Materials: 2 Billy Bookshelves, Norberg Table, Lindmon Tabletop, Vattna Wall Clock, Sultan bed slats, drywall screws, wood screws, washers, latex-based construction caulk, television flush mount, Forstner Drill bit
Description: In need of a 30" desk with ample storage to utilize between our two closets, I racked my brain to find a solution. I toyed with custom-building a cabinet, but finally came upon a good fit with numerous IKEA pieces.
By placing the two Billy Bookshelves back-to-back (leaving a space in between for wiring to pass), I found that the Lindmon tabletop was a perfect spacer. The white melamine makes a clean and light front, too. Weight was important so that the TV (my monitor) would not pull the whole assembly over.
I screwed in from the back, using drywall screws just shorter than the depth of the Billy sideboards and tabletop combined. A bit of caulk helps as a quasi-removable adhesive (installers regularly use this alone to hold countertops in place so why not here?). Disc washers prevented the screws from self-countersinking and ruining the tabletop.
Upon installing the tabletop I immediately installed the TV bracket, also screwing through the tabletop into the Billy sidewalls, using provided bolts to also go into pieces of SULTAN slats in the gap space between the two Billy bookshelves.
This now gave me placement for wire pass-throughs for the Computer, USB and other wires. These were quick and easy in in one Billy back and through the middle of the Lindmon white face with the Forstner bit (cuts a larger circle for easy wiring passthrough).
Now I measured exactly 29.5" - the height of my favorite desk - to help position the Norberg bracket and installed onto the front. Again, each screw was chosen so that depth is just less than the depth of combined tabletop and bookshelf siding. The middle brackets went into the same Sultan slats that are in the gap space behind.
Due to the Norberg gateleg needing stabilization lower down, I placed two Sultan slats together and screwed through to match the Lindmon depth. I will paint this unfinished pine either clean white or black to match the rest of the setup one day soon...
Then I just fed through power cables and monitor wiring, as well as hooking through my speaker cables for my desktop audio system and centered the clock to finish the look!
Now, I have a workstation that easily gets out of the way, and allows me to watch television in the ideal spot in the bedroom, and now my girlfriend and I each have a good stable stack of storage facing our closets to use for whatever we need.
~ Ian C.
Materials: Jansjo lamp and yogurt bottle
Description: Cut the yoghurt bottle into the right length to form the petals. Slice into strips and bend them over to the neck of the bottle. Stick the strips onto the neck of the bottle and secure with a zip tie.
Cut a hole in the bottle cap to allow the Jansjo lamp to go through. Place the lamp through the flower shade and you're done.
~ loic goulouzelle, Brest - France
Materials: 2x MALM Chest with 2 drawers, black-brown
Description: We bought two small Malm Chests as nightstands but I the height of them annoyed me real quick.
So we cut off the lower half of each Malm and attached the remaining pieces to the back so you'd receive a nightstand looking like the old Malm nightstand.
We added a power socket to the top and mounted our selfmade lamps to the back plate.
Only thing I had to buy were the sockets, matching covers and two tiny hooks for the lampshades.
~ fabsn182, Würzburg, Germany
Materials: Pax, Komplement clothes rail and drawers, MDF, 4x2,
Description: 1. Build a frame to fit your space using 4x2 timbers- think about how you'll use your wardrobe and affix additional timbers to the sides for the runners you'll need for your drawers, shoe racks, baskets etc.
2. Take an Ikea Komplement clothes rail and remove the end. Then, using a jigsaw, cut to size to fit the wardrobe and simply replace the end, then screw into place.
3. To re-size Komplement drawers, remove one end of the drawer (preferably on the side that will later end up hidden, i.e. against the wall) and slide out the base. Carefully measure, mark and then cut the base down to size, then slot back into place. To re-fit the end, you'll need to drill 2 holes- one in the front panel of the drawer and one in the back panel- and then screw the side into place.
4. Affix drawer runners to the side timbers of your new wardrobe frame and slot the drawers into place.
5. Cut an MDF sheet to size to fit the exposed side of the frame.
6. Cut an MDF sheet to size to fit the 'roof', then use a router to make neat holes for air circulation, lower into place on top of the timber frame
7. Cut MDF sheets for the doors and if you want some detailing, use thin MDF pieces to create a panelled effect- glue and pin to the doors.
8. Use some attractive hinges to fit the doors to the frame.
9. Prime and paint the wardrobe, then attach door handles.
10. Stand back and admire!
See more of the built-in Pax wardrobe.
~ Lucy
Materials: 8" and 5" Blanda Matt Bowls, Tolsby picture frame base, 4 disposable wooden chopsticks (preferable the round kind), foam board
Description: To make the chair:
Step 1: Take the round base of the Tolsby picture frame and position the 8" Blanda Matt Bowl on its side at an approximate 75degree angle on top of the white base.
