Trofast sand and water table

Materials: Trofast

Description: Cut out holes for the small Trofast bowls. Smaller so they won't fall through.

Paint to protect for outside use, use acrylic paint since the Trofast cabinet is already in acrylic.

Drop the bowls in and fill with water and/or sand.

The large bowls in the cabinet are ideal for storing all the sandbox toys!

~ Helen Magré, NL

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Lego Storage and Play Table from Trofast Shelving

Materials: Trofast (x3), Wood Shelf, 2.5" Hex Screws

Description: My Adjustable Height Lego Play Table and Storage Unit combines the Lego storage ideas you may have seen on Pinterest using the Ikea Trofast storage systems, with an adjustable shelf that serves as a surface for building. We covered one side of the shelf with green Lego baseplates, and left the other smooth for the option of building without baseplates.

To make it:
Step One: Get Your Supplies
3 Trofast Frames. I am sure if you are a carpenter or are married to one, there is a cheaper way to go about this, but for me, purchasing 3 frames was the simplest way to go. You will also need a shelf. I used 1/2" lumber, cut to 11 and 3/4" deep and 40" wide. Obviously, your shelf will need to fit your space. I have found that 40" is very sturdy, and at this thickness it could perhaps be a bit longer but I wouldn't go crazy with the length or it may start to bow in the middle. You also need to purchase twelve 2.5" long Hex Socket Head Screws. These will replace 12 of the shorter screws included with the units.

Step Two: Assemble Your Units
Follow Ikea's famously simple directions, with this modification: before attaching the inner wall (the wall that will ultimately face inward toward your shelf) of your shelving unit, place another wall (taken from your third unit you purchased in Step One) on top of it, with the grooves aligned but facing outwards, like you see in the picture. Now, attach both walls to the frame simultaneously using the 2.5" Hex Screws you purchased in Step One. You will use these instead of the screws included with the Trofast, to accommodate for the additional width introduced by attaching two walls instead of just one.

Step Three: Measure Carefully and Install
You will be latching your units to the wall, so it is essentially to measure carefully so that your units are precisely the same distance apart from each other as your shelf is wide. Please use the latches included with the units to latch them to the wall. They are surprisingly stable when standing on their own, but don't let that fool you into thinking you don't need latches...your kids will definitely climb on them at some point!

Step Four: Organize that Sucker!
Insert your pre-cut shelf into the grooves, and enjoy your awesome play surface! We waited a good six weeks while green baseplates were on back-order, and just played with the shelf like this. In fact, the back-ordered baseplates are what delayed this post so long! But of course we wanted baseplates, so when we finally got them, I glued them on with E-6000 adhesive, making sure to space them with LEGOs.

I used my Silhouette to make labels for Trofast bins. I chose to organize my son's Legos by themes, and it has worked extremely well. He has no problem finding anything or putting things away. Gone are the days of Lego explosions all over the place!

See more of the Trofast LEGO table and storage.

~ Michelle, United States

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Lego Activity Table

Materials: Vika Amon table top, Trofast storage boxes, EKBY J�RPEN EKBY T�RE desk top shelf

Description: After we moved our office from the largest bedroom in the house to a small office space we no longer had room for our two desks, so we choose to build an activity table for our son using one of them.

We decided to use Ikea Trofast storage boxes under the table for storage thinking it would be easy to buy runners for them. Although plastic runners were available a few years ago Ikea no longer sells them. Because of this I ended up having to build my own runners out of timber to get the boxes installed and sliding under the table top.

I started the construction of the activity table by attaching new coffee table legs from Home Depot. They set the table at a good height for my son to kneel and play at the table. Once they were attached I found the middle of the table and proceeded to attach the DIY Trofast runners I had previously built out of timber, starting in the middle and working my way out. I had to be very precise with my measurements here to make sure the boxes wouldn't bind while sliding them in and out. I finished the runners for the boxes by putting a small piece of timber at the back of the runners to stop the boxes from sliding all the way through.

After the main table was finished I then followed the normal Ikea directions to install the desk top shelf and brackets for the Lego display shelf.

See more of the LEGO activity table.

~ Bill Hutchison, Australia

Vessla Kids Moveable Storage/Work Space

Materials: Vessla and Vessla Lid, Trofast shelf

Description: Katie's creates a movable storage and work space for her daughters. Their favorite activities are drawing and puzzles both of which we have always done at the kitchen table. Trying to do them both simultaneously on the kitchen table often ends with tears or pieces all over the floor. So recently at Ikea Katie picked up a few storage boxes (Vessla) and a two pack of flat white shelves (Trofast) for $9.00.

