Cleaning up the Expedit

Materials: Expedit, Leckman, tape, blade, 12x12 cardstock

Description: We recently bought our second Expedit 2x4 tower from Ikea. I love the versatility of this line. Our plan for the second one was to replace the older TV stand with this tower. The bottom row will house the media in the red Lekman boxes.

Before

My problem with the Lekman boxes is that they are clear-ish. You can still see all of the shadows and even colors of the items inside. And boy are there a lot of items inside! Another issue I have been having is seeing the cords behind the top row. I am not sure why there are so many cords�

Solution.

Get a 5th LEKMAN.

Do not put it together, instead use the 4 outer walls as a backing to the top row. I placed the shiny side out (so it mimics the bottom row). Since two of the sides are solid and 2 are exposed, I placed the exposed sides on either end. The spots on either end of the unit house the items with cords. The exposed sides are smaller than the solid. So by shoving the cords under the side, it settled nicely into the slot, but were still a bit too small. I used a strip of the spacer that was supposed to go under the Lekman boxes along the top of the exposed sides. This made it a perfect fit. The solid side was too big so I smushed it between the unit and the wall. Then reinforced with some scotch tape.

To take care of the problem of seeing all of my stuff, I took one sheet of 12x12 cardstock, traced the exposed squares out, cut them with the exacto, and placed with the white side facing out. The paper was super thick (too thick to use for anything other than getting on my cricut's nerves) so it is perfect for hiding all of my junk.

~ af, USA

LEKMAN Windows home server

Materials: LEKMAN Box x2 - Normal computer build items

Description: I was needing some place to put my windows home server that was out of the way, and just putting the case on the EXPEDIT shelf I had did not look good plus there are very few computer cases, if any that will fit in the space. So one day I decided to gut my home server and mount everything in the LEKMAN box.

I mounted the hard drives on the left side and the power supply and DVD drive in the bottom for stability. Since I am not using a high power CPU hence no need of a real heavy CPU cooler I mounted the Main Board on the right. Still need to add some LED's but the holes are already there so I will do that later.

I used drill bits and files designed for plastic, and made sure to go slow, wanted to cut/drill not melt. After getting everything mounted and up and going I did not like having a monitor on another shelf so I found a 10" LCD monitor and pulled the casing off of it and mounted it to the front. I made sure to find one that was 12v so it could run off the computer power supply. Also mounted a small USB hub under the monitor for KB and Mouse when needed. this worked great for a few months then I found the need to add more storage. So a second LEKMAN box holds a USB hub and 7 USB drives with a power strip.

~ Rob Glasco, Oklahoma

Ombre Expedit

Materials: Expedit TV Storage Unit and 5 Lekman Boxes

Description: In addition to the IKEA items, I used the following:

-5 pieces of plywood cut to 13" x 13" squares
-5 inexpensive wooden drawer knobs (purchased on ebay for about $0.50 each)
-5 small cans of wood stain in varying shades
-1 can of varnish to seal the stain
- several tubes of heavy duty expoxy

Required tools (beyond those provided by IKEA):

- drill
- paintbrushes

I loved all of the storage provided by the Expedit TV storage unit and loved the opportunity to use some of that storage for display (books, etc). However, since I live in a small apartment, covered storage is premium as it allows me to stuff and hide! I didn't want to spend the extra money the doors or other covered storage options offered by IKEA for the Expedit cubes. I also wanted a way to tie the piece into my existing living room layout which includes a lot of wood and darker colors. I considered baskets but decided I wanted something more formal than baskets.

Before

I went with the white Expedit to brighten the room up a bit, but didn't want it to feel out of place. I decided to cover the fronts of the less expensive Lekman boxes with wood panels to hide the contents and tie the piece together with the rest of the room.



Best part of this was it was inexpensive option (even less so if you stain them all one color) and didn't require lots of fancy tools which is good because I have the basics, and no room for fancy saws, work tables, etc.

