Happy 2013 and a quick walk down 2012

Happy New Year! Firstly, let me say a big thank you for your support through 2012. It's been awesome and I appreciate your visits, comments, emails and of course, hacks, without which, this site will not exist. Thank you, thank you.

It's been a busy one for IKEAHackers - with over 1,200 posts this year. Here are the 12 most popular posts of 2012 along with the number of pageviews they garnered in 2012. (This list is not the Hack of Year poll. I am still working through the 1,200 hacks to shortlist the top 10. Hang in there. It should be up some time next week.)  

1. It's here! Vote for the Best Hack of 2011 (222,035)
2. Clayton Grey Inspired Nailhead Side Table (186,338)
3. Turn your studio apartment into a 1 bedroom with PAX (179,409)
4. Billy Bookcases to Built-Ins (124,903)
5. The best hack of 2010: Your vote needed (112,465)
6. NOT Expensive Glass Whiteboard (93,631)
7. Girly Kura Bed Hack (89,826)
8. It's here again! Vote for your favourite hack of 2009 (87,788)
9. Wide Standing Desk (86,334)
10. IKEA vases for a translucent rounded bathroom wall (83,477)
11. Bedroom dress boys (75,738)
12. EXPEDIT reshuffled (75,064)

As expected, the Hack of Year XXXX posts are a firm favourite, with year 2011, 10 and 09 making the list. I was a little surprised that the Nailhead side table made second spot and the NOT Whiteboard stayed up on the popular list for as long as it did.

Trendwise, we had an onslaught of standing desks (I had to turn down many, sorry!) and built-ins (Hemnes, Billy, Pax to list a few) and plenty of embellished Rasts. Other hacks that caught my eye this year were in the lighting category like this octopus lamp, and moppe lamps. But what really stood out in my memory were the Frosta X and Z. I absolutely adore their simplicity.

What about you? Which were your favourites?

Lastly, let me say a big thank you to all who shared their hacks with me. It is unfortunate that I cannot post everything that I receive and have turned away many good ideas which weren't ... well... "hack-y". But I am working on that too, which I hope to launch soon. Fingers crossed.

I am looking forward to more hacks in 2013, now that we know the world will go on and all that. So, fire up your creative juices and keep those hacks coming.
 

Lack space combiner

Photo: IKEA.com

Materials: Lack room divider

Description: Having bought a second hand LACK room divider, it didn't really seem to fit in my room. The thick black beams were somewhat overexposed in comparison to my other furniture. But I did need a piece of furniture to store my administration, stereo and other stuff I could fit in there.

First thing I did was lay down the room divider so it would be less of an eye catcher. Unfortunately my stereo and record player were too wide to fit in the shelves. I lowered the middle shelf, so that I would get just enough extra space to place my stereo units. As the room divider was now horizontal rather than vertical, it had more or less the shape of a piano soundboard.

By cutting three slices into the LACK board and placing a plywood plate underneath my electric piano I more or less created a piano-stereo furniture. Next step was to close the open sides. I did this by screwing a number of wooden slats. On the other side I mounted some plywood board to store the piles of paperwork.

Cutting the rather thin wood of the LACK room divider wasn't that much of a success. Having finished all of this, it would have been smarter to build a wooden frame from ground up.

But, I wouldn't have come up with the idea to integrate a stereo-piano-administration desk into a room divider, or as from now on, room combiner.

~ Erik Bernhart, Amsterdam , The Netherlands

Ikea elevated DJ booth

Materials: Expedit 8 bay shelf, 42" Stolmen shoe shelf, Vika Adils legs

Description: I researched for weeks and found two ideas that I liked for my DJ setup and combined the two.

For years, DJs have been using the Expedit shelves for their durability and size. I follow with this same thought.

1. Assemble the Expedit as per the included instructions.

2. Loosely assemble the Vika Adils legs to the Stolmen shoe shelf. The purpose is to decide what width you want to between the base of the legs.

3. With this measurement, layout the leg bases evenly and equally.

4. Tighten up the legs.

5. Tighten up the joints and brackets for the Stolmen shelf.

~ Marcuis Wade, United States

Space Saving Pull Out Fjellse Daybed

Materials: Fjellse Full-size Bed Frame, Sutlan Florvag, wood screws, 4
lag bolts, wood glue

Description: The whole idea for this project stemmed from our need to turn our guest room into more than just a place that gets used by friends and family 2 weeks a year. Most of our visitors are couples, so we needed more than just a standard twin daybed, the width of the space was also just a bit too small to fit a queen size bed. Enter the idea of the pull out daybed.