Her idea was to glue the shelf to the storage box to store stuff and also have a surface for them girls to work on. Here's how she did it:


1. Lay the shelf out on the lid of the storage box and mark with a pencil where you want the lid to be.
2. The lid is a little longer then the box but not as wide as the box so it gives ample work space without taking up too much room.

3. Then use an industrial strength adhesive (E-6000 from Michael's) on the back of the shelf and attach it to the lid, matching up the edges with the pencil lines. You could also probably screw them together.

Katie made two separate work spaces one for each kid. One is filled with blank paper, coloring books, lots of markers, crayons and colored paper. The other was filled with puzzles, which are kept in Ziploc bags. The best thing is, the boxes can be rolled around so they can be moved anywhere, closed up and stored away.

See more of the kid's workspace and storage box.

~ Katie Gill-Harvey

Work bench made from Trofast toy storage units

Materials: Two Trofast storage units, Trofast storage boxes, Numerar countertop

Description: About 12 years ago, when my child was young, we bought two Trofast storage units to hold all the toddler toys. Time passed, and the toys got put away in the attic -- but what to do with the Trofasts? They were super sturdy -- we could see their potential for other uses.

Our idea: Butt them short end to short end, add a 72" countertop, and use the new "unit" as a tool bench in our basement. We used a countertop ordered from Home Depot, because we no longer live close to an Ikea. But if you are close to Ikea, you can easily top these with a 73" Numerar countertop.

Note, while the Trofast is about 18" deep front-to-back and kitchen countertops are 25-25" deep front-to-back, we just adjusted the Trofast toward the front of the cabinet so we could get to the drawers and then added some support to the wall to hold the back of the countertop in place so it wasn't tippy. It's worked just fine.

Another note: You can buy the Trofasts complete with bins -- if the bin colors are okay with you -- and probably save a little bit more.

While this is not a true hack -- we didn't rip anything apart! -- it does show how an Ikea piece designed for one use -- in this case, children's toy storage -- for an altogether different purpose -- in this case, a very functional tool bench. I am now designing a craft room -- and I may use this same idea there.

See more of the Trofast work bench.

~ Pam Kueber, United States

Trofast Craft Table

Materials: Trofast Frame, Trofast Wall Unit

Description: Put together Trofast Frame & Wall Unit as instructed. Use Wood Joiners (cheap, Home Depot) to join Frame to Wall Unit and Trofast bases to 39X60 cut Cabinet Grade Plywood (Home Depot $23- 2 free cuts). Cover with 38X59 self healing cutting mat (JoAnn Fabric). Use bins for craft supply storage/organization.

See more of the Trofast craft table.

~ Kerensa, Dallas

Trofast Frame into Concealed Lego Storage Table

Materials: Trofast Frame and Tub, Paint, Fabric, Velcro

Description: I used a Trofast frame and tubs, which start out looking like children's toy storage. I painted the frame, then designed and sewed fabric flaps that are attached to the frame with concealed velcro. They conceal the Legos and turn the Trofast into a pretty coffee table that coordinates with the rest of the room. The table can be used for snacks and coffee, playing a game, working a puzzle...or building with Legos.

I have explained all the details on my blog.

~ Amy

Baby Fashionista Wardrobe (Baby Shower Gift)

Materials: Trofast Frame, White - Article Number: 300.914.52

Description: Rather simple modification but a definite show stopper at baby showers. The great thing about this gift is that the family can choose to add to the Trofast system or it can later be used for dress up clothes or for doll clothes. This is one Ikea Hack with multiple uses.

Ingredients
1) Purchase Trofast Frame White (or any color)
2) Purchase Pink Trofast Storage box (Article Number: 501.158.62)
2) Purchase small adjustable curtain rod (can be found at Target)
3) Purchase heart mirrors with adhesive (can be found at Target)
4) Purchase Alphabet Stickers (Michael's Arts and Craft Store)

Instructions
1) Place the curtain rod tightly behind the lip of the Trofast system to conceal it and help avoid making the project look homemade.

2) Instead of place all the boxes in the system, only place one (approximately, 3rd row of holes from the bottom). This allows room for Baby Fashionista's shoes

3) Then let the decorating begin. You can place the mirrored hearts on each side and on the bin so that the heart theme is carried constantly on the wardrobe

4) Last but not least add the baby clothes! Wardrobe looks best with clothes that are similar in color.

