Henriksdal gets a dye job

Tina adds a splash of colour to her Henriksdal barstools simply by dyeing the cover.

Tina says, "After experiencing several months of long, black cat hairs and wine spots on our white Henriksdal barstool seat covers, I decided to dye them.

Being a fabric artist and frequent dyer, I was already familiar with a low-water immersion dyeing technique from Ellen Anne Eddy.

I prepared several colors of Procion MX dyes, in an analogous color range (yellows to greens to blues to plums and purples), dabbed them on with a makeup applicator sponge, then set the four covers to cure in four quart-sized baggies. After scouring them (hot, extended machine washing with dye-fixing detergent), I was happy to see that they survived without shrinking or falling apart.

The new covers not only coordinate better with our wonderful bright green dining chairs, but add a nice, much-needed splash of color to our all-white kitchen and ties it better to the adjacent outdoor garden patio."

This salad bowl sounds good

Salad bowls are not only good for tossing greens, they make good spherical speakers too. Here's a pair from Robert that are getting the kudos.

He says, "I wanted to make a pair of speaker enclosures and bought a pair of Ikea Blanda Matt Bowls, glued them together then mounted the speaker driver in them."

Click to view details of the salad bowl speakers.

Related hacks:
- Give yoruself sexy speaker legs
- Dudero lamp as speaker stand
- Lee's Ikea basement studio hacks

Bare bones computer case

Davide R uses the kitchen tray Variera (can't find the link on Ikea's website) as a bare bones computer case. Does it work? Doesn't it get all dusty? It looks cool though in a Transformers kind of way.

Mirrored vanity desk

Jule inherited an old piece of furniture which she deftly upgraded into a mirrored vanity. Guess mirrors and vanity do go well together.

Jule says, "I was given an old student desk which my parents bought at a garage sale before I was born. I never liked it, but it was really functional as a vanity in my bedroom. So, one day it occurred to me that it had the right shape to convert into a piece of mirrored furniture.

So, I went to Ikea for mirrors (Lots mirrors: 4 pack for $5) and new knobs (Antik: 2 pack for $5). A few cans of spray paint and some black grout from Home Depot (I was afraid to drill through the mirror, so I left a space for the knobs and filled it with grout.) All totaled it was about a $50 investment. Not including the chair, which I got the Borje chair from the �As Is� department at Ikea for $30 (the white upholstery was dirty, but nothing that a little cleaning didn't resolve.)

I am pleased with the results and even my husband who hates mirrored furniture likes it.

Instructions:
� Remove knobs
� Lightly sand surface (especially the top which was damaged)
� Spray paint with glossy black paint
� Measure and cut mirrors using a mirror cutter (it take a lot of practice � my price includes the 3 tiles I destroyed trying to figure out how to cut it. Then my husband figured it out on the 1st try, so I made him cut the rest.)
� Adhere the mirror with liquid nails made for mirrors
� Fill the seams with black grout
� Put on new hardware

Ikea recalls Iris and Alvine Roman Blinds

Sad news. Please do be careful if you own the Iris or Alvine roman blinds, especially if you have a child.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission release, on April 4, 2008, a 1-year-old girl in Greenwich, Conn. became entangled in the inner cord of an IKEA Roman Blind and strangled. The child was in a portable playpen that was located underneath a fully lowered roman blind.

Iris Roman Blind

Alvine Roman Blind

Ikea issued a voluntary recall of these 2 products (all sizes) with the product number 19799 or 21369. You may return them to any Ikea store to obtain a full refund.

To read more, please click here.

Lack light table for silkscreen painting

Kayobi hacked the perfect light table from the Lack coffee table.

She says, "I needed a light table to work on finding the tiny holes when hand painting silkscreens. I had precious little space in my game room/craft room. I had been using an Ikea Lack table as a workspace anyway so I decided it shouldn't be too difficult to pull out the middle and put in some lights. Interestingly, there is a weird honeycomb cardboard support in between the top and bottom but it was no match for the power tools. A friend donated an old white plexiglass shop sign. Acetone make short work of the old paint (and my head - whew!). I took the plexiglass to another friend's woodworking shop where he cut it to size. After buffing the corners and drilling the places where it would be screwed into the table it was ready to assemble. Three florescent desk lights fit perfectly into the bottom of the table. The whole process start to finish only took about 4 hours. I think it turned out well. I use it all the time.

Shortly after that I moved into an even smaller space and my workspace shrunk again. I bought a twin Dalselv and the light table fit perfectly behind the bed. I added a pegboard with zip ties for a dual-sided sleep/workspace. Fancy!

