GRONO & LERBERG LED Lights

Materials: Grono Lamp and Lerberg DVD rack

Description: Remote controlled multi-colour self adhesive LED lighting strip was used for these hacks. For the Grono the LED strip was mounted on a section of square plastic drainpipe (you can see the remote control sensor in the picture).

For the Lerberg a rectangle of frosted perspex was mounted behind the metal frame using clear silicon. Holes were then drilled in the perspex so the original mounting brackets could be refitted.

The LEDs were fitted to a length of rectangular plastic fan ducting.

~ Nick, UK

Sea Glass GRONO Lamp

Materials: GRONO Table Lamp, Sea Glass, Glue, Grout

Description: My wife has been collecting sea glass for a year or so. We go to specific beaches where the glass can be found and she spends hours sifting through sand and rocks to find all the good pieces.

By far the most abundant sea glass is white. Since we have a lot of it, I came up with the idea of making a lamp with some of the less rare pieces.

On a recent trip to Ikea, we found the GRONO table lamp in frosted glass that looked perfect for the project.

Step one was to glue the sea glass on. Weldbond is non-toxic and it does get on your hands, so that's what I used. This was the most painstaking process.

After letting the glue dry for 24 hours, I used a sanded grout to fill in the space between the glass. I've had lots of experience tiling floors, so I used the techniques I learned there to apply and smooth the grout.

~ Calvin Gehlen

Glass Lamp Makeover

Materials: GRONO Table lamp, calico print cloth, ribbon, high temp hot glue gun

Description: 1. At your discretion, measure cloth to fit the height and perimeter of the lamp. Mine leaves a little glass showing on top and bottom, but wraps completely around the perimeter with a slight overlap.

2. Apply a thin line of hot glue on the top and bottom edges and attach ribbon. Do the same for the side edges making sure that these ribbons can overlap.

3. Wrap the cloth piece tautly around the lamp; I put scotch tape over the top edge to hold it in place.

4. Now apply a thin strip of hot glue to one ribbon and overlap the other and...

Voila! My old, cracked lamp has a new outfit. The cloth can slide on and off, so you can make multiple covers for your lamp. Enjoy!

~ Cara, San Francisco

GRONO in the loo

Materials: 6 Grono lamps, 2 Ljusdal shelves

Description: We recently moved into a new apartment, and being inspired by both the space and ikeahackers we had a lot of fun designing and decorating. Of course budget is always a consideration, so using lots of "as is" items added to the challenge and also the satisfaction. I have a few different hacks to share, hope you find mine as inspiring as I've found all of yours!

Bare fluorescent tube fixtures have their place I'm sure, but over my bathroom sink is not one of them. With my husband's electrical experience it didn't seem like it would be a big deal to replace, but then we ran into the snag of finding something we actually liked! Seeing as the bathroom counter spans the whole room, one of the normal vanity bars (other than being boring) looked too small. We played around with a few ideas, and eventually came up with this.

We mounted two Ljusdal shelves side by side (touching) centered on the wall and flush to the top of the mirror. We then placed the six Grono lamps upside down, evenly spaced on the shelves. We are using fluorescent bulbs in the Gronos, so heat is not an issue in spite of the bulb being enclosed this way. My husband cut off all the cords to the length needed to reach the electrical connection, and then hard wired all the lamps together into the outlet. This way the individual lamps operate as one via the wall switch. The inverted lights glow through the frosted glass shelf and make a bright but diffuse light perfect for the bathroom.

Budget-wise, it's not the absolute cheapest solution we could have found, but then again bathroom fixtures tend to run expensive anyway, so I figure we paid about the going price and the result is custom made for our loo.

~ marikorose, Athens, Greece

Lack+Gr�n�+Hemma=Overhead 'swag' light

Materials:
Lack side table - top
2 Gr�n� table lamp sets
4 Hemma cords
Soldering iron/electrical soldier/electrical tape
drill & screwdriver
2 packs ceiling drywall anchors
Keyhole brackets/risers

Description: I had a dilemma in the condo we just bought: the builder for whatever reason had designed the bedrooms without any overhead junction box to allow for an overhead light.  There are light switches available on the wall that work one outlet in the room but traditional 'swag' style lamps don't really appeal to me, so...I built one myself.

