Ikea office desk with Corian top

Materials: Ikea Office Desk, Corian top

Description: We took some stock Ikea office desks, and covered the original top with Corian for longevity and ease of maintenance. (We own a solid surface shop, so it also shows our workmanship at the same time.)

~ Len Smith, Fallbrook, CA

Motorcycle Helmet Hook Hack

Materials: RIKTIG curtain tie-backs

Description: Perfect for hanging a motorcycle helmet on the wall. Simply mount them vertically instead of the intended horizontal orientation for curtains.

See more of the helmet hook.

~ Bill Dwyer, Philadelphia, PA

RUSCH wall clock mod

Materials: small screwdriver, double sided tape

Description: This easy modification easily customises your cheap clock. It also has the added benefit of making the ticking lower volume.

First you need to remove the front plastic cover by carefully prying it with the small screwdriver, there are 3 small tabs to gently pop out.

Once the front is off remove the second hand by pulling. I then used cutters to snip it short, you could easily just bend and break it off.

Now attach your new graphic with double sided tape making sure it is centered well.

Reassemble.

~ Paul, UK

Hacker help: Any suggestions on what to do with Micke corner desk?

Materials: Micke corner workstation

Description: I've recently moved and my new place doesn't have a normal shape and is also too small for the Micke desk.

So I'm hoping some Ikea hacker out there will have some cool ideas for what I should do with this great desk.

Thanks,

~ Michelle, Saint Paul Mn

Ikea hack Edland night stand: Mirrored look

Materials: Edland nightstand, gray

Description: We love the mirrored look of furniture, and we also love the style of the Edland series at Ikea - hence, why our china cabinet is also within the same series.

We bought the nightstands from Ikea as well. However, our vision is a little different.

Here is our before and after picture:

Before even assembling this product we got started so it had a very finished and even look to it. We laid out every piece and started with a silver spray paint (It included a primer & paint in one). We gave it about 3-4 coats depending alternating the way in which you spray it (horizontal/vertical) to avoid streaking. Between each coat we let dry for approximately 20-30 minutes (this will vary depending on your location, humidity, and time of year). Once one side had its full 3-4 coats, we flipped and did the same on the other side.

After the color coats were on completely, we applied 2 coats of a basic clear coat sealer to assist with sealing it off and to help with future cleaning of it. We let each coat dry for 30 minutes, and the last coat dry about 45 minutes just to ensure it was completely dry before we assembled.

After all coats dried we assembled the entire nightstand(s) with the exception of the front door.

We had bought 2 8x8 squared mirrors from Joanns which we off set and applied with tacky glue. We off set it due to the knob placement. We let the mirror set with the glue for about 2 hours to ensure it was completely stuck (per instructions on the tube).

To create the border around the mirror we bought smaller molding from home depot which we spray painted also and cut to size needed to fit around the mirror. Once all 8 pieces were cut, we glued each around the mirror and filled in any gaps in the corners (as you would any baseboard or crown molding).

Next step is to measure point and drill hole where you want the knob to go. Due to the option to have your door open left or right (in our case we wanted to do one of each), they don't pre drill the knob holes, but in the instructions say you will need to. So, this gave us the flexibility to make our knobs go where we wanted them to go.

Once knob is in place, finish assembling the front door to the main piece. Place in bedroom and enjoy!

~ Shannon, United States

Foldable Mattress

Materials: 3 baby mattresses "Vyssa Slummer" (120x60cm), 1 oversized blanket cover (155x220cm), yarn, sewing machine

Description: First of all my source of inspiration.

My two children love to sleep together on a broad mattress on weekend-nights. We used to have a double-folding-mattress size 180x200cm. It took up a lot of space in the children's room, was slowly ripping apart in the seams, and looked old and shabby. An eye-sore in the children's room.

New foldable mattresses are ugly or expensive or both. Then I saw above-mentioned inspiration but still thought "Well, with pillows inside it won't take long until it will feel like lying on the floor."

And then I was at IKEA. And they had the "Vyssa Slummer" mattresses on sale, only 9 Euro per mattress. I still had a nice blanketcover at home, otherwise I would surely have bought a nice one at IKEA on the same trip.

And here goes:

- I cut open one long side. I used a blanket cover with a zipper, so I cut open the side on the end of the zipper.

- I measured out "height + breadth of the mattress + 1cm" three times and marked it on the blanket cover (long side of the mattress aligned with short side of the cover).

- I measured out the length of the mattress and tucked the surplus of the cover inside (should be understandable with the picture offering a peek inside).

- I sewed along the lines between the three spaces for the mattresses.

- I pushed and shoved in the mattresses and folded the tucked-in surplus over the mattresses.

- I pushed the seams toward the top edge of the first two mattresses and toward the bottom edge of the middle and last mattress. Why? Because that way you can fold them easily.

- As the mattresses are 60cm broad and the cover is 220cm long about 20cm were left after sewing everything. As you can see on the second picture it makes a nice flap giving the folded mattresses kind of a "sofa"-look.

I was surprised about the clean professional look of the whole thing. And my kids loved it and are sleeping on it right this minute.

The whole project took one trip to IKEA, about 30 Minutes of thinking and planning and about 1 hour of marking, stitching and sewing.

And I am a very, VERY inexperienced seamstress. So if you are just a little more into that subject the whole thing won't take you more than half an hour.

~ Anneke, Germany

Coffee filter light assembly

Materials: Melodi light fixture/with cord assembly

Description: I needed something a bit more elaborate for a modern, hip den (not formal living room), so I purchased three packs of bleached coffee filters (480 ea)and folded each and everyone of them on half, and one more time half, sort of created a paper flower with frills.

Than glued them on top of the shade (White Melodi, and I am still working on it...it takes forever, so please arm yourself with patience!!!!) to achieve a very posh effect.

I will post the pictures I have taken from the process and the finished product when it is installed. Similar fixtures can be find at Fab.com for over $1200.00 I saved about 1118.00 and you can too!

~ Mila Ilieva, Oakland