Customized Glass Backsplash

Materials: RATIONELL Glass Shelves

Description: I wanted to share this hack with you because the first question people who come in my kitchen ask me is: it is you who made the backsplash? But how did you do?

When I moved there three years ago I absolutely wanted glass splashbacks for my kitchen for ease of cleaning and modern style. Unfortunately the glass backsplashs were expensive, especially customized. The ones I found at an affordable price were uninteresting as I also wanted something unique and original.

So I thought about using Rationell glass shelves because they are made of tempered glass, they're transparent and they have a low price. For the original and unique side and to customize them I chose an embossed wallpaper. For a beautiful rendering and to give the impression that the embossed wallpaper is part of the glass it was absolutely necessary that the Rationell shelves are well affixed against the wall, that there is no space.

To do this, I simply used eleven Rationell glass shelves for 80cm wide wall cabinets. I first put my wallpaper on the entire length of the wall where I had to then put the glass shelves. To fix them, I made a notch all along the back of the lower part of the wall cabinets to slip into the glass shelves. So these are the wall cabinets that hold the Rationell glass shelves leaning against the wall.

For the bottom, as you can see on the picture below I put a slotted wood over the entire length of the wall to hold the glass. The shelves are simply laid on it for they don't fall.

I also put some glue to hold better the glass and in order to avoid that there is a space between the backsplash and the wall. Finally the base cabinets maintain once and for all the glasses.

I made the backsplash 3 years ago. I use to cook a lot and as you can see they are in perfect condition, so I can say that they last in time and of course they're water resistant.

You can obviously adjust the number and size of shelves according to the space you need to cover. The best is to use an embossed wallpaper to have the impression that the pattern is "inlaid" in the glass.

I did my best to translate the description but do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions ... You can also visit my blog.

~ Nadia, Paris, FRANCE

Slick & Modern Wall-Mounted Shoe Tree - from a Pot Lid Holder

Materials: RATIONELL VARIERA pot lid organizer

Description: I wanted a space-saving way to store a few of my sneakers. I was coveting one of the many modern solutions that are available, but alas, I was troubled by the high prices!

I scoured the IKEA website to find a hackable product -- and lo! -- I found RATIONELL VARIERA pot lid organizer. The light bulb went off in my head!

The RATIONELL VARIERA pot lid organizer is fully adjustable, so I simply made it the length I needed so it would work for my shoes. Then, I attached it to the wall with a drywall hook and VOILA! I had a modern (and very slick, if I do say so myself) shoe tree for my colourful sneakers. Easy peasy and oh-so inexpensive.

~ Raj Pabari, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

No more burns from hot lids

Materials: RATIONELL VARIERA Pot lid organizer (2x for $4.99), hacksaw, sandpaper

Description: Once bought this thing called RATIONELL VARIERA Pot lid organizer

It was hanging around the stove in the kitchen for some time. One moment I tried to use it as a temporary holder for hot lids during cooking. It was much more convenient to have this instead of placing lids directly on kitchen table.

As lid is placed horizontally on the holder there is no more dipping from the lid. And what is most important there is no bare hand contact with hot part of the lid as one keeps holding it by the handle all time.

For efficiency I cut one into two to use them on both sides of the stove.

~ Andrey

Box Office multimedia workstation

Materials: FAKTUM, ABSTRAKT, RATIONELL

Description:
The top portion:
- 1 Seater with office desk
Storage compartments - 2 CDs and records
- 1 Space for two to three 20" LCD screens.
- 2 Storage drawers PC laptop and other things
- 1 90cm LED light wand

The bottom portion:
3 doors with sliding shelf for A3 multifunction printer
- 1 Space for CPU with storage space for cables
- 2 drawers
- 6 wheels

Designing an office workstation in clean design and FAKTUM ABSTRAKT gloss white lacquer.

Taking the appearance of a buffet lounge, the Box Office work station integrates easily into space and allows a solution of aesthetic and functional storage space for computer equipment.

Its dimensions can accommodate any professional computing environment (central unit, A3 Multifunction Printer, 2 to 3 LCD screens, laptop storage, CDs, records, papers etc. ..) to work in optimal conditions.

It can be used in the office or at home for its multitude of storage and its intuitive ergonomics to organize everyday accessories. A slight pressure is sufficient to open the doors and drawers. The cable passes are provided at the rear of the cabinet to let the electrical cables of different devices. By its minimalist design and an elegant box, the BOX OFFICE workstation can hide the workspace when it is closed.