I'm sure that an easier option would be to simply buy any overhead light, get a cord kit and modify it to plug in to the wall, but then it wouldn't be a fun IKEA creation.

I used the table top of the Lack side table for my ceiling mounted base (since this is a swag light a cord needs to hang out of it down the wall to get power, and as this vision ends with 4 separate hanging lights, I also needed a way to hide the gathered and spliced cords).

I then sat the empty Gr�n� glass squares on the upside down table top in the same location I wanted them to hang down. To mark where the cords would hang I took a marker and dotted in the center of the holes on the Lack table and drilled through with a bit that was a bit wider than the Hemma cords.

I cut each of the Hemma cords about a foot and a half from the light socket and fed them through the holes in the Lack table (since I have around 8ft. ceilings and this was hanging over the bed I couldnt let it hang too far down, the cord only hangs about 6in, but better to have a bit of extra cord than not enough), if you wanted it to hang longer a fifth Hemma cord may be a good idea so you have the most length possible in the swag cord.

I then spliced the cords together along with one of the plug ends (yay now I won't need to have 4 swag cords, I combined them all into 1 which is a bit less obtrusive), I stripped the long plug cord wires to leave a couple of inches exposed for both white and black wires, and stripped an inch for the socket cords, each of which I wrapped around the plug cord, soldiered and taped (white to white and taped, and black to black and taped separately) � wired in 'parallel' NOT in 'series' which would have dimmed the lights.

On the unfinished side of the lack table (which goes against the ceiling) I screwed In my keyhole brackets with washers underneath to raise them enough for the screw heads in the ceiling to slide in and under to mount it (make sure they all go the same direction!). I measured a few times to make sure that I screwed in the drywall anchors to the ceiling perfectly to match the table brackets. When the screw is screwed into these anchors, I left an inch protruding from the ceiling and slid the light fixture onto the screw heads.

Now attach the glass cubes, screw in your bulbs (I used CFLs just to be sure I didnt force too much wattage down the wire with 4 bulbs instead of the one it was meant for)

Voila! a ceiling light fixture without overhead wiring.

Note: I had to let the glass cubes weigh on the cords for a week or so before they settled into an untwisted state, and I could finally straighten out the cubes to the angles I wanted.

~ April

Grono Multicolor Moodlight LED Hack

Materials: One Ikea Grono lamp, one "6-Pin Superflux Stripe v6.0" PCB, 12 suitable resistors, 28pcs of 6-pin RGB Superflux LEDs, one 44-key remote RGB controller (24V version, common anode), 4 pcs of small-diameter shrink-on tube, 1pc of larger-diameter shrink-on tube, one switched-mode power supply putting out 24V and at least 300 mA, M3 size screws and nuts, some thin wire.

Tools: A hot glue gun, a small saw, a soldering iron, some flux, soldering tin, a knife, a lighter, a flat screw driver, an M3 wrench, or small pliers will do as well, a file, some rubber foam and/or duct tape

Description: Welcome to the Grono RGB LED moodlight hack. First of all, you need a Grono, of course. :-)

Then, you will need to modify the original lamp socket to accommodate the PCB we will prepare later on. Take the flat screw driver and pry the noses that hold the socket together apart - on both sides, which might be a bit tricky. Pinch off the cable with your pliers and remove it completely, we won't need it.

Grab your saw and shorten the socket as much as possible so it will still be fixable with the ring that has to be screwed on the socket on the inside of the Grono lamp. Afterwards, file it down (or use sand paper if you like) to get rid of residue and sharp edges.

Finally, twist off the rest of the cale relief at the bottom. But be careful, the inner part shouldn't break off, as the hole is needed for locking the PCB with a screw later on.

The first picture shows you what your socket should look like. Don't cut it down too much or you won't be able to mount it into the lamp anymore.

Now, it's time to assemble the PCB. 28 6-pin RGB Superflux LEDs need to be soldered on it, as well as 12 suitable resistors and the four cables coming from the RGB controller. This might take you about 30 to 60 minutes, depending on your soldering skills. Be careful to solder each LED in the right way as polarity is vital - otherwise parts of the PCB won't light up at all as there are always 7 LEDs in a row.

This is what the finished PCB looks like.

