The Under-$10 Buy That Can Make Everything in Your Home Look Luxe

From light fixtures to doors to those iconic coupe glasses that have taken over Instagram, reeded glass has been one of the hottest trends of 2023. The lined glass is a nod to the sleek, bold look of Art Deco that used to be both difficult and expensive to bring home. But now, thanks to some seriously convincing advances in window film and rigid plastic, features that use reeded glass are easier to DIY than ever.

Pulling off the look is nearly foolproof, as reeded glass fits in with so many different home styles and works with so many different projects (think: cabinets, armoires, interior doors, and more). It’s also extremely accessible for beginners, and on top of all that it’s affordable: You can snag rolls of film for under $10 on Amazon.

Want some inspiration for how you can use this striking feature in your own home? Check out these six project ideas from experienced DIYers, who all used reeded glass details to take their spaces to the next level.

Give an old cabinet a modern look.

What was once a brown cabinet with clear glass got a modern makeover, thanks to a few coats of sleek dark paint and textured glass. Lora Green, owner and creative director of Craftivity Designs, used the reeded glass to slightly obscure the contents of a cabinet that contained her family’s photo albums and keepsakes.

“Adding DIY reeded glass to our cabinet was a simple and stylish update that also provided much-needed hidden storage for our home,” says Green.

But there’s a secret here: The reeded glass is completely faux. Instead, it’s a lookalike cling film that Green easily installed over the existing glass, making this a safe and low-stakes DIY.

Create a dramatic door moment.

Bethany Jamison installed an architectural, modern door leading to her utility room in her home before realizing that its glass and metal frame showed a little too much of the stuff she wanted to keep behind the scenes. It was too late to go back and swap out the clear glass for reeded glass, but that made it the perfect candidate for another reeded glass film DIY.

Jamison cut a template in cardboard of the door, then used that to cut the reeded glass to the exact right size. From there, it was an easy install, and her Art Deco-inspired door looks as if it always had the classic ridged glass.

“I had my heart set on doors with reeded glass, but they weren’t affordable for me. That’s when I stumbled upon a fantastic reeded film. It was a game-changer for our utility room door, hiding the unappealing view of our washing machine and tumble dryer. This was one of my earliest renovation projects, and it showed me that anything can be transformed with a little creativity,” says Jamison.

Add privacy to interiors.

Interior French doors are one of those architectural touches that so many lust over in a home. They’re charming. They add detail. Those panes! The two doors! They’re nearly perfect, except for the fact that they don’t create any privacy between rooms unless you put shades on them. And if you do that, well, you cut off all the light, which kind of defeats the purpose of these doors to begin with.

Kayla Cummings found a way around that by adding DIY reeded glass film to give both an opaque look to the doors as well as an interesting fluted pattern. The entire project cost her under $50. Her tip for others: Use a squeegee to clear out all bubbles in the film before trimming the excess paneling with a razor blade.

Fake aged character on a new cabinet.

“My inspiration always comes from creating a worldly home with some Spanish bohemian vibes,” says Stephanie Watkins of Casa Watkins Living. In her kitchen, she did a reeded glass DIY right next to a bold, vibrant wallpaper and open shelving.

“This was about creating a moment where the glass cabinet in the kitchen would seem a bit more lived-in and used,” says Watkins. “Sometimes brand-new cabinets can seem very new and lack character, so adding the reeded window cling gives the glass cabinet a bit of rustic character.” In other words, the project gives the cabinet that special touch that makes it feel as if it’s always been there.

Modify a vintage door with a vintage-appropriate detail.

Jenna LeBlanc of Jenna Sue Design found a stunning vintage door at a salvage store that caught her eye so much that she bought it before she’d even built her home. The door was perfect for her laundry room, but who wants to see a laundry room unless you’re in the laundry room?

DIY reeded glass film was just the answer. It took her less than $30 and completely hides the chaos of laundry day. Plus, the style is a match for the door’s vintage roots.

“A brand-new, sharp knife blade to cut the film is the biggest key to success,” says LeBlanc.

Luxe up your next IKEA hack.

If you want to make an IKEA hack look luxurious, reeded glass film is the answer. For proof, look to this cabinet hack from Christine of Little House on the Corner, which looks like it was plucked right out of a hip boutique hotel.

“IKEA hacks are our favorite way to create a bespoke piece of furniture on a budget,” explains Christine, who needed somewhere to store her and her husband, Jan’s, growing gin collection. “This was the perfect opportunity to update a boring IKEA cabinet and turn it into a stylish drinks cupboard with a curved top and reeded glass doors.”

She notes that this project using an IKEA PLATSA cupboard was made more difficult because of the curves within the cabinet, but the end result was worth it. “Using reeded polycarbonate instead of real glass worked really well, as it’s easy to cut yourself and doesn’t weigh much, so it is perfect for the MDF cupboard doors,” says Christine.