1. Stain the plywood squares (which I asked the hardware store to cut for me). I used two coats on each. Let dry for at least 8 hours to ensure they are no longer sticky.

2. Apply 1 coat of clear varnish. I used a water based one that I had over the oil based stain and it worked fine. Let dry for 24 hours to ensure everything is totally dry.

3. Drill a hole in the center of each of the Lekmans at the height you'd like to have the knobs. Doing it separate from the wood allows you to use the hole as a guide for drilling the wood and just makes it easier.

4. Use (a lot of) the epoxy to attach the plywood to the front of each Lekman. It took more glue than I'd anticipated (repeat trips to the store). Let dry 24 hours with some weight on them. I put them with the plywood to the ground and piled books inside.

5. Once the epoxy has dried, using the drill, extend the hole drilled into the plastic through the plywood. Attach knobs.

Voila. Simple. Inexpensive. Easy to do with limited space and tools. And I think it gives the whole piece a much more finished look.

~ Heather

Expedit Lekman Hamster House

Materials: Expedit shelving unit. Traby glass door. Lekman insert box. Rotera lantern. Rationell variera shelf insert. Duktig mini coffee set.

Description: This is a home for my new pair of dwarf hamsters made from an Expedit shelving unit.

I used a Lekman insert box without attaching the front panel so that it is open. This protects the cupboard from hamster damage, is easier to clean and has handy air holes at the back.

Attach a Traby glass door to keep your creatures in.

I used a Rationell Variera shelf insert to create a second level and a Rotera lantern as a little stylish bedroom. I am using the Duktig children's mini coffee set to hold the hamster food and the rest of the space is filled with hamster related items.

~ Jennifer Hollands, Ashbourne, UK

CAUTION!!! This Expedit cage may be TOO SMALL for a hamster to live comfortably. The Humane Society of the USA recommends minimum size of 24 inches long and 12 inches wide for an "aquarium" type of housing. Please read more info here on humane hamster housing.

LEKMAN Watercooled

Materials: LEKMAN-Box, Dremel, Driller

Description: Being an EXPEDIT-FAN (got a lot of them in our home) my wife inspired me to put my whole watercooled Computer in a Lekman Box as she always hurt her knees at the BIG Computer-Case under the EXPEDIT-Desk...

I knew that it is possible to put a "normal" PC in a Lekman Box, but the problem was to get a whole watercooled PC in that tiny Box...

So first I tried a 3D-Modell with Google-Sketchup to find out anything would match in the LEKMAN Box; And Yes it should work...

So I had to cut out the AIR-Holes for the radiators in the front and for the Mainboard, Power-Plug and another Radiator at the Back, so the Air can get through the whole Case, because the PC will stand in an EXPEDIT beneath my desk.

As I have no Laser or anything like that I had to drill an "dremel", what was really tricky with that plastic of the box, but finally it worked (would get much better with the right tools)..

~ Dirk Rafelt, D�sseldorf, Germany

Magazine rack

Materials: Lekman box, wood sticks, 4 wheels

Description: I needed a magazine rack in the bathroom so we buy a Lekman box and my husband added to the container a frame with wheels. The frame is not connected to the container but we have had not capsizing or slide.

~ Luxra, Italy

Super swank wall-o-shelves dresser

Materials: Expedit bookcases, Lekman bins

Description: We had two of the big daddy Expedit book cases and were using them with Lekman bins as a dresser. As you can see, it's not so hot looking to be able to see all of your clothes and such through the plastic, so we decided to make fronts. We bought foam core board, and cut them to size. I bought some really cheap cream burlap (like 2 bucks a yard) and we used a spray mount to cover the boards with fabric.

Then we hot glued them to the front of the plastic bins.

I ordered some vintage nobs on ebay. We poked holes in the center of the boards and used a super ghetto combination of washers and cardboard to connect them through the center holes of Lekman boxes.

Does that make sense?

Voila...super sleek looking storage with no socks showing through. Go ikea!

~ Alyssa, Los Angeles,