As the RGB controller is made in China and the manufacturers rearrange their pinouts as they see fit, you may have to try which channel is which color (cable colors may differ from the channel's color). The black wire is usually the common pole (in this case the anode) and the other wires carry the signals for each color. A multimeter comes in handy to determine which wire needs to go where.

So, pinch off the plug on the controller (be careful not to pinch off the IR receiver - that's the second cable coming out of the white box, with a small square IR receiver at the end). Remove the white isolation (about 2 inches) and carefully do the same with the colored thin wires on the inside of it - on both ends of the cable. Solder the four wires onto the PCB according to the markings.

Before mounting the PCB into the lamp, you should isolate the underside of the PCB with some rubber foam and/or duct tape in order to prevent shortcuts between the soldering points of the LEDs.

After that, you can place the PCB in the lamp and put the M3 screw through the hole in the middle of the PCB. Hold it down with one finger and turn the whole lamp upside down, taking care that the PCB won't fall out - now put the nut on the bolt and tighten it carefully (not too much!). Shove the big shrink-on tube over the small wires. Do the same to each of the four small wires with the small shrink-on tubes. Solder the wires from the PCB back to the corresponding cables coming out of the RGB controller.

Shrink the tubes with a lighter. Connect the power supply to the controller, but make sure first that the polarity printed on the controller matches the one on your power supply. Only use stabilised DC power supplies with a minimum output of 300-350 mA. If the your power supply's plug doesn't match the controller's jack, you may need to solder a suitable one on your power supply.

If you did everything right, you got yourself a lovely colorful ambient light that also packs a punch - we're talking five watts of LED power here ;)

For pictures of it in use click the link below. Keep in mind that those pictures were made with minimal ISO and shutter times so the colors came off right - otherwise there would only be bright blurry circles. It is _much_ brighter in reality!

Cheers and thank you for any comments!

See more of the color changing Grono lamp.

~ zongo, Bavaria

Solar lighted Expedit and Gr�n�

Materials: Gr�n�, Expedit, Solvinden garden light, Saw

Description: I would like to have a place to store my vinyls, so I bought an Expedit and wanted to light up it so I bought a Solvinden solar garden light. Solvinden contains 3 lights, you can use them to make soft and economic little spots.

Personally I wanted to "permanently" light up the Gr�n� lamp and the most interesting shelves of my Expedit.

Using a saw I shortened the lights of the Solvinden, I installed one light directly in the Gr�n� lamp (remove the plastic cover of the light to make it less "directive").

Finally I mounted the 2 over light in the back of two shelves to light up the shelves. Unfortunately, this hack can only be used somewhere where you have enough light in the day in order to fill the batteries of the Solvinden.

~ Nicolas Guilbert, Lille, France

A Grono mosaic lamp

Materials: GRONO Lamp

Description:
Four different mosaics created on the sides of the lamp Gromo.
- preparation stained glass
- glass paste
- grouting

~ Davide Scimeca

Crochet Grono Lamp

Materials: Grono lamp, cotton yarn, crochet needle

Description: I just love my lamp even more now... it's very easy to do if you can crochet.

It's based on this pattern.

~ �l�f Lilja Ey��rsd�ttir, Iceland

Beethoven Grono Lamp

Materials: Grono lamp, sheet music, double-sided tape

Description: I love the shape (and price) of the Grono lamps, but they're extremely white and harsh! To soften them up for my living room, I stuck double-sided tape on the bottom, top, and middle of all four sides of the lamp. Then I centered a sheet of music on the front of the lamp, pressed it around the sides, and attached another sheet for the parts that weren't covered yet. I taped all edges down with single-sided tape. (Caution: the matte kind is not completely transparent when you turn your lamp on, so use the glossy transparent kind!)

See more of the Beethoven Grono Lamp.

~ Bee, Seattle, WA

GRONO/JUTIS Floorstand Lamp

Materials: GRONO Table Lamp, JUTIS Speaker Stand

Description: I just wanted to have a modern, unique floorstanding lamp. So I decided to modify my old pair of Jutis Speaker Stands (Its design is very modern in my opinion.)

I bought 2 GRONO Table Lamps at Ikea, pulled the wires out of them. Next, I pulled the wires through the tiny pipes of the stands. (Its inner diameter fits exactly the thickness of the wires!)

I rewired the lamp on top of the stand and finally I glued the lamp on top.

Fin.

~ Daniel, Duisburg, Germany