Optional Adds:

1) Light - Ikea sells a battery operated light, the "DIODER" that can be added near the curtain rod so Baby Fashionista can see all her clothes.
2) Clothing Hook - A clothing hook can also be added on one side to hang a hat, coat, pink boa, or anything else.

~ ChamRox, Los Angeles, CA

Fira & Trofast help in the Kitchen

Materials: Fira drawer, saw, chopsticks, glue, screws, 2 Trofast with Lid

Description: I had a (non-IKEA) sideboard that I used to have in my room for books and stuff when I shared my flat with a friend. When my boyfriend moved in I put it in the kitchen, because with two (kitchen-) households I needed more space for all our cooking utensils. So I put the sideboard in the kitchen.

Fortunately two Trofast baskets fitted in the sideboard when you put them next to each other, so they became my "drawers" for all my plastic food-storage boxes and some kitchen utensils. So far not really a hack.

In the middle part of the sideboard I decided to put the pots, because it was quite a deep sideboard and so they fitted in without standing over.

All I needed now was a tray for the forks and knifes and so I decided to build one myself from my old Fira, that I didn't use any more. I simply took the two big drawers on the side and a small one in the middle. I screwed them together and put the first shelf of the sideboard fairly high up, so that my tray could rest on it. For the divisions I simply sawed some wooden chopsticks to the size I needed and glued them to the tray. I didnt use knobs, because the little fira-drawer, that I put in the middle, has this little deepening, which can be used as knob. Voila.

~ Celine, Germany

Trofast Drawer for Lack Coffee Table

Materials: Lack Coffee Table, Trofast Drawer, Strecket Rails

Description: My husband and I recently replaced an old, tiny sofa with the Ikea Karlstad corner sofa. It's huge. So huge, that we realized there was a hidden cost: We had to replace our old coffee table as well.

For flexibility's sake, we decided to get two of the ~30" square tables. These table have a shelf about halfway down the legs, but we have two active cats. Anything we left on that shelf would be identified as not bolted down, and therefore a cat toy.

So we needed drawers on rails that would hold from the top, instead of the side or bottom.

Based on another hack I'd seen around, I knew the Trofast drawers had a lip that made them pretty much perfect for this use. My husband picked up the Strecket rails from the kitchen department, and after testing that the rail and Trofast lip were a match, we took them home with us.

One of the tables also has the Signum cable management rack attached for wrangling laptop cords since we work on the couch a lot.

~ Megan Taylor, New York City

Easy Trofast play kitchen

Materials: TROFAST

Description: Drawing of sink, cooktop and buttons for oven and dishwasher printed on adhesive foil and laminated.

~ Jan, Czech republic

Lack LEGO table

Materials: Lack side table, trofast box and lid

Description: My godson is 5 and has an insane amount of Legos with Santa bringing a load more in a couple of weeks. To help with his mom's sanity I've put together a cheap simple lego table for him to keep his current projects in one place.

I cut a hole big enough to sink the trofast box into the table and then glued two 10" x 10" green base plates to the top. Its important to remember to use bricks to make sure the plates are aligned before you glue them or the bricks won't fit along the join

Total cost of project less than �20, similar lego table on amazon �113.

~ Vicky B, England

Ladder into steps

Materials: Kura, Trofast, bits of wood railings

Description: I needed to figure a way to save space in my girls bedroom but the problem with the Kura bed we had was that my daughters could not climb up or down the ladder to get into or out of the bed.

We bought a Trofast storage unit as a replacement for the stairs. It worked great! They could both climb up and down into the bed but to make it safer we added some railing to the Trofast unit.

We bought 3 posts from the hardware store and cut them down to size, screwed them onto the sides of the unit. Cut the railing to size and attached it to the posts and the bed. We also screwed the Trofast to the Kura bed to make it more sturdy and stable.

We love it and hope you do too.

~ Grace S, Victoria, Australia

DIY Trofast Closet Organizer

Materials: Trofast Storage Box, rope, drill, pencil, marker, acrylic paints, water, tape measure, paint brushes, paper towel, paint mixing dish, scissors

Description: We Are Jules DIYed this pretty closet organizer that's just perfect for small spaces. The great thing is, you can get different sized Trofast bins or other baskets to fit your closet or suit your style. If you're using it as a recycling bin, line the bins with old grocery bags so that you can quickly bag them when they get full. But a recycling station isn't the only use for it. The same idea can be used to keep your kitchen, wardrobe or garage organized.

Step 1: Prep
Clean an area to work on, place down some kraft or news paper to protect your surface and gather your supplies.