See more of the light table.

Computer desk with PC nook

Tim from Germany hacked a computer desk so he could store away his PC, without all the cables showing.

He says, "I used one Vika Amon 120x60cm (47"x24") and one 100x60cm (39"x24"), both white. The bigger one became my real desk, the latter the 'leg'. I sawed the latter into two parts, one 70cm (28") and 30cm (12") (which wouldn't be needed at all). I attached the bigger piece to the bottom of the 120x60 using Ikea Sivert brackets leaving a space of 30cm (12") to the side where my PC case was supposed to be.

To hold it, I took an �rlig 60x60cm (24"x24"), halved it and screwed some Capita 16cm legs to one half and placed the PC on it. I mounted the other half using some St�dis brackets to the upper part of the leg as a little storage shelf. Having seen just2cool's 'jer la pita' I thought that I could do that, too.

So I got me some angled Capita legs, a black-brown Lack shelf (the short one of course) and mounted it to my desk. And this is the result."

Need more prep space for your kitchen?

Anne figures out a smart solution for more prep space in her tiny kitchen. It may look small but it packs quite a few compartments - for recycling and even a kitty litter.

She says, "The kitchen in my rental is tiny. The space that was left after refinishing the kitchen required that I keep into account a wall ledge, baseboard heating, weak wall paneling on top of old plaster walls, and a one-inch sloping of the floor. My most important focus was to find additional space to hide away my cats litter box, and place recycling bins. Additional counter tops and storage would come in handy, of course.

I opted for Pronomen butcher block counter top, mounted on a single Vika Furusund table leg, held in place by the traditional Capita cabinet legs. This constellation allowed me to mount the opposite side of the countertop onto the wall ledge without adding additional height, which would have been the case with a traditional kitchen cabinet. The Capita legs are easily adjusted too - again, pretty helpful in the unevenly sloped floor.

The Vika Furusund cabinet or table leg offers the necessary space for my two Rationell recycling bins, as well as convenient access from the side for additional storage. I rounded it all off by hanging a left-over Ikea curtain (sorry forgot the name) on a tension rod between the wall and the table leg to provide access for my cat to her litter box. Overall, this prep space has worked out well, though one day I will have to take the time and paint it to match the rest of the kitchen."

TV unit with subwoofer space

Charles hacks a neat TV stand from Ikea kitchen cabs. Similar cabinets, like this one, sells for much more.

He says, "I've been busy building a new TV stand for the in-wall 'nook' in my living room. I took some Ikea cabinets, put 3 of them together, made it more sturdy, added wheels, and customized the heck out of it. I just need to reinforce the back, and put side-panels on. It didn't come out too bad, and it's got a nice space for the subwoofer in the center now."

Extending the cabinet

Top created and put together

Top goes on top of this

Top gets screwed on

Making the subwoofer space

Custom base installed

Almost done

Done!

A little light reading in bed

If you're the type who does a little reading in bed before turning in, this hack from Carter does the trick. And all for $30. Not bad indeed.

Carter says, "This hack uses a $7.99 Minde Mirror, and two $3.99 Morker table lamps from Ikea to make a beautiful framed mirror with reading lamps, perfect for over the bed.

In addition to the items from Ikea I used 1x4 wood tongue and groove boards to make the frame, angle irons to hold the frame together, 7/16' bolts for the lights, tape for the cords, wood stain, polyurethane finish, and various screws and hanging hardware.

Simply cut the boards with 45 degree angles to size to make the frame around the mirror. Make sure the groove side is on the inside of the frame. Connect 3 sides together using the angle irons. Slide the mirror into the groove then attach the fourth side. Next, I stained and finished the wood. Be sure to cover the mirror while doing this. Once dry, drill holes where you want the lights to go and screw the lights on with the bolts. Tape the cords to the back of the mirror and frame so they hang down closer to the center. Finally, attach hanging hardware and hang on the wall.

Ikea has framed mirrors similar to this without lights that they sell for between $50 and $150. This was done with lights for less than $30."

Ikea happenings

Hey, hey, how's your Monday? Thought I'll kick the week off with some news.

Ikeafans has a new look!
If you noticed the tabs at your top right hand corner, you would have found the IKEAhacker forum, which is hosted on IKEAFANS, the fantastic site run by Susan Martin and gang. They recently relaunched their website with a cool new look! It's more functional now and easier to find the info you need. The forums, the heartbeat of the site (and treasure trove of Ikea information) continue to grow, now with over 75,000 members and all the stuff you could possibly need to know about Ikea. Don't miss the galleries and its whopping 11,000 photos!

