Benjamin gets suped up

Well, we've had Dennis and Elvis, so it was only a matter of time that we have superheroes. Enjoy this series of decoupage stools from Eva.

She says, "I hacked 3 Benjamin stools using the decoupage technique. The first and second are made applying various pictures from old art magazines and for the third one, I used old comics."

 

  

  

  

  

  

 

Related hacks:
- Dennis the Menace returns in an Ikea stool
- Elvis is in the house
- O'Keeffe side table

Have you got it yet?

Yes. The 2009 Ikea catalogue.

What is it about this catalogue that makes it such an 'event' to look forward to? A friend living in an Ikea-less country recently told me that he had to fork out good money for a copy. And that I should be thankful that I get mine free. Yes, I am.

First cut. The staples are pretty much intact. Good to see them expanding the Besta/Inreda bookcase/media storage range. I have seen some good combos come out of it. And since I have an Expedit bookcase, I'm very happy to see more toys for it. Maybe I can finally get rid of the less than pretty Lekman plastic boxes. Also, the Trollsta sideboard is quite a looker but for some reason, I keep imagining it should be in red.

Now to you. Browse the online catalogue. Come back and share what you like or hate about the Ikea 2009 range.

Adding drawers to your kitchen cabinet

Megan shares how she added drawers to her kitchen cabinet.

Megan tells me, "We moved into our new house about 6 months ago. I really wanted our plates and bowls in a drawer, my husband made this 4 sided frame to mount the drawers in. It slides perfectly into our existing cabinet, there are a couple screws mounting the frame to the cabinet.

We bought the largest drawers that would fit in our cabinet, and as an added bonus it gave us an area to the left to store platters and trays. One tip I have is to make your interior frame width the same as the interior width of the Ikea cabinets. Hubby (ignoring my advice) tried to build what he thought was right based on the drawers and had to take it apart and do it again because it was too wide."

The skinny Lack wall shelf

Rick wanted a floating shelf for his front hall and here's what he did with the Lack.

He says, "I wanted a floating shelf for my front hall but needed something pretty shallow since it's a fairly small space. The Lack wall shelf has that nice mounting hardware for making easy installation ... ah but it needed hacking.

I purchased the small Lack shelf (that's 43 /14 wide x 10 1/4 deep) and went to Home Depot and had them cut the depth to 5 inches for $5.00 (I don't own a table saw). Then I got some pine and with a jigsaw, cut the curved side pieces and front lip to give a thicker look. I then veneered it all with mahogany which was applied with contact cement."

Stowaway cable and router storage boxes

Alex finally had enough of ugly cables snaking under his new LCD TV and decided to put them in place, in a box.

He says, "A Mac Mini, Nintendo Wii, PS3, external hard drives, a router and a 5.1. surround system meant a lot of cables. So I decided to 'pimp' 2 Ikea Emu belonging to my girlfriend with my Dremel.

Materials needed:
1 Dremel 3000
2 Ikea Emu
3 power strips
some zip ties

1. In the larger Emu I cut a little rectangle in the front for reaching the main on-off switch with the lid still closed. So after watching TV, DVD or playing PS 3 I can easily shut off all media units (red switch). No 'stand-by' all night and day. Saves me a lot of money due to no unnecessary energy consumption!

 

 

2. I cut a rectangle hole at the backs of each Emu for cable routing from the back.

3. The only 'always-on' unit is my router due to VOIP and WLAN for my notebook in another room.

In the smaller router Emu I also cut a little square in the lid so that the antenna is can work properly.

4. To help the boxes glide smoothly I glued some felt-gliders under each corner of the Emu.

Your Ikea hack could lead to design fame and a new sponsor

Is your Lack-Billy-Akurum Frankenstein a winner? There's only one way to find out. Platform21, BRIGHT and Superuse are running a contest and the winning design will be exhibited at the Bienniale Montreal 2009 and in the BRIGHT stand during Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven. Submit before 15 September for your shot at fame.

Go here for details.

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Next, please welcome Ikeahacker's latest sponsor eRoomService, an online store that offers modern designer furniture. I spent an hour or so drooling over its amazing collection of living, dining, bedroom and children furniture. Way, way gorgeous! Definitely not stuff you'll find at your local Ikea. Hop over and check them out.

Interested in advertising on Ikeahacker? Email me at ikeahacker [at] gmail [dot] com for rates.

Snap away with these DIY light tents

I received an excellent list of Ikea light tent hacks from Chris. Easy peasy and most of all, super cheap.

This is using the Liesta laundry hamper. I couldn't find the Liesta on the website but found a rather similar one called the Fyllen. An energy saving lamp is added to it, from the back.

 

See more of this light tent on so do it yourself.com.

Zepofan uses the Jall laundry bag (white, of course). It's a no-brainer now that I see how it's done. All it needs is a piece of string, strategically tied to keep the stand from collapsing.

See more of Zepofan's light tent and Miwo's version with notes.

Another laundry item to make it as a light tent is the Antonius laundry bag frame. It requires more work as you'll need to sew a cover for the frame. Bj�rn used the Sova twin bedsheet for the cover, which I think is kind of a waste as you'll have quite a bit of material left over.

 

Hacking this Antonius could possibly be easier as it already comes with a bag. You'll just need to find a way to keep the bag from crumpling. Clips? Sticks? Lots of possibilities. View more of Bjorn's Antonius light tent. 

The last one I have is from Michele who has Riaz to thank for it. While the others are good for photographing small objects, this one works great for portraits.

 

First remove the bottom of the Koja tent and use the material to close the "door" of the tent. Then spray the insides with glue and affix mylar foil inside the tent. Sew on some bits of velcro to the four sides of the tent to hold the shower curtain liner, trimmed to size, in place as the diffuser.

See Michele's light tent. Go here for Riaz' instructions.

Related hacks:
- Trash can light tent
- Skimra lamp shade photography light tent
- Photography light table
- Home photography backdrop