Step 2: Drill
With your marker, mark where you will drill holes for the rope to go through. You will have a hole in each of the 4 corners. Use a drill bit that is just large enough for your rope to fit through and drill through. Make sure to hold your storage box down, they have a tendency to run away on you.

Step 3: Draw
Sketch out your design for each box with a pencil. I used images of what should be going in the box. Keep your design simple - remember this is going in the closet and not a lot of people will see it.

Step 4: Paint
Mix up your paint colours in a mixing dish using a little bit of water but be careful, too much water won't let the paint stick to the plastic. Since acrylics dry slightly darker than the colour you mix, I added a bit of white to all my colours to make them more vibrant. With your paper towel, brushes and cups of water handy paint in the colours only. This may take a few coats to make the colours look solid. When dried, outline your images with a fine brush and black paint. Leave to dry.

Step 5:
Approximately measure out how much rope you will need (allow some extra length for knots) and cut with scissors. Throw the rope over the bar in the closet and make both sides equal. You can use a bit of tape at the top to keep the rope in place. String the rope through the holes on the boxes and tie a tight knot below each of the holes so the storage box doesn't slide down.

See more of the Trofast closet organizer.

~ We Are Jules, Vancouver, Canada

Trofast - Rast Toy Storage

Materials: 2X Trofast Shelves and 2X Rast bedside tables

Description: I wanted to have a cool place to store the kids toys but I thought buying four Trofast sets would look a bit intense. I had two Rast bedside tables which were no longer in use so I decided to put them to good work.

1. Assemble the Trofast shelves according to the directions, or in whatever order you like, they are so easy!

2. Decide were you want the Shelves to go and transfer the holes from the side of a Rast Shelf to the inside of a Trofast runner.

3. to do this I laid the Trofast on its side then lay the Rast shelf inside it. I lined up the edges and transferred the locations of the holes.

4. by pairing a shelf with the Trofast runner I was sure to get the shelf level and all holes straight without complicated markup.

5. I simply positioned a 5mm drill bit in the centre of the runner where I marked the hole location. then repeat for the other Trofast unit

6. To attach the end shelves I simply placed a Rast side piece against the Trofast unit and using the Rast holes as a guide I drilled through the Trofast wall.

7. Simply attach a half assembled Rast Beside table to the Trofast in the usual way using your new holes.

Since Rast is so inexpensive this little hack makes a great way to extend the size and storage capacity of the Trofast units without too much extra expense. The nice thing about this hack is that it can grow or change too!

~ Philip Kieran, Australia

Trofast indoor composting worm bin and Ikea blue bags as dirt movers

Materials: 3 Trofast, 1 Trofast lid, 1 placemat, silicone brush, silicone tongs, a strainer, big diameter drill bit

Description: I needed a worm bin to make compost indoors.

It has to be 3 layers: Top is for food, Middle is a catch tank for the droppings and the bottom layer is for all the water from the process. I suppose you can use 2 bins, but I found that I needed a mid layer. The worms like to go down and fall into the lower sections just for fun. There are 4-5 holes, 1/4 inch diameter drilled in top and middle Trofast.

The top bin is where the food, worms and shredded paper go. I do not fill it to the top, the more space there is for air, the better. The 1 hole + about 4 inches of air space is enough for the worms. Lots of DIY sites say you have to drill many holes in your bin for vents, I don't.

I drill holes for drainage, on the bottom. I use the placemat to put the bins down on when they are unstacked. They have worm poop on them. The worm travel down to the mid layer.

The mid layer is worm party central. There is no food here, just worms and castings. I have to empty this out and I do it with a silicone brush- easy to clean and soft like the worms. They get brushed out of there and put back on the top layer.

The bottom catches errant worms and water. This is where the strainer comes in. I pour the wormy water through a strainer into a pitcher. Then I toss the worms back in the bin and water my plants with the water. The tongs are used for turning the compost and mixing in shredded paper.

Plant savers and dirt movers, the Ikea blue bag

Materials: Ikea blue shopping bags

Description: We were having our fence rebuilt and the digging of dirt yielded a huge pile of dirt. To be able to move this dirt I used the Ikea blue bags. It needed to go from backyard to front yard.

During the process, we bought new plants and in order to keep them from drying out, I planted them in the dirt bags until they can go in the ground and they are doing well.

I move plants around a lot and these bags are large enough to fit a small tree and its roots, and keep them from completely drying up and dying.

They are good for yard waste as a heavy duty bag, I can collect things and out them in the waste bin.

Also take a look at my hack for other gardening ideas.

~ Ninjarita, Minneapolis