Almost a Mandal Wall hack

Materials: BOD� bed (not on the US page), Malm storage unit x2, Lack wall shelf (any size you choose) and a battery drill with bits and drills.

Description: I where greatly inspired by the Mandal Wall-mounted headboard (see here and here), but thought it was too expensive.

By luck I found the bed part (BOD�) for my hack, in the basement for my apartment, and asked my landlord if I could have it.

I took off the legs, and turned the brackets underneath 90 degrees and put them back on. I made two holes in each of the two brackets farthest apart with a metal drill, for the screws that would hold it on the wall.

When mounting the bed too the wall, be sure to use the right kind of plugs for your wall type, and use some heavy duty screws.

After the wall mounting, I put a mirror in the middle of my new wall hack, and then placed my Malm storage units underneath it.

I bought myself 4 Lack shelves at 11'3/4" x 12'1/4" to mount in "the bed". Luckily the space between the boards is exactly the same as the height of the shelves, so they fit right in.

Last I decorated with a painting made by my girlfriend and some other stuff.

I must confess that I'm rather proud of my first Ikea hack. It was pretty easy to do, and the result is actually pretty good.

Hope this will inspire some of the European readers in here, as the bed is only sold here.

~ Anders Dalsgaard, Denmark

"Sleeping Buddy" Zoo

Materials: Ikea double wall shelves (can't remember name), wooden dowels

Description: Cut wooden dowels to 13" lengths.
Bore shallow holes the size of dowel (I used 7/16") every 6 inches along ends and one long side of shelf, on top and bottom piece.
Insert dowels into holes in bottom and attach side braces.
Attach top piece, guiding top ends of dowels into pre-bored holes.
Fill with stuffed animals.

~ handymama

VikaLight

Materials: Vika Oleby Table leg, Hemma Cord set, Orgel paper shade, drywall anchors

Description: This is a $25 alternative to boring/ugly/expensive lighting. I installed one on each side of my living room.

It's very easy--just secure the table leg into the wall with some drywall anchors, secure the cord to the top of the leg with one of those little plastic cord tie-down things, and there you go.

I still plan to secure the cord to the wall and paint it to match the wall color.

~ Kim

$5.38 (+tax) ceiling porch light

Materials: Ordning Cutlery Stand, plastic ceiling light, Dremel

Description: Not sure if this exact project has already been done, but this was somewhat based off of the "let there be light" hack from an Italian contributor.

I purchased a cheap plastic ceiling light from Lowes ($1.39). It is one that holds a single bulb and has the plastic collar that secures a difuser/shade/whatever.

Using a Dremel I cut a small portion of the bottom of the Ordning ($3.99)so that it can slide up socket. Once the light is installed in the ceiling the collar will hold the modified Orning to the light.

Pretty cheap/easy and it beat staring at a bare bulb.

~ Alan, Florida

Laptop table with STR�MBY frame door

Materials: STR�MBY Frame 50x50cm, CORRAS bedside table

Description: I initially bought the Corras table to use as a laptop table in the living room but I didn't like how it was open and showed off loads of papers etc (essentially all my mess).

I decided to buy a STR�MBY frame and turn it into a door to cover the front of the table.

We also have some Morebo glass doors on the front of our Billy bookshelves which I've put some wallpaper in and I used the same wallpaper for the new door.

I bought from hinges from a local DIY store and my boyfriend drilled holes in the side of the frame so that we could attach the hinges. We used a couple of wooden blocks on the inside of the frame to fasten the screw to.

Then as a final step we screwed the hinges to the CORRAS frame. As a temporary solution I've used some velcro to keep the door shut.

~ Emma

Egon, the door mounted mirror

Materials: Stave, Grundtal, Fixa, Esab smashweld, aluminum frame, drill, screws, glue, tape, washers

Description: I live in a 30 square meter apartment with large windows, many doors and little free wall space. And like any girl, I'd love a huge full-size mirror. The only problem is that I don't have the required wall space available.

I asked my dad if it's possible to hang 10 kg on a door without breaking it, and if he thought we could figure something out for my door. Since I have to use every space possible I already have a bunch of GRUNDTAL hanging around over my doors and my dad took one home for examination.

After removing the protective rubberplasticthingy on the back side he found out that the hooks were pressed into holes in the main part of GRUNDTAL and it was really easy to remove them!