Step 2: Make a mark on where the white base will be glued to the bowl.
Step 3: Use hot glue to stick the base.
*Make a cushion for the chair if you want.
To make the table:
Step 1: cut a 10.5dia circle from the foam board. Glue it inside the 5" Blanda Matt bowl.
*Cover the foam board with decorative paper if you want. I used a silver contact paper.
Step 2: measure 1" from the tapered tip of all 4 chopsticks. Cut and superglue them at the bottom of the 5" bowl for table legs. I have mine spaced around 1" away from the IKEA logo at the bottom of the bowl.
~ Lene Dragon, United States
Materials: Moppe, old stool legs, yarn, power drill, 4 screws, drill bit, needle
Description: I think every body has a storage system like Moppe at home. It's like the Billy. I had mine now for - let me think - 7 years. Oh my. I painted one of the drawers red(-ish) back then to make it more fitting to the desk it sat on. But know it gets a make-over and definitely more purpose in life.
1. Draw with the chalk arrows on the mini chest. The chalk gives you the opportunity to draft and delete as you go along.
2. Take the drawers out of the chest and drill holes in the ends of each line and in the joints of the arrow.
3. Then you just need to stitch the lines. I made a little knot so it doesn't pull through and wrapped the ends of the yarn around one of the lines in the back to fix it afterwards.
4. Attach the stool legs to the bottom of the mini chest with the 4 screws. Make sure that the screws don'€™t go through the wood or you won't be able to insert the drawers afterwards.
See more of the Moppe storage.
~ Sarah, Vienna, Austria
Materials: Jansjo lamp, Li-ion battery, socket, wire
Description: I want to share with you a simple "invention" I made to have a camping Jansjo.
At home I have three lamps JANSJO–. They are powered by a switching power supply. The cable lamp is connected to the 4Vdc power supply by an old type speaker connector (in Italy we call it "Punto-linea" connector).
Within the head, close to the LED chip, the current is adjusted with a special IC (I have opened one head, but I do not remember: I think there are two 340mA regulators in parallel for a total of 680mA) and a voltage of 3.4 V is enough to obtain the maximum intensity.
Having some Lithium cylindrical 3.7V nominal (3 ~ 4.2V according to the actual state of charge) 2.4 Ah cells salvaged from old laptops battery packs (I also use that cells for the flashlight, etc., and charge them with a specific Li-ion charger Soshine SC-S1 V3) I thought it might be suitable for JANSJO.
So I connected a small piece of red and black wire to female speaker connector and the other two ends to a
cell, holding them by a slice of bicycle inner tube. (anyone who repair bicycles has some of them to give). The night between the 14th and the 15th of August we had four hours of great lighting at about no cost in the gazebo at the beach!
Ah ... I had also brought the gas lamp, but the light was ridiculous compared to a single JANSJO–! :-)
Have a good camping! :-)
~ Gianluca Giangreco, Roma, Italy
Materials: Besta TV storage combination
Description: Besta TV storage combination + wooden 10 legs, and LED backlite.
~ Lucas, Polska
Materials: LINNMON table top, LERBERG trestle legs, ADILS legs
Description: We needed a long table for our dining room because we have a very large window seat. However, we were having a lot of trouble finding anything that was long enough without it either being much to wide for the space or way too expensive. So we decided to hack some IKEA!
1) We bought two of the 47 inch LINNMON table tops, two LERBERG trestle legs, and two ADILS table legs.
2) We connected the table tops with the ADILS legs by holding them together and screwing them so that two of the holes in the ADILS screw plate were on one table top and the other three on the other. This also gave the table added stability.
3) We flipped it over and put the LERBERG trestles on the ends.
The cost of the table was a total of $66.98! It was super simple to put together, and didn't require any extra materials.
A very simple, and very inexpensive hack which provided us with the perfect dining table for our space.
~ Lauren & Christopher, Colorado
Materials: Ikea loft bed and some MDF
Description: Cut 30cm off the legs of a double loft bed and the ladder. Got some MDF boards cut to go on the runs instead of putting a mattress down, and added some thinner decorative mdf along the sides - i just nailed it on. This now serves and an area for setting up and playing Playmobil, but it would work well for LEGO, trains, cars, barbie dolls etc.
See more of the kid's mezzanine area.
~ horrisanddeedle, sydney
Materials: HULTET Bamboo plate, VATTNA wall clock, cable binder, acrylic paint
Description: First of all, this is not my own hack - I got the idea from here.
But in the original hack there were no instructions, so I thought a more detailed description might help you. Also want it to be seen :)
You'll need a HULTET bamboo plate (~7€)and a cheap clockwork (I bought the VATTNA wall clock, because it was on sale (~2€).
Things to consider:
1. the length of the bolt, on which you fasten the nut (so the clockwork doesn't fall out) has to me a little thicker than the bamboo plate.