See more of the box office workstation. (in French)

~ MONOKROM-Architectes, PARIS

Low Budget Table Top Shelf + Cable Solution

Materials: BESTA VARA Drawer Front, RATIONELL VARIERA Shelf Insert, BILLY Book-end

Description: For an extremely low budget hack, after various different combination in mind, I've decided to go with these.

PREPARATION:
The reason I used BESTA VARA drawer front as a shelf was because the size was exactly what I wanted without sawing and stuff. Also the drawer has grooves that can be used to do something like a sliding door but I didn't use it for this project.

For the leg, I used RATIONELL VARIERA shelf's leg instead of the more popular CAPITA legs cause it's cheaper and I can make full used of the metal shelf as well.

STEP 1:
Screw the leg to shelf with small screws. The one came with the shelf can't be used as those were flat based screws.

STEP 2:
Using a plier or hammer, flatten the two wide side of the metal shelf to be used as a wall.

STEP 3:
Then pressed the left/right side with a plier so it will wrap the leg in between a little bit to make the wall stand in place.

STEP 4:
Place the BILLY Book-end in between the two legs/ wall to hide the gap. The door can still be pulled open softly to hide all your messy cabling and harddisk in the hidden area.

~ Imchaser, Singapore

Rational stroller

Materials: Rationell wire basket, cable ties, vintage stroller

Description: Our stroller (1956) did not have a basket like modern strollers do. It turns out that the smallest of the Rationell wire baskets matches that vintage look and also fit perfectly, we just had to cut away a few sections in one end.

Secured by transparent cable ties!

~ Bjorn, Oslo, Norway

RATIONELL drawer mat Lampshade

Materials: Rationell Variera drawer mat, cable stoppers, clothes rope, metal ring

Description: I made a 2 mm hole on each corner of the PP mat and joined two corners with a metal ring (the ones on the simple edged side of the mat). I attached each end of a 120 cm clothes rope to the remaining corners using cables stoppers to secure it (the ones used in bicycle brakes).

With duct tape I joined the rope to form a "Y" between the two stoppers and the ring and hanged it on the ceiling lamp fixture.

~ Ricardo Gon�alves, Porto, Portugal

X-mas Street lighting

Materials: RATIONELL VARIERA, LED lights, car bateries, cables

Description: This year my home town's (Lisbon, Portugal) city hall had a very nice and cost effective idea for street lighting! Instead of spending the usual bundle of money in x-mas lighting they did a little hack of their own!

This is not my hack, and I'm not sure there has been any artist or Ikea endorsement behind the idea, but I sure liked it a lot!

All it took were a lot of RATIONELL VARIERA plastic bag holders, some LED lights, cable and car batteries....And there you have it!!! X-mas lighting! I'm just sorry I photographed it in the day time and you can see them lightened up!

Merry x-mas everyone!!!! :)

~ Sonia Ferreira, Lisbon, Portugal

I tried searching for a photo of the lights at night but I couldn't find one online. If anyone has a photo, please send it in or post a link in the comments section. I would love to see how they look at night. ~ Jules

From Lennart to bedside table

Materials: Lennart drawer unit, Sätta knobs (those bolts are too long, so you need shorter ones or something to put between), fabric, Rationell shelf, screwdriver, glue, stapling gun, screws

Description: I needed two bedside tables, but didn't have that much money. So I decided to make something out of Lennart. I stapled fabric to rationell shelf and then screwed it to the top of the lennart. Then I glued other fabric to the fronts of the Lennart's boxes. The sätta knobs are just for decoration :)

~ Eeva, Tampere, Finland

Low-budget bedside lamp

Materials: RATIONELL VARIERA, lamp socket, bulb, plastic folder, cutter

Description: Simple and cheap DIY project. Based on IKEA RATIONELL VARIERA (1,49�), a lamp socket (5� - if not found in the basement) and a plastic folder (0,70�). To install the socket there's only a simple cutter needed. The plastic folder covers the front (DIN A4 matches perfect, no cutting needed) to make the light smooth and the bulb invisible.

See more of the Rationell Variera lamp.

