, and two candles I already had in hand. 

Mismatched accessories are an easy fix in my book. Nothing a little left over white spray paint can't fix.

After I spray painted the green tray white, I also added some fun white stripes to the vase to add dimension. I used blue painters tape and it came out perfect. I also added some pink flowers I had from our Christmas tree. 

Here's the final angle once you enter the guest bedroom. I love that the space feels very open. The Hemnes cabinet was the perfect height and width for my little space. Adding the mirror makes your eyes travel upwards creating an illusion of a larger room. 

Overall review to my white Amazon shoe cabinet, I liked my white shoe cabinet better. Quality was about the same but my white shoe cabinet felt sturdier inside where the shoes were stored, had more space to store shoes, knobs were a little more fancy, and most importantly its very smooth and easy to open and close the cabinets. Here's the post about the white Amazon shoe cabinets post 1 and post 2. However, I don't regret buying the Hemnes shoe cabinet because it really fit the space. Its a little taller then I wanted but still works well for our room. 

So far here is the budget breakdown for our guest bedroom makeover: 

Comforter set $35
Henny Rand curtains from Ikea $35
Small tv tray/table from Target $8
Plain white queen bedsheets $15 from Ross
Two blue decorative pillows- DIY project from a while ago.

Total $93

Plus: 

Ikea Hemnes shoe cabinet $100

Oval Ross mirror $25

green tray from Target $1

Total $219

I've also bought a few more smaller items to decorate the room and is coming very close to the $300 mark. I'll try to give more updates soon once I'm done. 

Of course here's the before and after shot of the same space for comparison.