Entertainment Storage in Design Studio

Photo: IKEA.com

Materials: PAX Wardrobe & Nexus Black/Brown Cabinetry & Numerar counters

Description: Design Dilemma: Create a storage solution with SCALE in an Interior Design Studio with 12' ceilings.

Solution: Combine PAX Lyngdal sliding glass door storage (96" tall x 118" wide x 17" deep) ABOVE 3' high x 13' wide Akurum/Nexus Black/Brown base cabinets with Numerar counters. (Non IKEA: 2 U-Line beverage fridges, priced more than the rest of the entire project!)

We are recent empty nesters! Launched the last of our 5 kiddos last spring (yes: all 5 concurrently in college!)

We moved to an ultra cool urban "live/work" loft in Downtown Tulsa. I'm an interior designer, and set up a studio on the ground floor (approx. 800 ft2).

After 25+ years of accumulating, we were forced to "downsize". In this solution I have stuffed several dozen charger plates, assorted dishes, placemats, candles, silverware, glassware and even an entire setup for making s'mores out by the complex's gas fire pit!

I used a spare black/brown PAX frame to trim the upper unit, as the 17" PAX frame is only offered in white.

While I assembled all the pieces easily myself, it took 4 of us (including one REALLY big guy) to lift the PAX frames and Lyngdal doors.

We've lived/worked here for 6 months, and LOVE using this storage system. VERY functional.

I've included a couple of pics of how we "styled" the unit with a 7 foot wreath for the holidays!

~ Lori Schram, Tulsa, OK

RTV unit from kitchen and bathroom cabinets

Materials: Kitchen and bathroom Ikea cabinets

Description: This was an open space kitchen/living area. We wanted to keep things simple and uniform. After selecting Nexus and Abstract fronts for the kitchen we came up with an idea of using the same for the nearby entertainment unit.

What we used were kitchen cabinets 40x92 cm (Nexus fronts) covered (as in the kitchen) with Pragel counter top and white glossy tall Godmorgon cabinets, to match glossy white Abstrakt fronts in the kitchen. Also in the kitchen we used top cabinets to create a narrow island, but that's another story :)

~ Diana Holod, Poland

A professional looking Faktum/Rubrik/Nexus kitchen

Materials: Faktum cabinets, Rubrik/Nexus sides and doors

Description: My idea was to create a professional looking kitchen using stainless steel and wood.

I hacked the angular corner base cabinet in order to fit to a double sink.
No carousel inside, empty space for a dustbin and cleaning products.

A 60 cm base cabinet was cut to provide open shelves for a small cooking library, and to extend countertop without obstructing transit towards the storeroom.

A large amount of nexus coverpanels were used to arrange upper coverage of refrigerator block and wall cabinets.

~ Lia Lovisolo, Italy

Kitchen under the stairs

Materials: Faktum Nexus, Perfekt Nexus

Description: Initially we didn't plan for a two-storey house, but when we came up with the definitive plan, I decided that we should use the space under the stairs.

As we placed the kitchen by the stairs, I measured and made sketches and measured again, before we went to IKEA and bought the cabinets we needed.

And as we plan to live here long I decided to put the dishwasher in a comfortable height. The box under it got rather low, so there we store trays and cutting boards.

See more of the kitchen under the stairs.

~ Helene Langborg, Sweden

Faktum/Nexus "String" Kitchen

Materials: Faktum/Nexus Kitchen

Description: I built a nice 'String' kitchen using Ikea Faktum kitchen cabinets with Nexus brown doors/fronts/cover panels and "String" side panels.
"String-shelf" is a Swedish popular shelf from the 1950s...

My idea was to create a kitchen that felt more like a piece of furniture since we lived in a really small apartment and the living room was the same room.. So from there I used the Faktum/Nexus kitchen cabinets and complemented with the string side panels.

What I realized in my planning was that it (in Sweden and with my budget) was impossible to find cabinet doors in wood, which was the same as the countertop... It's strange that cabinet sides and doors in the kitchen always has a contrasting top, while a sideboard often has the same...

Because of that I used cover panels for the countertop, strengthened it underneath with Nexus doors.

The result was very good, also added Perfekt Rounded deco strip/moulding against the wall, inside the countertop to get a small protrusion of the countertop .. I painted the countertop once more to make it more impact resistant.

Then I realized that there is also the same problem to find shelves in the same material as the cabinet doors, so the cover panels came in use again, with reinforcement against the wall in the center rear.

We were very pleased with the result, a vibrant personal kitchen!

~ Elina Shaw, Sweden

Breaker Box Cover

Materials: Nexus birch door

Description: When we bought the condo, there was an ugly assortment of items mounted on the wall near the front door (breaker box, security system pad and hardware box). These could not be moved. So, to cover them up I installed 1" x 4" fir boards vertically on each side of the mess using "L" brackets to create a side of a cabinet. Then, I mounted Nexus birch doors to the wood sides to cover it all up. I made sure the sides were well mounted to studs in the wall. It did not take long and matches the kitchen cabinets on the other side of the room. It was a simple solution to a very ugly problem.

~ Darcy Garneau, Seattle, WA

Exclusive laundry

Materials: Faktum, Nexus

Description: In our old house we had a cold and damp laundry in the basement. So when planning our new house I dreamt of a luxury one, and I got it!

It's situated next to our kitchen and with a door to the backside of our house. AND with a big window to make it bright.

It was important for me to get the washing machine and dryer up from the floor and have a lot of cabinets for all sorts of things from detergents, flowerpots and cake tins to gift wraps and craftstuff.

Here is the result!

Don't miss the perfect spot for the ironing board and scrubbing mop :-)

See more of the laundry room.