We started with a Fjellse bed frame and took meticulous measurements and sketched out plans to have the bed pull apart to expand to a full size bed. Using almost every single piece of wood that came with the bed and a 2X6 piece of wood, we constructed the frame. The lag bolds and a few extra wood screws were the only additions.

The middle support was cannibalized to make laminated legs (attractive and sturdy) for the frame that was made out of the headboard, baseboard, and the rails that were cut in half. We narrowed the spacing of the rails that attached to the headboard,before eventually constructed a sliding bed base out of hardwood slats (DO NOT USE PINE OR THE BED BASES SOLD AT IKEA).

Once the bed was slats were attached to the appropriate sliding side, I took some old fence boards that we cut to size to make a flat headboard, and then upholstered it using batting, DIY fabric buttons, a linen-like material, and our handy dandy staple gun.

After that, we took a serrated bread knife to an ikea foam double mattress, cut it in half before putting its back in its outer covering, and fold it in half as need for a full bed, or a day bed!

The bed fits the space perfectly and is rather comfy too!

~ Lynn, Seattle, WA

All-In-One Multipurpose Bathroom Furniture which hides a washer & dryer

Materials: Ikea Personlig Countertops, Kitchen Cabinets/Doors, Socket Lists Optional Sink /Faucet

Description: This is my second Ikea Hack :-)

I want to show you how I made my bathroom more organized by using different Ikea parts making an All-In-One bathroom furniture.

My bathroom was terribly organized,a shower in the corner, washer/tumble dryer in the other corner and a faucet/sink with a mirror in between.

I'd like to keep the room tidy with a minimalistic touch, so I planned to integrate most of the bathroom accessorize on one side of the bathroom, problem was the big washer/tumble dryer which always seemed to be in the way..

Then I came up with the idea to hide it in a cabinet or something like that... unfortunately the machinery is large, heavy, and they also move/vibrates, so I couldn't manage to find any suitable cabinets to solve my problem. I needed to make it myself, so I went to ikea to fix it!

I bought 3 Ikea "Personlig/Personal" Countertops, in the double sized thickness (8cm), normal countertops are 4.cm. The "Personlig/Personal?" counter tops can be ordered in which size you want, the European washer/tumble dry are deeper than the original standard countertop size 62 cm, and the doors had to be shut properly
so I ordered 70cm depth/220cm length.

2 x 60cm for the dryer/washer, 80cm for the center cabinet, 2 x 8cm sidewalls and 4 cm for clearing = 220cm

The sidewalls are equal 70cm depth and 86cm height. Cabinet is 70cm tall but you have to put the legs on it, so remember to add another 16cm (height)

The machinery stands on the floor, and the construction is build around it.

I used a kitchen socket list to hide the lower parts, installed ventilation in it, for air circulation.

The doors have no handles, I used the push-open solution.

To attach the doors in front of the dryer/washer, I bought a second cabinet frame and attached 1 sidewall too each side of the center cabinet, which makes you able to use standard Ikea door hinges..

I guess the picture explain the rest, pretty straight forward, and it works and I am very happy with it!

~ Peik Helly-Hansen, Norway, Oslo

Ivar/Aspelund/Malm Loft Storage Bed

Materials: Ivar shelving system, Aspelund bed frame parts, Malm Chests

Description: The problem was a room that only fit the queen sized bed we have. The solution, building a bed out of Ivar shelving, our Aspelund bed frame, and Malm 6 drawer Chests to address both the lack of space and lack of storage.

Tools required:
Screwdrivers (philips and standard)
drill
Ruler/straight edge
T-square
marking object
Safety glasses (that you actually wear while using the power tools)
Optional:
hammer (very helpful)
circular saw

Items we purchased from Ikea specifically for this project:
2 Ivar shelves 17"x 12"
2 Ivar side unit 12"x 49"
4 Ivar shelves 33"x 20"
6 Ivar side units 20"x 49"
2 Observator cross brace 28"
2 Observator cross brace 39"

Items purchased previously from Ikea but used in this project:
Aspelund Bed frame
Skorva Midbeam
2 Sultan Lade (wood slats)
Sultan Queen size mattress

