Expedit storage and room divider from HGTV guy

And we complete the day with one not so easy hack on the Expedit. This is from John Gidding, who has his own HGTV shows. And he turns it into one sexy storage-divider.

John tells us, "I modified that lovely classic, the Expedit. I modeled the shapes using Rhino and AutoCAD and used a CNC machine to mill them out.



Actually it's all one long piece - made with two Expedit units. One unit hugs the wall as pure storage, and the other encloses a small office behind it, so yes - works as a room divider. So the above 3 photos are of the same overall design.


Below are some renderings that show how they work together - the area between the two units is where you walk into the office space.The standalone is bolted to a wall on the other end. The only side of the Expedits that's really exposed is the one that's been bolted - all other sides have this system attached to it. I painted the additional shelves a high-gloss white so it matched the white Expedit.

Expedit bookcase cover up

Another easy Expedit hack. Olivia gives it more colour with wrapping paper.

She says, "Here is what I've done with my Expedit bookcase. I wanted it to be more practical while giving it a more sophisticated look. So I bought gift wrapping paper, spray rubber, drawers, doors and Hedra knobs. I'm quite happy with the result."

Waste not the flatpack boxes

Simona and Flavius put the flatpack packaging to good use.

The idea occurred to me me when we returned from Ikea with several packages and after mounting the Expedits we really didn't know what to do with the cardboard packages, since the recycling center was far, far away and we wouldn't want to simply throw them out in the garbage bin (we try to be as eco-friendly as possible). Another thing was the we found the plastic boxes in Ikea a bit expensive and somehow ugly.

So I just started measuring the shelf and the cardboard, drawing lines, cutting and glueing together the pieces and I produced some boxes that fit perfectly. For an impeccable straight edge, use a wood panel to bend the cardboard after you've measured twice, of course. As for the glue, I used standard water-based cardboard glue, non-toxic for pets.

For the decoration, I went to the local DIY store and bought rolls of wallpaper to cover the boxes. I chose black with white stripes for the bedroom and the living room and stone patterns for the kitchen, to match the floor tiles. The final touch with adding various style handles so the boxes can be pulled out easily - you can also use chains for the handles or ribbons.

As there still are some cubes to be filled in the Expedits, we also use cardboard boxes from the mineral water that we usually buy and basically any box that enters our household. Just to state the obvious: I used the sturdier boxes made of the TV box for storing cans and jars and the less sturdier cardboard to store paper, bags and not so heavy items.

Pros: cheap, eco-friendly, easy to make, good looking (or so we think)
Cons: they are not as sturdy as plastic and they are not catproof - our cats already destroyed one by scratching, but I just made a new one.

Here are some pictures with the results for the living room - where we use the Expedit as a TV stand and the one in the kitchen - we don't really cook so we don't have a proper kitchen yet but we still need some storage space.

Ikea Expedit Asian inspired entertainment center

Jim recently completed an entertainment unit with an Asian bend. Nice. Very nice.

He says, "Basically, it's an Ikea Expedit reconfigured and modified as an entertainment center in an Asian inspired style.

The first photo shows it without the bottom cube shelves and removable shelves.

Photo 2 shows it with the bottom cubes (easily removable since they are just dowled in).

Photo 3 Shows the full completed entertainment center with all shelves present.

I assembled this completely from scrap pieces from the Ikea free scrap bin with the exception of the backing board which is made from 2 medium gray (for contrast) mat boards from a local art supply store ($12.49 total). I obtained the 4 Allen screws from Ikea for free as well as 8 Ikea Billy shelf pins. There are of course scratches and a bad area on the bottom frame piece but it's hidden. Also, I put it on 4 casters which I obtained from a piece of furniture someone in my neighborhood put out for trash (and added 2 hidden ones in the bottom center just in case it should sag in the future). Anyway, total cost of the project was $12.49 for the backing board and 2 days of my time. Hope folks like it."

Twin to queen bed

Jaime turns twins into a queen.

"I turned two Tolga bed frames into a queen size platform bed. I wanted a platform bed and really liked the simple, modern style of Ikea's Tolga, but it is only sold in twin size! I also liked these because they are made with steel truss which is very sturdy and also made with a renewable resource - pine slats. Oh, yah, and it was cheap! I hit Ikea at a sale time and spent well under $70 for both. The conversion was very simple. I cut one of the beds in half with a rip-saw, lined up one of the halves to a whole and then screwed down some plywood on top with a drill. Yay, for muh new bed!"

Landing strip storage with "face recognition"

AleXX from Munich, Germany has a wonderful idea for a landing strip. The storage boxes with changeable photos are a nice touch.

He says, "I searched quite some time for a new wardrobe, but there are only really ugly or really expensive ones (or even both) on the market. So I created my own wardrobe out of the following items:
1 narrow Ivar shelf
1 Norrebo storage bench
5 Fira Boxes
5 Lillholmen Hooks
5 �sterbymo frames
1 Alvine Tapet curtain
1 Irja curtain rail
1 Sandnes shoe storage
2 older magnet boards from Ikea
1 piece of plywood (covers for the Ivar)
...and plenty of screws

I varnished the Fira boxes with a clear coating. I removed the stands from the photo frames and picked two holes in the back cardboard. I pinned two screws through them and drilled holes in the front of the Fira boxes, then mounted the frames with the screws and nuts. So it is possible to change the pics, when the kids grow older and my hair gets gray."

The rest you can view them pics on his Flickr set.

Other landing strip hacks:
- Slim and sexy entryway table 
- Stark hall unit divider
- Hat and coat rack
- Narrow shoe cabinet for landing strip

A TV unit rerun

Elodie gives her old TV unit a new burst of life. Again.

"This is a third life for my TV furniture. At the beginning it was 'birch'. I transformed it in brown and flashy colors, and some years later I painted it in white and then I put a shiny varnish. A friend of mine call it the Apple furniture! I'm happy because I've got it for 7 years now, and I still love it because it changed his look several times."