~ Rainer, Berlin

Modern, Customizable Jewelry/Item Display/Organizer

Materials: Rationell Variera Pot Lid Organizer (only required item)

Description: We looked at the Rationell Variera Pot Lid Organizer at IKEA and really fell in love with the steel pegs. My fiancee had been thinking about her not remembering every necklace, bracelet, set of earrings, etc that she has, so she decided it would be great if we could use those pegs to make a display for her jewelry.

Since we're always browsing the "as-is" section of the store for different items (I built a wonderful office table for two out of a headboard from there - maybe a future Ikea hack article?) we got a wonderful piece of wood there for $1 (I think it was a shelf or something like that).

We went to Lowes and bought 14 screws that fit the pegs and were about 2 - 3 inches long (just make sure it goes completely through the thick part of the wood with more than enough for the pegs to grab onto on the other side and provide adequate support for whatever it is you are going to be displaying) and a drill bit that was a tad bit bigger than the screw (that way the screw will just fall into place, not actually screw into the wood).

While there, we realized that her earrings are more hook shaped and wouldn't really fit the pegs well, so we bought some simple furniture tacks that looked nice (these can really be anything you want and look however you want, we just tapped these in through the front of the wood board).

We then purchased some heavy duty double sides mounting tape to hold this thing against the wall. Since it wasn't really going to be holding much weight, the tape should work great.

Once we brought everything home, she turned the board around to its back side (the side that goes up against the wall) and outlined how she wanted the steel pegs to be placed (leaving room for the earring section of course) and placed small dots in their centers. I then went through and drilled all the way through the wood in (semi) straight lines. Once all the holes were done, I popped the screws in and screwed the pegs from the front, holding the back with a screwdriver to make sure they are nice and tight.

This completes the "bracelet and necklace" piece of the display. Now for the earrings! We placed the tacks in a way that we thought would maximize the amount of earrings we could place will not making it look cluttered or interfering with the bracelets/necklace sections of the display. I just pounded those in a little more than half way with the back of my screwdriver (rubber based since a hammer would scratch the nice polished look of the tacks we bought - I guess a rubber mallet would work as well). Viola! The display is done!

I just put some of that double sided mounting tape on the back (about two layers think to account for the heads of the screws I bought...I didn't think about it in the store and forgot to get the FLAT heads so they don't add extra width in the back) and hung it up in the closet. Everything is working/looking great so far!

~ Diego M., San Diego, CA

Kitchen drawer divider becomes iPhone 4 car clip

Materials: 1 Rationell drawer divider set, 1 T'nB iPhone car kit, Warm glue, disc cutter, model kit paint (anthracite, black, ...), 1 business card, strong rubber bands, small piece of black fabric or felt, an afternoon of time

Description: This hack started out as an attempt to create a minimalistic iPhone 4 clip for my car because I was tired of the ugly and fat T'nB holder.

Step 1: Keep only the 2 vent clips of the T'nB holder.

Step 2: Take the plastic clip sides of 2 of the small intersections of the Rationell set (this takes the most effort of the whole hack) and cut them in half, keeping the straight clip sides. Trim the inner bits as far back as possible.

Step 3: Put both clips on opposite side of the iPhone 4 protecting it with a business card. Use rubber bands to keep them in to place. Notice the space between the 2 pieces. This is important to keep the clip flexible!

Step 4: Fill the back of the pieces with hot glue from a glue gun until slightly overfilled. (The glue shrinks when cooling down, which is perfect for setting tension.)

Step 5: Allow to cool down on your iPhone until the glue is no longer transparent.

Step 6: Trim the round bits of the 2 T'nB vent clips to fit in between the 2 trimmed back internal pieces of the Rationell clips (try fitting them as on the images, it will not work. Trim as much necessary.)

Step 7: Use a soldering iron to soften the glue where the clips should fit and push them in. Use the soldering iron to smoothen the glue surface. Allow to cool down.

Step 8: Glue some fabric to the inside of the clip. I used 1mm thick felt and scraped/burned off half of the thickness because 1/2 mm is enough.

Step 9: Paint the clip with model kit paint to match the colour of your car dash. I used anthracite.

Done.

My iPhone clip fits my dashboard vent perfectly. The iPhone cannot fall trough because the tension of the shrunk glue and flexibility is perfect and is kept in by the volume buttons as an extra security.

I like mine.
Have fun!

I've added a link to a gallery with all images.

~  Steven Pauwels (aka @stenito), Belgium