Items purchased from the hardware store:
Unfinished pine cut to 68"Lx 8"Hx 3/4"W
L brackets
Zip ties
Craft wood (pine) 3/8" thick cut to fit the Ivar side unit dimensions
Items purchased from Craigslist:
4 Malm Chests with 6 drawers (color not important)


Regarding the zip ties... (NOT RECOMMENDED!!)
Note: Neither the author, her family, nor anyone associated in any way with her, recommends or condones using zip ties in a bed structure. (Even I am pushing for something sturdier.) It is HIGHLY recommended that, should you decide to construct or assemble a bed similar to the one featured, you consider a more sturdy solution to our use of the zip ties. Likewise, the author and such associated persons, etc. assume no responsibility whatsoever for any damage incurred as a result of constructing a similar structure. Attempt at your own risk!

Having washed my hands of that...
Here's how we did it.

1. Cut down small wood to use as extensions for shelving

2. Glue small pieces of wood to bottom of Ivar supports.

3. Assemble Ivar shelves over Malm Chests

4. If your room is as small as ours, make sure to space the chests evenly so
so that drawers can be accessed.

5. Connect the 2 large sets of Ivar shelves on each side of where the bed will be.

6. Add the cross braces to the shelves (without Malm chests, in our case).

7. The 4 sets of shelves should be centered such that there is ample storage behind the Malms.

8. Assemble the smaller shelf sets.

9. Place the smaller shelves at the ends such that the back of the smaller shelves are against the sides of the larger ones.

10. Use the aforementioned zip ties to hold the smaller Ivar units to the larger ones. For any questions regarding the use of zip ties in this structure, please refer to the disclaimer above.

11. Cut the head/foot board to the correct length

12. Measure the wood for the holes (sides and center) so they match with the existing side frames (or use all new wood-probably easier).

13. Measure, measure, measure! Then mark, then measure again. Only after you are 100% sure, should you even consider drilling!!! Even then, you should probably still check again.

14. Once you have all the holes drilled, you can assemble the bed frame as if it were the original bed. Then secure it to the Ivar units with the L brackets. We used 6.

16. Lift the matress over the frame. Position the slats correctly in the support frame. Move mattress into position.

17. Create a stair/step system that fits your needs both in space and person. We have not yet found our solution yet, so we are currently using a regular ladder (see disclaimer).

18. You should probably put some sort of side rails up since the bed is so high. We have assembled the basic structure that works for us for the time being.

See more of the IVAR loft bed.

~ J. Yeh

Engan Room

Materials: Engan bed frame, 1 1/4" angle iron, 1/4" 20 bolts, nuts, and washers, chop saw, drill press, TIG welder, hand saw.

Description: This brings new meaning to the term bedroom. A rather small room for a queen sized bed at 92"x81", 80" if you include base boards. The product dimensions are 61 3/4"x81 1/2". The idea was to take off one of the either headers or footers to alleviate the length needed to fit inside the space. It became a bit more than that later on in the process.

It begins with dismantling the footer from the two side lengths. Including the midbeam bracket. This will leave the bed in disuse until you can cut and weld you angle iron. You can place the slates and the midbeam aside.
You will now need access to a metal shop to cut, weld and fabricate the 'sub-frame' as I'll call it.
Angle iron lengths as follows.
3 - 8"
1 - 61 7/8"
2 - 5"
2 - approx. 4"

Cut the 2 5" at a 45 degree angle at one end. Make sure you cut the correct side.

One for the right and one for the left.

Cut the 61 7/8" at a 45 degree angle at each end.

Join the 5" lengths to the 61 7/8" length together via a welder.

Join the 3 8" lengths to the welded long section of the subframe. Space the 3 out across the length. Two for each end, and the last for the middle. These will hold the bed up just fine.

Drill a 1/4" hole through the two lengths of the 4" iron. These holes will be placed 1/2 inch from the top and from the left or right respectively.

Weld these length to the subframe. Place the foot of the 'L' that makes up the shape of angle iron toward you. This is where we are going to attach the midbeam bracket soon.

I had to manually saw off an inch of the Engan frame to accommodate the room's dimensions. You may not have to.

Place the midbeam bracket onto the subframe. Fasten with 1/4' 20 bolts, nuts, and washers.

Now the subframe will act just like the original.

Re-assemble the Engan frame, skipping a few of the footer instructions because we dont have to use that hardware anymore.

