Materials: Besta BOAS, Besta Shelves, Besta Sliding Door Kit, Hinges
Description: We were adding storage to an existing Besta BOAS, and my wife wanted to add sliding doors to hide our TV. Since we live in a ~800 sqft apartment, we could do this exactly like IKEA recommends.
Enter the apartment limitations:
A. We wanted doors that could hide the TV
B. We only have enough wall space for a BOAS + 1 shelf unit
C. Off the floor, IKEA only supports sliding doors with at least 2 shelf units (Both doors are on rails, and each slides away from the center to reveal the TV).
Fortunately this was a simple fix.
01. We purchased one shelf unit, two BESTA sliding doors, and one sliding door rail kit (which includes 2 47" rails, one top and one bottom).
02. We had one existing BESTA BOAS at home.
03. Assembled the new shelf, attached to the BOAS as indicated (ours is on the right)
04. Now, attach the slide rails to the combined shelf-BOAS unit, such that they span the shelf and half the BOAS.
05. Pick one of the doors, and mount it to the slide rails. Do all the balancing to make it work, then take it back off the rails (for now)
Part one is done, and we turn our attention to the doors.
06. Go to your local hardware source and pick up some basic hinges. We picked 4 black cabinet hinges that take 4 screws (Specifically: Liberty 3-7/16 in. x 1-7/16 in. Black Hammercraft Flush Door 'H' Hinge)
Notes on Hinges: Picking the hinges really took the most time of this hack. I looked at every possible type, from piano to invisible, but settled on the ones we did for a few reasons. First, there just isn't enough material to use any hinge that requires a mortise (the hole you create to recess some hinges). This removed everything that wasn't surface mount. Second, we needed hinges that would allow the one door to swing through a 180-degree arc. This eliminated just about everything except surface mounts and piano hinges. Finally, I was about to pick a piano hinge when 1. I could find it in anything but silver, and 2. I convinced myself that drilling into the edge of the doors wasn't a good idea. This left your basic surface mount cabinet hinges. I almost drilled all the way through the doors to use larger screws (or bolt/nuts) but didn't because you will see the back of one door. So far the cabinet hinges/screw are showing no signs of giving out.
07. Lay the doors down next to each other, finished side up. Run some quick calculations on where you want your hinges (we mounted 4, evenly spaced top to bottom). Also consider where you want the recessed hinge holes to be seen for the door that folds. We picked and recommend the outside edge, because it ensures our new hinges aren't limited in their placement.
08. The spacing between the doors is decided by your hinges. So drill ALL the hinge pilot holes in one door first. Fold the hinges closed, press the barrel as far as it will without lifting the plate, then mark your pilots.
09. Drill pilots in both doors this way, before you ever attach a hinge with screws. Also remember to not pilot all the way through, as the back will be visible. This will allow you to keep the gap between the doors as small as possible. Also make sure your measurements are dead on, as doors that are not level can cause a few problems. One, it is easy to see since you have the straight line of the BOAS and the other door in your sight line, and Two, if the non rail door (the left in our setup) is lower than the rail door, it will drag on the floor, or in worst conditions, not move at all.
10. With all pilot holes in place, screw the doors together using the hinges.
11. Carefully pick up the combined doors, and remount the one to the slide rail.
12. To add a bit of polish, we added a rubber bumper to ours to keep everything spaced and unstressed (look for deep bumpers, like 1/4 inch - they need to match the depth of the slide rail), and they colored in the original hinge holes to make them less visible.
In the end we love it. We can pick to show the full TV and hide a bookcase, or to slide and unfold the door to show the bookcase and hide the TV. Exactly what we wanted, in the space available.
Happy to answer questions or help out others that want to try something similar!
~ J Humphries, Arlington, VA
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