Create your own MALM Occasional Table without MALM

Materials: Rationell boards, EKBY Shelves

Description: I like to do a lot of my work on my super comfy queen size bed, on top of the fact that due to lack of space I don't have a work desk in my room.

So when I saw the MALM Occasional Table at a friend's place last year, I immediately sent a silent prayer of blessing to the creative minds at IKEA. They understood me.

But then, with a price tag of $150 in Singapore, I had some hesitations, naturally. Plus, it looks pretty simple, so I have been toying with the idea of building my own for some time now. Here's a short step by step:

Bought 4 Rationell planks (22 inches each) from IKEA AS IS...this was a great place to find boards of all shapes and sizes!
Bought 2 EKBY shelves (32 inches in height) as the side legs
Bought a set of 4 castor wheels, also from IKEA
Hardware store supplies:

- L-stainless steel brackets x 4 to join legs to top desk and screws to fit
- straight brackets to reinforce the 3 Rationells together and screws to fit
- 40 inches wood slats to reinforce the Rationell and long long wood nails
- GOOP Wood Glue

Tools:
- Hammer
- Drill with drill bit to match the screw sizes (easy alternative if you dont have drill bits is to match the screws you get to the drill bit you have) A drill is a must though
- Electric screwdriver (also from IKEA) and this was pretty necessary because you cannot manually screw in screws as the table will get pretty heavy and needs the sturdiness that comes from tools

First I took my measurements and made sure the end product would fit around my bed.

I then worked on reinforcing the Rationell. My rookie mistake was that I thought the steel brackets in themselves would be good enough. Lo and behold it all collapsed and I had to rush back to the store to get the wood supports. I then used the brackets, the wood and the wood glue to make sure the desk stuck together as one long piece

I drilled holes first into the bottom of the EKBY shelves (for castor wheels)

Then, with the desktop lying upside down, I drilled holes for the L-brackets and screwed the EKBY to the Rationell, supported by wood glue. I then attached the castor wheels (also added some wood glue here for good measure)

The final step was turning the table right side up, which was quite a task and I do not recommend doing it alone. After that I let it stand against the wall for a whole day to let the wood glue set, and tada!

So far its pretty sturdy, though it wobbles a little but its holding all the weight just fine. I think the wobbling is because of its width, which is about 66 inches from corner to corner.

For more pictures, just visit my blog.

~ Eesha Muneeb, Singapore

More hacks on IKEAHackers.net

Over Sofa Table

To friends and readers in the US, happy happy July 4th! ~ Jules

Materials: Fabian / Lack / Ekby / Assorted Screws / Stain

Description: Underwhelmed by the selection of over sofa tables on the market, especially for the price. (Including Ikea's Stockholm table.) Opted to hack my own! Two Fabian wall shelves. Four Ekby Stodis brackets. One Lack wall shelf.

Placed the two Fabians perpendicular and braced with two of the supplied metal Fabian brackets. Attached two Ekby brackets for increased stability. Attached two more Ekby brackets to the Lack top.


Then attached Ekby / Lack piece to the Fabian shelf. Voila! A new over sofa table that cost around $25.00.

One tip: choose screw sizes carefully lest you screw through the Fabian shelves. After assembly, we stained the table. In retrospect, we should have stained before assembly but we first wanted to see if this even worked. Presumably, this hack can be altered style and color wise to meet your own tastes. Enjoy!

~ Michael Beatrice, Los Angeles, CA

Lantern Hanger

Materials: EKBY H�LL Konsol, svart

Description: Instead of using it for a shelf, we used it in our balcony to hang a lantern.

~ Kaan B�r, Malm�, Sweden

Window flower pots (box)

Materials: EKBY TRYGGVE, EKBY VALTER

Description: Nice alternative to traditional window boxes. This is a Ekby shelf that I trimmed to fit the length of my window, cut three equal holes using a jig saw and inserted three planted terra cotta pots.

I used brackets purchased a another store, but the Valter brackets would work just a well. The construction includes a furring strip 1"x3" attached at a 90 degree angle to the shelf. It's through this furring strip that I attached it to my house using 5, 3.5" exterior screws. The brackets provide additional support but are not actually 'attached' to the house. The pots can be changed out with the seasons and won't rot like traditional wooden window boxes.

~ Heather, Boston

EKBY Book Gallery Display Shelf

Materials: EKBY Tryggve and EKBY Valter

Description: For a recent photography exhibition I decided to showcase a book next to some framed work. While a RIBBA picture frame shelf would have sufficed, I wanted something a little more conducive to page turning while the book was stationary, so... I got hacking.

You'll need the following, give or take a few items:
- 2 x EKBY Tryggve 31 1/8" x 7 1/2" wooden shelves
- 2 x EKBY Valter 7 1/8" wooden brackets (I used black here to match my photo framing)
- Buzz-saw or handsaw
- Detail sander or just sand paper/brick
- Biscuit joiner
- 2 x biscuits
- Misc. wooden dowels (approx. 5/8" thick)
- Wood glue
- Wood filler
- Tack nails
- Hammer
- Tape measure
- Pencil
- Mounting hardware
- Paint (if desired)
- Lacquer (if desired)

Total time: ~1-2 hours (minus glue and paint dry time)
Total cost: $14 for EKBY items (all other materials were in kind)

1. Measure EKBY Tryggve shelves to desired length. For this hack, we cut the pre-existing 31 1/8" wide board down to 18 1/2".

