I lined my Kallax shelf with plant pots just to free up the windowsill: a winter later, when I lifted the last pot, I understood what the water had done to the board
A clever winter storage hack—stacking houseplants on an IKEA Kallax shelf—turned into a cautionary tale about particleboard’s hidden weakness to moisture. After three months of invisible water absorption, the shelf had visibly swollen and cracked, revealing how easily flat-pack furniture fails under conditions it was never designed for.