Ikea Greenhouse Cabinet Hack Using the Fabrikor

Check out my Ikea greenhouse cabinet hack using the Fabrikor!

My Ikea greenhouse cabinet hack using the Fabrikor

Today I’m sharing my birthday present to myself: an Ikea greenhouse cabinet hack using the beautiful Fabrikor! I have long admired Ikea greenhouse cabinets and all of the different ways people personalize them. (Check out the Ikea Greenhouse Cabinet Instagram page for a ton of inspiration.)

So I decided to treat myself to this present when I realized that some of my humidity-loving plants would be better suited to a more consistently moist environment. As a bonus, a closed cabinet also allows me to keep plants away from my kitties and daughter (though she loves to unlock the cabinet to “check” on the plants).

Until this cabinet, I had most of my plants in this area on my DIY tiered plant stand. But as the air indoors got drier with the changing of the seasons, I realized I hated filling up the humidifier every day. So I decided to prioritize my humidity-loving plants and put them in the cabinet.

I’m going to walk you through the different Ikea glass cabinet choices, as well as which one I chose and why. Then I’ll talk a bit about adding lighting, monitoring the temperature and humidity, and more. Enjoy!

Cabinet choices at Ikea

I considered all of the different Ikea glass cabinets for my Ikea greenhouse hack. Any of these would have worked for a greenhouse cabinet. My decision to choose the smaller version of the Fabrikor was based on space and the design.

• Fabrikor cabinet, 31 7/8″ x 44 1/2″
• Fabrikor cabinet, 22 1/2″ x 59″
• Milsbo cabinet, 28 3/4″ x 68 7/8″
• Milsbo cabinet, 39 3/4 x 39 3/8″
• Klingsbo, 17 3/4 x 70 7/8″
• Detolf, 16 3/4 x 64 1/8″

It’s worth noting that when comparing the cabinets, the smaller versions of the Fabrikor and the Milsbo seem pretty small, but I found that was only compared to the bigger versions. Once I got my tape measure out and measured my space, I realized that the smaller version of the Fabrikor would have lots of room for plants.

Another reason I chose the Fabrikor was that the Milsbo is frequently out of stock. It wasn’t even an option for me at my Ikea, but I still think I would have gone with the Fabrikor based on size and color choices. The Klingsbo and Detolf were options, but I didn’t love the look of either of them. Fabrikor it was!

Setting up my Fabrikor cabinet

This cabinet was very easy to put together. It might surprise you that despite being a DIY blog, I often ask my husband to handle Ikea furniture. That’s because the instructions are often pretty tedious, and I don’t have a lot of patience. 🙂 But I put this one together myself in about 30 minutes or so.

One thing I really like about the Fabrikor cabinet is that the shelves are adjustable and glass. That way I could easily adjust the shelving positions based on the size of the plants I have to put in the cabinet. And being made of tempered glass means that the light can pass through.

Adding grow lights

I decided to just reuse the two strip grow lights (affiliate link) I had from my tiered plant stand. These worked perfectly for the top two shelves of the greenhouse cabinet. That means I stuck one on the bottom of the top of the cabinet and then one on the bottom of the top shelf.

These two strip grow lights are also connected to one another, which means fewer cables. Yay! Other things I like about these grow lights:

• Full spectrum light
• Light enough to stay up without screws; I used double sided mounting tape
• Auto on/off with a timer; mine currently turns on in the morning, runs for 8 hours, and then turns off
• Brightness levels can be adjusted at 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% levels; I do 100% since it’s the main light source

I have an additional single strip grow light (affiliate link) to add on the bottom of the middle shelf if I need to, but I haven’t added it yet. This is the sunniest spot in our home, so it gets decent bright indirect daytime light. The grow lights help boost this.

Monitoring temperatures and humidity

I invested in a little digital thermometer and humidity gauge (affiliate link). It works like a charm. First I set it out in our kitchen for 24 hours to see what our normal household humidity was. It was 40%—a bit higher than what I thought it would be considering it was November.

Then I locked it in the greenhouse cabinet for 24 hours. Thanks to the ambient humidity from the plants, the humidity level went up to 65%. After watering plants and misting some of the more humidity-loving ones, the humidity level can get up to 75%.

Some of my more sensitive propagations still have a small bag over them while they are rooting (looking at you, scindapsus pictus and treubii moonlight). Depending on how high the humidity gets and how moist the soil is, I will open the cabinet to let some fresh air in every few days. Air circulation is a good thing!

Managing cords

I used my drill and a regular drill bit—the largest one I had—to drill a hole in the back corner of the cabinet’s bottom. Then I fished the strip grow light cord down through that and plugged it in.

If I ever need to add a little fan or anything in here, I will also have enough room for that cord too. It’s the little things!

Additional customizations

There are a few other things you can consider doing when you set up your greenhouse cabinet. Others have done them, but I simply chose not to. It really depends on the level of effort you want to put in to your greenhouse and the plants you’ll have in there.

• Water source: Some people put a small humidifier or even a little water feature in their greenhouses to boost humidity. Instead of doing this, I just put mason jars of water and LECA in to help keep ambient humidity levels a bit higher.
• Air circulation: Adding a small fan is a great way to help with air circulation. If you add an additional humidity source, I think adding a small fan would be a good idea, too.
• Weather stripping: And to help seal the tiny gaps between the frame and the glass pieces, others add weather stripping like you’d put on doors and windows. This makes the cabinet more air-tight, thus locking in more of that humidity.

Here are some of the plants I have in this cabinet:

• Hoya carnosa
• Hoya carnosa compacta (rope plant)
• Scindapsus pictus exotica
• Scindapsus pictus argyraeus
• String of hearts
• Rhipsalis “mistletoe cactus”
• Philodendron birkin
• Pilea pepermoides
• Peperomia hope
• Philodendron micans
• Lipstick plant

In conclusion…

My Ikea Fabrikor greenhouse cabinet hack is a great addition to my plant space! It’s the perfect blend of functionality and style. I’d love to hear your thoughts or see your own greenhouse cabinet creations! Have you converted a cabinet into a greenhouse? Let me know in the comments what you think, and happy planting!

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