2. Place you book on the shelf to get a sense of where it may sit or rest. Here we determined that there was too much space on the top so we reduced the 7 1/2" depth/height to 6 1/2" for each shelf piece.

3. Use a piece of scrap wood or dowel if you would like a retaining lip on the bottom of the shelf.

4. For added stability to your shelf cut a biscuit joint, glue and clamp.

5. Once your boards are joined and stable, attach dowels to the ends of the shelf. This will create a cleaner edge to the unit. As you can see, we have also added the bottom lip, for retaining the book. Smaller dowels are also glued and nailed to the bottom of the shelf for added support.

6. Fill in any gaps or holes will wood filler. Sand for smooth surface.

7. In order to mount the shelf at an angle, the EKBY Valter brackets must be used upside down, so that the angled part slopes downward. See image above for TOP and BOTTOM of where the wall mounts are.

8. Using a handsaw, cut off the unwanted end of the bracket.

9. Sand down the end of the bracket.

10. Align the brackets to the top of the shelf and mark where they should be glued and nailed.

11. Glue and nail!

12. Here is the completed shelf, pre-paint.

13. Paint as desired. I used a Behr glossy oil based paint. Several coats. Followed by a spray lacquer finish.

14. The finished and installed product!

Have fun and happy hacking!

~ Angry Alan, Providence, RI

Shelves on the floor make a TV stand

Materials: EKBY Shelves, Metal saw, Drill, Screw Driver

Description: I had one of the cheap and low to the ground KLUBBO coffee tables, and want a very simple TV stand to match .

There was nothing in the IKEA range at the time that was short enough, shallow enough and elegant enough, but had an idea to make my own. I think the results look great, and I loved how the top of the TV matched in height as well.

1) Get two EKBY Shelves and 4 IKEA wall mounting brackets that are a full rectangle (the triangular or L-shaped won't work).

2) Drill two holes in the long edge of the brackets that don't have holes already (one side will already) in two of the brackets. Don't make them line up with the existing holes, as you're going to be mounting screws from both sides on one shelf, and you don't want the screws to hit.

3) Cut the other two of the brackets in half length ways, leaving the long side that have screws in them.

4) Sand down the rough cut edges and add some rubber of felt pads to not scratch the floor.

5) Mount the brackets to the shelves using the drilled holes. You might need a small or right angled screwdriver when reaching in between the two shelves.

6) You're done!

~ James Low, Hong Kong

Book Binding Loom

Materials: Ekby Lerberg, Ekby Trygge, Satta

Description: For 15 euros a cheap bock binding loom in 5 steps.

~ cristina, Milan, Italy

Budget Work Station

Materials: EKBY VIKTOR, EKBY M�NS, SPONTAN, STIG, RUSCH

Description: First off, sorry for the quality of the photo! The work station isn't actually crooked in real life, but apparently my iphone camera was going for an abstract look.

I wanted to make a workspace that didn't take up a lot of floor room as my bedroom is fairly small, and I was actually inspired by this makeup vanity for small spaces (http://www.ikeahackers.net/2011/03/makeup-vanity-for-small-spaces.html); originally I thought I'd do something similar with a shelf and table legs, but i ended up just deciding to mount a shelf lower on my wall to serve as a work station that would fit my laptop.

I grabbed the EKBY M�NS shelf brackets in black along with an EKBY VIKTOR shelf in black to serve as the desk portion of my workspace, and then I purchased the SPONTAN magnet board in white to use as a memo and idea display. I got a work lamp to go on the shelf but I can't remember exactly which model I bought. It was on sale for $5.99 at the time, but I can't seem to find it on the website. I wanted a chair that sat a bit higher up so I bought a STIG bar stool, and then I bought three RUSCH wall clocks to represent three different time zones above the whole setup. Overall I think everything cost between $50 and $60, and it was really simple to put together in under two hours. I used a stud finder to attach the shelf to the wall and therefore didn't need a power drill, which was an added bonus. Very pleased with how everything turned out!

~ Megan, Brooklyn

Monitor and Speaker Desk Platform

Materials: 46-inch Ekby Jarpen and 4-inch Capita

Description: Not too difficult to understand here but I wanted to get my monitor above my laptop and lift the monitor speakers off the desk level as well for better acoustics. Originally I had planned on buying the smaller desktop and ripping it in half with a table saw but spotted the Ekby Jarpen shelf displayed in the kitchen area displays and decided to use that instead. 11" is the perfect depth for the Rokit 5 monitors and allows for the plug and cables to drop without hitting the wall. The Capita's come in 4, 6, and 8 inch, and chose the 4 as the 6's were out of stock, but in turn it was a better choice as it's not too high to be awkward looking but elevates everything perfectly leaving some space underneath for small trays for storage.

Assembly is easy. I used the package as the width guide to place the leg plates from the edges and eyeballed the distance from the front and rear of the shelf to about 1/2". In retrospect I would probably move the front ones back to about 1.5" overhang as if I get my eyes down lower I can start the see the screw heads in the plate, but it's hardly noticeable.

Cost: $27.31 after uncle sam

See more of the Monitor and Speaker Desk platform.

~ Chuck Reynolds, Chandler, Az