~ Helene Langborg, Sweden

Low End to High End Half Bath via As Is

Materials: Nexus Yellow Brown cabinet cover panels; drill, jig or circular saw, tape measure

Description: This half bath in our 1950s house was utterly dull and style-less. I was going to redo it with conventional painted drywall but then I got the brilliant idea of paneling it with the 3x8 Nexus Yellow-Brown kitchen cabinet cover panels that I'd scored in the AS IS department of IKEA awhile back for $10 each!

before

We had five panels, which sounds like a lot but it wasn't quite enough to do the whole room. So I decided to do half tile and half paneling, with a sill on which the panels could sit to give it a very finished look.

We had to build out the walls a bit and sheath the studs with cement backerboard for tiling. I did the tiling first (cheap 3x6 tile from Lowe's!), then we hung the panels. The room is 8' and we tiled up a little higher than 4' so that we'd have some wiggle room cutting the panels. All cut edges are in the corners, which weren't exactly plumb so we had to carefully mark each inside corner cut to get the right fit.

I recommend scoring each cut with a very sharp utility knife before sawing to minimize splintering.

Panels were screwed into place with finish screws and I filled the holes with wood filler and then actually cut tiny pieces of veneer and glued them over the filler. This was a bit fussy. If I had to do it again, I'd use the color hard wax filler sticks.

Last, I caulked the corner joints with a silicone caulk in a color to match the wood after carefully masking off each joint. I left the vertical joints in the middle of each long wall and above the doorway and window uncaulked since they were straight and had finished edges.

~ Kathy

Fireplace: Frump to Fab!

Materials: Nexus YB cabinet and drawer fronts; tape measure, paper, tape, power drill, jig saw

Description: Our 1950s house came with a very frumpy fireplace in the living room. Even before we had unpacked, I started demolishing the mint green paneling, the rickety DIY shelving and the shiny brass fireplace insert! My original plan was to cover it with faux limestone for a chic, mod look but when that proved to be too expensive, I realized I'd been collecting the perfect material already: Nexus Yellow-Brown door and drawer panels from the As Is department of IKEA.




We'd already put cement backerboard up over the old furring strips and cement block and brick. This was the ideal substrate for tiling later, but it also works well for the paneling.

Then we measured the fireplace dimensions and I drew them out full scale on paper taped to the floor. Placement would be tricky because we had to work the fireplace opening in and we wanted all factory-finished edges around the opening and on the outer edges of the front face of the paneling. The only cut edges could be against the wall and maybe - but only if absolutely necessary - on interior edges. There also had to be a balance of width between the paneling and the tile on the sides. Quite a lot to think about!

Once I figured out the placement of each piece, I numbered them on the back and then numbered the paper pattern and the backerboard. Then we started screwing them into place. We only had to cut one or two edges on the interior panels to fit them, which was really lucky. I would recommend scoring the veneer first to minimize splintering and use a saw blade made for fine cuts.

We screwed a furring strip onto the backerboard on which to rest the bottom edge of the first course of panels and just worked from there. It went pretty quickly and was much less work than doing a stone veneer!

The last step was to tile the opening and hearth with 12" square gauged slate tiles from Home Depot ($3/sq ft!). I already had a tile saw and tiling experience so this was not a big deal.

~ Kathy

Drawer dishwasher

Materials: 30" base Nexus drawer cabinet and drawer dishwasher

Description: We used a 30" bases Nexus box and one of the drawers from the package. We had to cut down the drawer to size to accommodate the Dishwasher.

You can cut the drawer size to any height to make room for the dishwasher. you will need the mounting brackets that come with the dishwasher to mount on the inside of the Nexus base cabinet.

~ John Webb Construction and Design, Eugene, Oregon

Multi-hack Bedroom Desk and Chair

Materials: Vika Leif trestle, 1 Nexus cabinet door from As-Is section, Stefan chair and some IKEA fabric

Description: On my most recent trip to IKEA, I wanted to get a frugally-priced laptop/writing desk and chair for my bedroom.

The one I was thinking about getting was the Laiva, which was only $20. It matched my existing furniture and was small enough to fit in the space I wanted to put it. Well, unfortunately it looked like it only cost $20.

My next try was the Micke at $49. I wasn't completely sold on it, as it looked a bit juvenile for an adult bedroom, but I went ahead and put it in my basket.

Whenever I make my IKEA pilgrimages, I always check out the As-Is section. You can find a lot of bits and pieces to get creative with as well as some decent furniture with just a few nicks and scratches. I found a Nexus cabinet door, which sells new for $38.00 (15x39), for only $1.99! Yeah, you read that right - one dollar and ninety-nine cents! It was the exact color of my existing furniture and the perfect size for the space in my bedroom.

So I put the Micke back on the shelf and headed upstairs to the showroom to look at leg options to create my own desk. I found the absolutely perfect Vika Leif table base for just $30.00. All I needed to do was to use five 2" wood screws to attach the Vika Leif to my Nexus cabinet door and, voila, a laptop/writing desk is born!

Of course, I needed a inexpensive chair to go with my inexpensive desk. I found the economically priced Stefan ($19.99) which fit the scale of my desk perfectly. Of course, I can't leave well enough alone, though. Back down in the Marketplace, I found some lovely black and white print fabric and decided I would cushion and cover Stefan's seat.

On the way out, I picked up the Hemma lamp base with a Klavsta shade in black and white to complement the fabric for the chair seat. The lamp and shade only set me back $17.99.

In total, my desk/chair/lamp combo only cost $59 (including fabric and cushion).

See more of Laura's bedroom desk and chair hack.

~ Laura, Virginia