My dad had some screws and washers that fit perfectly in the holes and the holders on the mirror. We decided to try welding them together to make a new hanger out of GRUNDTAL.

It was very successful so we mounted the holders on the short side of the frame around the mirror. I also taped some protective plastic on the back side of GRUNDTAL to avoid marking the door.

The holders were originally mounted along the longer sides of the frame so after a few days the frame started to break apart. I was quick enough to notice it and was able to save the mirror from breaking.

We went to a hardware store and purchased an L-shaped aluminum frame and glued it to the wooden frame, drilled holes and mounted the holders through both the aluminum and the wood. We put some glue in the holes just to be sure it would hold. We used contact cement and the original screws for the holders, they were long enough to be usable even when we added the aluminum piece.

Before mounting the holders we put some more hot melt along the edges on the back side of the mirror.

I let the contact cement dry before hanging EGON back on my door. I also put FIXA on the door handle and some scrap-booking tape between the door and STAVE to avoid marks.

The hack cost me less than 700 SEK (about $95 or €75).
STAVE: 549 SEK
GRUNDTAL: 45 SEK
Aluminum frame: 70 SEK
Since the screws, washers, tape, glue and protective plastic were something we had lying around I don't know the prices, but I doubt it will add up to more than a total of 700 SEK (unless you have to buy glue and tape etc).

Happy hacking!

See instructions and more of the Egon door mirror.

~ Therese, Stockholm, Sweden

Lighting change ups!

Materials: All Ikea parts changed to make more interesting

Description: Red Vases from the Valentines section I turned upside down and glued to the base of the plastic Ikea Lampan in red. These can't come apart so use new bulbs as they have to last until the bulb burns. LOVED them hung them over my tub.

On the chandelier that was mine, I used the Ikea colourful glass bits for their chandeliers and put the candle drip holders under the bulb. Loved the effect! I had four matching chandeliers in my show room and this colourful version was my happiest!

On the Basisk lamp I cut holes in the shade and glued on doodles of wire and beads so the light came through on them.

On another Basisk lamp, I removed the shade and made my own out of wire and large aqua beads rough nuggets. Love it!

ANd on the Ikea tin chandelier - not sure if they have them still now, I removed all of their beads and hand wired aqua beads. It a cherished piece.

~ Gay Isber, Toronto

Lilliberg Futon

Futon ready!

Sofa again!

Materials: Lilliberg 3 person sofa

Description: I bought a Lilliberg 3 seater sofa frame by itself because it was on sale. I had an old metal futon that was falling apart so I used the hinges on the futon to turn the Lilliberg sofa into a Lilliberg futon.

First I shortened the legs by a few inches because I like lower furniture but also the futon hinges would add a few inches to the height of the sofa.

The futon back and bottom needed a wooden frame to be attached to the hinges. I cut four pieces of 2x3 and attached them to the hinge using various L brackets I had laying around. Then, with the frame extended, I drilled holes to attach the hinges to the futon frame so that the 2x3 supports would lie flat on the lengthwise beams.

I also added 1x3s lengthwise to support the middle of the futon. These were attached with small brackets to the 2x3 supports. The Lilliberg back and bottom come attached with several small metal hinges so I removed those so that each piece was independent and could be screwed to the wooden frame of 2x3 and 1x3s.

The futon folds up very easily and is nice and solid because of the additional wooden frame. Lowering the Lilliberg by cutting off a few inches made the sofa the right size because I added extra padding. I topped it with two regular futon mattresses which were a bit longer than the Lilliberg but I could get it in there by scrunching the mattress.

See more of Bobby's Lilliberg futon.

~ Bobby, MA

Home Office Hack

Materials: 2 small Vika Hyttan table tops, 1 large Vika Hyttan table top, 9 Vika Fintorp legs, 3 flat plate brackets from hardware store, screws.

Description: My objective for my home office was to have two workspaces. One with a computer on it, and another that I could turn around to use that would be free of clutter.

For the clutter free workspace, I wanted as big a table as possible, so I went with the large size Vika Hyttan with the Vika Fintorp legs which is assembled according Ikea's instructions (no hack, although you do have to drill holes for the legs for some reason).

For the computer workspace which would be against the wall I wanted for visual and functional reasons one that was wider and not quite as deep. Such a tabletop doesn't currently exist that would match the other one I chose.

Putting two small Vika Hyttan tables side by side wouldn't work since my computer would be in the middle of the table and the legs would be in the way.