~ Colin Butgereit, Brooklyn, NYC, USA

Expedit workstation

Materials: Expedit shelving unit 2�4 / Expedit shelving unit 2�2 / Lagan countertop 1,2m / Ekby St�dis

Description: I was looking for a ergonomic desktop, with a countertop height of 740mm and a keyboard countertop height of 660mm which match my body (I need to implement this last thing) and storage. Make one solid wood was too expensive and I don't have tools to make it so I look at Ikea's catalog.

The Expedit lacks some shelves to mount the Lagan countertop which is screwed on Ekby St�dis on the 4�2 side and is laid and screwed on the 2�2 side on a home made support (made with rubbish pieces of melamine). I made this support because the 2�2 is not full and I couldn't screw an ekby st�dis firmly in it.

I had an insert with two drawers and some boxes and a pluggis recycling bin.
All of this is non destructive, I can still disassemble and reassemble separately.

~ Romain, France

Rast doubled & dolled up!

Materials: Rast, ikea material & paint

Description: I've been looking for a bedside table/bookcase for my little boys room that they share. I wanted something fun & unique to match the decor, so i got hacking!!

I got two Ikea RAST turned one upside down, drilled 8 holes (two on the bottom of each side of the legs that are going together) & glued 2 dowels on each side into the holes. I then doubled the rast up & they're held in place with 'no more nails' glue & the dowels - they're very sturdy.

Next I painted them white & the shelves orange & I tacked a piece of Ikea material to the back, to match the decor & so things wouldn't fall off the back of the shelf.

I love the outcome, it's unique & fun & it matches the room perfectly! Most of all the boys love it!

~ Peita

Custom Dining Booth From Bookcases

Materials: Expedit Bookcases

Description: We wanted to make a dining booth for our odd shaped corner dining room.

We bought 2 Expedit bookcases in the dark brown-black and planned on turning them face down and making "lids". Turning them sideways made the height better, we could always add baskets or bins in the holes. But then we got a puppy...so we left them empty.

We butted them together in the corner, put a vinyl upholstered foam cushion on top (easy slippage for butts) and stapled upholstered foam to the wall for the back.

The person who bought the house insisted we leave it for them (must have thought it was some expensive custom-made piece!)

Oh yeah, those are Ikea chairs too.

~ Laura G

Use MANDAL to store your LEGO bricks for quick & easy building

Materials: MANDAL headboards, GLIS boxes, binder clips

Description: I needed some space to store my LEGO brick but have them accessible as well when I want to use them. When we came across some MANDAL headboards in the IKEA as-is section, I slowly figured out what to do:

Using binder clips I could hang GLIS boxes to the MANDAL headboard. You have to detach the hinged covers first, then attach the binder clips to the boxes. With the binder clips attached to the boxes, you can hang them easily on the headboard.

You can even put the covers back on to keep the dust out while not using the bricks.

Detailed instructions can be found on the project page on Snapguide.

Check out How to Store Your LEGO Bricks for Quick & Easy Building by Martin Storbeck on Snapguide.

Happy building!

~ Martin Storbeck, Stuttgart, Germany

Indirect Lighting for MANDAL headboard using LEGO

Materials: MANDAL, DIODER, LEGO bricks

Description: I used the MANDAL headboard to add some shelves to my desk, where I can display my LEGO models. They needed some highlighting so I started adding DIODER led strips on the top and bottom of the shelves.

But DIODER doesn't look too good , so I wanted to hide it, creating some indirect lighting. I built frames using LEGO that you can slide onto the shelf. These frames hide the DIODER. By adjusting the distance between DIODER and the frame, you can control the brightness and the reach of the light beam.

You can use LEGO in many different ways to hide lights on any kind of shelf. Have fun creating your own version of this hack!

Check out the project-page on Snapguide for detailed instructions!

Check out How to Add Indirect Lighting to Any Shelf Using LEGO+LED by Martin Storbeck on Snapguide.

Or go directly to the snapguide via this link.

~ Martin Storbeck, Stuttgart, Germany

Amped-Up Fixa

Materials: Fixa toolbox, 4-channel amplifier module, hardware, speakers, iPod

Description: For this iPod amp, I emptied a Fixa box of its contents, traced and cut the shape of the amp and power supply, and mounted the parts. Holes were drilled for the knobs, power button, RCA inputs, and speaker jacks installed on the back (all parts from Radio Shack).

A hole was cut in the top of the box for the cooling fan. at 100 watts per channel, this box rocks!

~ Jeff Carter, Chicago