2. Both clock hands have to be bendable, so you can match the plate's shape.
How to build:
1. Drill a hole in the center of the plate, size should match the bolt of your clockwork.
2. Position the clockwork and bring on the borders. I used some rest wood and sawed it appropriately. Fix it with screws to the bamboo plate, but choose them carefully, so they don't come out on the other side!
3. Attach the middle part of the cablebinder as a hanger and fix it somehow (see the picture how I did it).
The two knobs at the bottom are for stability, I made them out of synthetic cork (wine bottle).
4. Paint the plate as you like :)
5. Bind the clock hands according to the shape of the plate.
6. Assemble the clockwork and enjoy ;)
~ Sergej Koala, Germany
Materials: LINNMON table tops, CAPITA Legs
Description: I needed a storage solution for for my large sheets of art paper, but architectural flat file cabinets are so expensive. IKEA table tops to the rescue!
I bought six LINNMON table tops and attached CAPITA legs to them, and then stacked them on top of each other. For the table top that would be at the bottom, I attached six CAPITA legs for extra support. I also used the 8" legs on the bottom table top to make it higher. For the rest of the table tops, I used 4" legs.
On the bottom of each CAPITA leg that would rest on a table top (i.e., every table top except the one on the bottom) I applied a dab of Liquid Nails. Then when I stacked the tables, the adhesive held each level together.
I also love how the flat file storage unit is tall enough for me to work while standing up. I'm happy. And my paper is even happier.
See more of the Linnmon flat file storage.
~ Jonathan Fong
Materials: Norden and others for kitchen, Ekby Trygvve and Ekby Töre for shelving
Description: The Hack is not mine but I could not resist bringing it to your attention to this extreme Ikeahacker.
Descriptions and more product information on their website.
See more of the hacks by Teste di legno.
~ Jesse
Materials: HUSET living room scale modified with door hardware.
Description: The HUSET living room playset is slightly undersized for 1:6 scale, but a minor modification using bi-folding door hardware brings it up to snuff so a "little" IKEA design magic can happen.
See more of the HUSET doll furniture hack.
~ Ro
Materials: 1xJEFF Chair and 1m of 75-80mm PVC Pipe
Description: Find some discarded folding chairs, this hack should work for any IKEA folding chair. People will most likely be throwing them out because the plastic chair back has cracked.
It's also easy to find offcuts of pvc around residential building sites!
- Pull off the broken chair back, and throw in recycling.
- Cut lengths PVC pipe to desired length using a hacksaw.
- I used a Dremel multi-max to cut square holes the correct width apart for the metal supports.
Total Cost = $0
Time Taken = 10min
See more of the folding chair hack.
~ Sam Foss, Australia
Materials: Fyndig - single-bowl sink (17 3/4" x 15 3/8"€) plus Atlant Waste Strainer, Edsvik, dual control faucet, Bohlman Dish Washing Bowl and Drainer, Rationell fully-extending drawers, one 3" and one 6"€ deep Jall- Hanging organizer.
Description: In 2012, I purchased a small 1986 mini motorhome that was in need of interior renovation---especially the kitchen area. After looking around, I found IKEA products were better sized for the mini motorhome than products at many other stores. I was excited to find how well the IKEA products worked and hope this gives others ideas for using IKEA products to renovate their van or mini-motorhome.
The first step was to remove the old stove, sink, faucet and the countertop. The original cabinet frame was repaired and reinforced. The old frame was covered with a new 1/4-inch plywood skin and a new countertop was added.
Then I installed the new IKEA sink and faucet. Note: plumbing lines on motorhomes are sized differently than for houses. The sales people at a local hardware store helped me find parts that could be used to connect the new sink lines to the original motorhome water lines. We used couplers for a sprinkler system.
Below the new cooktop, I installed full extension Rationell drawers. These are wonderful and easy to use. No more searching through boxes and bags to find items. Note: For the drawers to work properly, the distance between the walls inside the cabinet need to be exactly the dimensions stated on the instructions. In old motorhomes, this is a challenge because cabinets and walls are often not square or straight. We used shims to align the drawer railings.
Several IKEA kitchen accessories have proven to be useful in the motorhome where space is a premium. We LOVE the IKEA espresso maker and covered spice jars. A Bolhmen dish washing basket and drainer set serve double duty. A clean was dish washing basket has served as a salad bowl and the drainer has been used as a colander for rinsing fruits and vegetables and draining pasta.
In addition to rebuilding the kitchen, the clothes closet was a problem. While the closet was large for a minimotorhome, clothes fell off hangers when traveling and had to be stored in bags and boxes so they were hard to get to. The IKEA Jall hanging organizers were just the right length to hang in the closet and they formed cubby holes for storing clothes. I cut 1/4 plywood to fit into the bottom of each cubby hole to add stiffness. Instead of plywood, I could have used foam core board. Now clothes are easy to find and stay in place when traveling.
~ Sue, Western Washington