So, I decided I wanted to combine two small table tops to make a workspace that would be the size I wanted.

To do this, I enlisted the help of my father who is much less inept with tools than I am. He also has a drill.

1) We put the two table tops upside down on the floor side by side.
2) We installed the leg first on the join as shown by marking where the holes should be with a pencil and then drilling the holes. We placed the leg the way we did in order to have as much support as possible in the middle of the joined area. You have to be very careful in this step to make sure that the tables are properly lined up.
3) We installed the brackets I bought from Home Depot the same way.
4) We double checked the tabletops were positioned together perfectly and then tightened all the screws.
5) We had a couple of cold brewskis and admired our work.

Because the table tops are so thick, in order for downward pressure to break the join it actually would need to pull them apart first which it's far too solid to do, particularly with the added support of the leg across join. Although I wouldn't dance a jig on the table it is perfectly solid and doesn't move around at all.

I also think it looks great, and functionally it's amazing. Perhaps one day Ikea will release a wider/thinner version of the Vike Hyttan and render this hack obsolete, but for now this makes for a pretty cost effective, attractive, and functional office set up.

~ Tom, Toronto, Ontario

Henrikdal does a wheelie

Materials: Henriskdal bar stool, castors, Bemz slipcover, saw, drill, screws, screw driver

Description: This is a short and sweet one. We liked the look, size and shape of the Henriksdal bar stool for the Bemz Inspiration Store but were finding it was impeding movement. Plus, its dimensions were not quite right. It sits by the swatch table but anyone in retail knows how often you have to get up and move around the room. To make life easier our Bemz DIY:er personalised it to better suit its function.

The legs were sawn off to achieve the right height, i.e., to fit snuggly under the table so that legs can be crossed comfortably yet still high enough that arms rest correctly when typing on a laptop.

Note! Keep in mind the height of the castors you will use when deciding how much of the leg to saw off. The castors will obviously add height on.

Then simply screw in castors of choice. To alleviate the screwing in process, a hole can be started with a drill, using a bit a size smaller than that of the screw.

And voila! A new Henriskdal desk chair on wheels with a Designer slipcover from Bemz in Marimekko's Unikko Black. (The poster in the background is of a Henriksdal dining chair with Bemz cover in Sagrada Blossom fabric from Designers Guild).

We made ours and the osteopaths day!

~ Sara at Bemz

From closet door to dining bar

Materials: Closet door

Description: This is kind of an easy hack, but really gave my new apartment the look I was going for. It doesn't require a lot of work either, just need the right material and you will have it done in 30 min, max.

The hack consists in using an Ikea closet door as a bar for lunch, dinner, or whatever. What is also special about this bar is that it doesn't touch the floor at any point, it's hanging from the ceiling, which apart from giving a very modern look to the place is very useful for cleaning and will save you from kicking the bar legs being barefoot first thing in the morning when drinking your coffee (you can say, this guy is stupid, but you will know it will eventually happen!).

Well getting to it, all you need to do is get your Ikea closet door, attach some metal bars (I used L shaped bars) to prevent it from flexing. Note that if you are using more than one short bar (like I did) that the length of bars that overlap must be in the middle of the space between the cables and the wall, not in the real middle of the door.

Then fix you two L supports to the wall.

Make the corresponding holes on the ceiling and on the door to fix the cables.
Use a chair or something similar to hold the bar while you adjust the length of the cables and fix them.

Remember to also fix the bar to the wall L's with some screws.

Well, that's basically it! You are done!

~ Guillermo, New York

Reclaimed wood desk

Materials: VIKA ANNEFORS, MICKE Storage unit, VIKA LERBERG

Description: I really love some of those reclaimed wood desks but they are quite expensive, so I decided to buy these white and clean table legs (VIKA ANNEFORS, VIKA LERBERG) and start a quest for old and damaged wood pieces to create a contrasting look.

1- I found redwood beams/mantles and cleaned and dry them for about 2 days.
2- I used some tools to distress even more the reclaimed wood, particularly the edges.
3- Using glue and clamps, I putted all the pieces together and added two metal joints underneath to reinforce.
4- I applied a wood stain and sealer coat to protect wood and enhance the color.

Voila! The desk or worktable stands out with all the other Ikea elements in white. You can be creative and add marks and elements as you wish (nails, decals, paint drops, etc.)

~ Rix Cerezo, Glendale, CA