Bemz has slipcovers to be won!
We ran a contest with Bemz a year ago and if you did not manage to win then, here is your chance again. The Swedish company that breathes new life into IKEA sofas and chairs have launched the "My Home, My Way" contest at the Bemz blog, It's a Cover-Up.

The entries so far have been pretty good. But if you think your sofa is the one to beat them all, do hurry up and snap a fab photo and send it in. You could win a 5000 Swedish Crown* shopping spree at Bemz. (*5000 Swedish Crowns (or SEK) is approximately equivalent to �500 / �400 / US$700 / CND$800.)

I'm one of the judges too. :) Here's how to take part.

Ho ho holidays at Ikea

I've always thought Ikea carries some of the most interesting holiday decor and items. This year, they deliver yet again. I've just had a quick browse of their holiday catalogue and it looks fabulous. Whether you want the ice maiden crisp white winter look or warm and cozy tingly feeling, they are all there.

Here are some I like.

And this last one that looks pretty much like one of our previous hacks. ;P

Browse Ikea's winter collection.

The art of cooking utensils

Michelle gives her laddle, skimmer and spatula the love they deserve by framing them in a Ribba shadow box. I love the idea - it's a fab way to show off your cooking utensils when not in use, rather than stashing them in the drawer or cramming them in an Ordning. Well, provided they are all shiny with no crusty burnt marks on them, er, like mine.

She says, "I recently moved into a new condo that has a tiny kitchen with extreme lack of counter space. I used to store cooking utensils (laddle, skimmer, spatula, etc) in the Ikea Ordning. But unfortunately, there isn't anymore room for it on my counter so I thought of a way to hang the utensils instead.

I used a Ribba shadow box with the Lansa black door handle. I had to change some the hardware (shorter screwn, washers, and botls) for the Lansa in order for it to securely fasten onto the board of the Ribba shadow box. I also painted the board that came with the shadow box the same color of the wall (light grey).

Below my utensil holder, I've also used the Kroken magnetic knife rack for my spices. The containers for the spices came from Canadian Tire.

This solution has been a big help in kitchen. Hopefully it'll help a lot of other people who have little to no counter space."

See more of Michelle's arty cooking utensil holder.

Complete your spa bathroom with a wooden shower mat

A little while ago we had this Platta flooring for the bathroom. So hey, why not use it as a shower mat to complete the spa look? That's what Eleazar did.

He's been having it for a few months now and it seems to be holding up. Before you try this you should be aware that the Platta deck has tannic acid which may leak out and stain the floor and grouting.


See more of Eleazar's Platta wooden shower mat.

Nick's butcher block work top

Nick, an automotive technician in Wilton CT USA, was looking for a work surface top for his toolbox. Shopping around, he found a stainless steel one for almost $800, a butcher block one for about $500. For $129 he bought a Numerar countertop at Ikea and only had to cut it for depth. And now he has a butcher block work surface.

Make a slim and sexy entry way table

I'm loving what Monica did with a Lack wall shelf and Vika Fintorp legs - an absolutely gorgeous entry way table.

She ways, "My husband and I needed an entry way table (a landing strip by Apartment Therapy terms) and didn't have much more than 10, maybe 11, inches of depth to work with which made things tough and hard to find a good white console table. We're in the process of re-doing our entry way and going to wallpaper but came up with a really clever way to construct our own entry way table using a Lack shelf ($14.99) and two of the taller Vika Fintorp legs ($10 each).

Probably not a lot of instructions needed on this one, we attached the legs first, then installed the shelf with legs using the Lack mounting bar. One clever trick we found was to figure out the correct placement with the legs and slowly lean the table back, load a sharpie in each of the holes on the back of the Lack shelf and it marked the correct spot to hang the mounting bar."

Stark hall unit as a room divider

Galloni Michele from Italy modifies a Stark hall unit to serve as a landing strip divider.


Galloni says, "I modified it by adding an aluminum frame (1.5 x 3 mm) around the unit. The two legs are connected to the bottom via bolts before mounting the legs in place. The frame is connected to the Stark by wood screws, except for the left side, for which I used silicone. The hacked Stark is mounted to the wall by drilling on the right beam three holes shaped like an inverted V and hanging it to three wall screw. For safety reasons I have added an additional support screwed to the wall on top."