ivar media centre

honkymcgoo sent me this mini-hack of an ivar media centre. with the ivar system, you would normally need to use the side units if you want to give it "legs". in this hack, the ivar is given 8" parsons legs instead (from lowe's) and nickel hinges for the doors to hide a not so pretty tv and vcr.

details over at the flickr photo set.

ikea bed making contest

damien wrote in to ping us on an ikea video contest on shycast. he writes, "it�s the "IKEA Break The Rules Bed Making" sweepstakes that's asking people to record the fun, weird ways they make their beds in the morning (or, for those of us who just don't because we haven't had caffeine yet to deal with that type of stuff, to rate the videos of more hyper people). you can win a $5000 shopping spree or one of five $500 ikea gift cards."

guess i should have paid more attention when mom tried to get me to make my bed. anyways, get your video cam out and your entries in before 12 march. link.

weave your own style into ikea

while i do like the minimalist non-fussy look of ikea items, there are times when a girl needs some frills. this simple but sweet embellishment of the polarvide blanket by jennifer w of the felt mouse does just that.

nothing over the top but enough to make your mass-produced ikea item so much more personal and homely.

change ribbons in an instant!

a clever bit of advice from jennifer: "drag a new ribbon through the holes by pinning it to the first ribbon you wove through. in this way you can change your look in seconds without having to weave through all of the holes again!" link.

the kullen gets glam

this is from morgan satterfield of l.a. while morgan's first choice was the pax, it was added up to be too pricey for a rental. so, he bought the cheaper kullen instead and the rest is ... one project after another.

"i recently moved into a loft in downtown los angeles with zero closet space. the pax system was my first choice, but once I sat down and added up all i wanted, it was just too much to spend on a rental.

so i bought the cheapy kullen wardrobe (pic, left) and painted it a high gloss white. i used an oil based sign painters enamel called "one shot" (since i had a gallon of it lying around). once the wardrobe was sanded i filled the handle holes with spackle and rolled two coats of paint on it. the paint is great! it gives a very smooth but tough glossy enamel finish. plus it sticks really well to the veneer.

i drilled new handle holes and changed the handles to the lansa 9 5/8" handles. i love them!

i was so happy with how it turned out that i built a tv stand from some MDF i had cut at the home depot and four casters. i painted it with the one shot paint to match the wardrobe, and will eventually put a long door on the front that flips down with a lansa handle.

although it still is a work in progress, and not an extreme ikea hack, i think it turned out better than expected. if only i can figure out how to get rid of the gap between the two large doors."

do you have problems ordering ikea online?

"i want to know if anyone else has had difficulty ordering ikea merchandise through their online or phone services? i have had about five orders "mysteriously" disappear from their system. i have the email inquiries i've sent and i've documented the frustration on my blog in this post.

i originally ordered the vika amon/vika artur desk on september 8 and have yet to see it. it seems the trestles are always out of stock, even when i call first to see if they have any then immediately place the order. i still get the "out of stock" email. i even had one phone rep give me a delivery date, which came and went. i know someone else would have given up a while ago, but there is no other desk that i want. in addition, the nearest ikea never has this part in stock either.

so i would like to know if anyone has had this problem or if anyone has recently received this table through phone or online ordering. also any suggestions that someone can give me would be greatly appreciated. thanks." - lisa m. williams

lisa,
sorry to hear of your frustration. anybody has advice for lisa?

click to view all hacker help questions.

jerker desk cable management hack

one of the questions i get quite a lot is on cable management. hiding those ugly wires is always a challenge. while you may not be able to get rid of them all, mike seymour's cable management hack for his jerker v1 desk does at least lift most of them off the floor.

what you'll need for the hack:

• 12 outlet 4' Noma metal power strip (Canadian Tire # 52-7269-6)
• duct tape
• drill
• 13/64" drill bit

"my problem was managing all the data and power cables snaking around my jerker v1 desk. i have no idea where it all came from! the hollow lower brace for the posts was great for containing cables and power cords, but there was also no good place for a regular power bar.

the outlets of the power bar are oriented 90 degrees to the strip making power cord routing much easier. it was too long to fasten to the desk by the end brackets. the back plate was removed and two holes were drilled in it, corresponding to the screws holding the metal cross-member to the bottom shelf of the desk. the plate was affixed to the desk using these screws. the remaining part of the power bar was screwed on the back plate and the power cable threaded through the opening of the brace to the floor.

before each cable was inserted into the brace, it was folded over into a 10-15 cm bundle and zip-tied. for tidiness, the bundle should hang below the top edge of the brace. a gap along the bottom of the brace was covered by a strip of black duct tape while leaving the ends open.

all power cords and cables have been contained in the brace, and the only things that remain on the floor are the power bar cord and possibly network cable!"

related hack:
simple way to hide ugly cables

the genius ikea hack contest

i'm so happy to announce ikeahacker's first contest in collaboration with the good folks at arash and kelly. woo! can you tell that i'm excited?

best thing is, you don't need to have scored an ikea hack to take part. just your ideas, your brainchild, juice, the eureka! i'm sure that's wonderful for all you "some day" people who may have an ikea hack idea brewing but never got round to actually doing it. now is the time to put it down on paper and win some goodies in the process.

here's how it goes.

1. pick ANY one or more ikea item(s) you would like to hack.
   
2. on a piece of paper (no larger than A4) draw/scheme out your genius of a hack idea. please remember to identify the ikea item(s) hacked. (sample below) just go crazy. get creative.




3. scan and email your drawing to ikeahacker [at] gmail [dot] com. please write "genius hack" in your subject line. in your email, also include your full name and address, should we be sending the pressies to you.
4. entries will be posted on ikeahacker and open for votes. your votes will determine which hack gets into the finals.
   
5. our panel of judges will then pick the top 3 winners from the finalists.

easy. so, what's to win?

these amazing genius pads! giant sized (approx 12"x12") sticky presentation pads for big ideas. great for brainstorming, planning, doodling and keeping all your important telephone numbers on one page.

1st prize:
300-sheet genius pad

2nd prize:
150-sheet genius pad

3rd prize:
80-sheet genius pad

and finally, introducing the judges:

• armand of positive fanatics, ikea's unofficial web journal. he is an artist and aspiring photo documentarist based in illinois, usa. armand also runs www.moleskinerie.com, the world's premier fan site for moleskine notebooks.
• arash and kelly of well, arash and kelly. they are designers based in west london, uk, and creators of cool stuff such as the genius pad and big clip.
  
• lastly, me! not much to say in this department except that i live 15 minutes away from ikea. :)

hacks will be judged on creativity, good use of the ikea item(s) and originality. so, blow us away.

get cracking. submissions and voting ends march 11th.