The $2 IKEA Staple I Stock Up on Every Time I’m in Store (I’ve Used It For 8 Years!)

Like many DIYers, I love a good IKEA hack — whether that involves painting IKEA furniture or turning it into pro-looking built-in furniture. But sometimes it’s the tiny IKEA products that pop out and grab my attention. Such was the case years ago when I found myself in IKEA’s bathroom section and spied the BJÄRSEN shower curtain liner for $1.99. I grabbed a few because I needed to replace one at home, and then grabbed a few more because at a generous 71×79-inch size, I was certain I’d find more than one way to use these giant, pliable pieces of plastic!

Turns out, I was right. It just so happened that I was painting a bookcase later that day, so using the sheet for a drop cloth made perfect sense. The $1.99 price makes it cheaper than a canvas, and it folds down to a compact size that is smaller than a drop cloth, too — excellent for small-space dwellers.

While you can find plastic disposable drop cloths at home improvement and hardware stores, I like these better. They’re a little thicker, and I found that I was able to reuse the plastic liners on paint projects a few times before they started sticking together and needed to be tossed — and years later, I’m still reusing other liners for non-paint projects. The BJÄRSEN is now a staple in our house, I stock up every time I find myself in the store.

Aside from being perfect drop cloths for paint projects and other messy DIYs, the liners have come in handy in other ways, too. I’ve used them as protective barriers in the trunk for when I haul garden supplies, and most recently as a tarp to cover a Facebook Marketplace find that I ended up having to strap to the roof! At home I’ll toss one over the dining table when my daughter is working on an art project, or to protect the floors when I can’t be bothered to take a piece of furniture out of a room to paint it. They’re so versatile and such a great item to keep around. I never leave the store without one! Next time you’re in an IKEA, it’s worth throwing a few of these liners into your cart, too.

This article originally published on Apartment Therapy. See it there: The $2 IKEA Staple I Stock Up on Every Time I’m in Store (I’ve Been Using It for 8 Years!)