Rast bedside table turned printer rack

Yew-Jin make a nifty cut that turns the Rast bedside table into a compact printer rack.

He says, "In search for a printer rack i found the Rast bedside table is somewhat suitable but it is a little too tall to fit under my work desk, so I hack it. I flipped the Rast bedside table upside down,altered the side panels so that it is shorter in height and move the self lower to accommodate my fax machine allowing the lid to be opened. I have also reduced the width of the shelf such that it provide just enough space for the fax machine to sit on while allowing the All-In-One Printer at the bottom to open the scanner lid. Overall it is a low cost (about 15Euro) solution that keep both my printer and fax machine neatly organised under the desk."

Hacked desk from Mikael drawer units

I will be posting some work station and home office hacks today and tomorrow. This first one is a home office redo from Matt Gusler. It's a big improvement, with almost double the space and a lot less clutter. The hidden CPU is also way cool. Check in later today for a compact printer rack.

The old office that needs a makeover

Matt explains, "I created this desk from 2 Mikael drawer units, one Vika Furuskog tabletop and 2 boxes of Capita 4" legs. Additionally, I used 6 replacement drawer pulls, a few mending plates and a couple of L-brackets: all purchased at a hardware store located conveniently next to the Ikea.

As an added feature, I knocked out the drawer bottoms and backs on the left Mikael unit and used it for storing/hiding my PC. Construction was simple. I built the Mikael units and measured where I wanted my desk top to go. I put it in place and secured it with L brackets. Using only the front and sides of the drawers on the left unit, I attached them together using mending plates and a couple of screws. I then used 3 coats of ultra clear polyurethane on the top and edges of the desk. For added protection, I use a Projs Desk Pad protector where my keyboard rests. Even the mouse pad, bamboo and bamboo vase came from Ikea.

The rug is from Ikea too....so are all the shelves. And the trash can. I'm pretty sure the only non-Ikea furniture is the chair! Jeez. Sorry about gritty picture quality, our camera is on it's way out and needs replacing."

Tadah!

See more of Matt's desk job on his blog. Photos can also be found on Flickr in this album.

One for fat candles

Clive makes a few modifications to the Skimmer candlestick to allow it to hold large stubby candles.

He says, "I've just hacked an Ikea Skimmer candlestick, to complement an existing candle stick I'd made from scratch (the tall one).

Skimmer hacked for spike-style candles

Stage 1, with the top bezel sprayed black, and with a screw fixed in upside down to act as a spike to hold the candle in place. I've fixed the screw in by pouring some molten lead in there!

Stage 2, with this arrangement sprayed black to match - in this format it can be used to hold a simple spike-style candle

Stage 3, with an enlarged drip tray in place (made from an old tin lid sprayed black). This is simply screwed into place via a drilled centre hole. In this format it can hold a larger, stubbier candle."

A felt cover for Grono

Some times we buy stuff only to regret it. It happened to Sara recently but thanks to the 'extra felt' lying around, she could dress up her Grono lamps tastefully. 

She says, "I recently bought 2 Grono lamps off of Craigslist but when I got them home, I hated the way they looked and the harsh light that they emitted! After a couple of weeks of hiding them in the closet I remembered that I had some extra felt laying around. I have been reading a lot about felt these days and have seen some interesting applications of felt and lighting fixtures. So, I decided to design a jacket for my lamps which softens the light and make the lamp so much more interesting!

Obviously this is a simple fix. I took felt that was 18" in width (a little bit longer then the actual circumference) recycled some old shirt buttons, sewed them on about 3/4" from one edge and then cut corresponding slits to accommodate the buttons on the other end. Easy and a big improvement!"



See other Grono lamp hacks:
- Great Grono lamp hacks
- Grono as bathroom lights
- Good looking Gronos
- Palm leaf textured Grono lamp shade
- Hand painted Grono lamp

Stockholm TV unit with glass doors

I do agree with Peter. That the Stockholm TV stand looks great but is a little impractical. Well, unless you think of it as a couch potato buster. No just pointing your remote. You gotta get up and open the doors first.

He says, "My wife really wanted the Stockholm TV stand, but I wasn't willing to pay over $400 (Cdn) for the thing, especially when the doors would have to be open all the time in order to control the PVR and other devices. Well imagine her excitement when she found a slightly damaged one in As-Is for only $180. The only problem was that one of doors was broken and a leg or two had some slight damage. Well, the damaged legs got moved to the back and undamaged ones to the front.

Next I bought some glass door hardware from Home Depot for $5 and had some bronze coloured glass cut for another $50. Drilled a couple holes in the TV stand and shazzam! we both got what we wanted at half the price and we think it is even better than the original!"

An easy to DIY TV stand

Chris finds an easy solution for his flatscreen TV and components.

He says, "I needed a TV Stand for my 26" Flatscreen so I could store a DVD Player and a cable tuner right below instead of placing the TV directly on top of both components. I searched and could not find anything at Walmart, Target, even Home Depot. After browsing the Ikea catalogue, I then went to my local Ikea store, with measurements and picked up the 2 key items. I purchased the Ekby Osten shelf in birch veneer and the Capita legs. The shelf was a perfect dimension for the base of the TV and supports its weight. After the purchase and a little preplanning, the end result was this crafty TV stand."



Related hacks:
- TV shelf with door stoppers as legs

Other things you can do with Capita legs:
- Make a cheap headphone stand
- Double up your work space
- Prop up your computer monitor like this or this

A leg up for this coffee table

It's TV stands today. Two more posts after lunch.

Craigslist is a great place to hunt if you're looking for bits and pieces of Ikea to hack. Tim found this neat coffee table (its name, anyone?) to prop up as a TV stand.

He says, "I needed a TV stand that was tall enough to see over the corner of my couch. I was using an old retro dining table with a formica top. It was tall enough but with the TV and DVD player being all on one level the cabling got messy. I looked all over for TV stands but most were really tacky looking and expensive. I wanted something a little more modern and original. Then I got the idea to put a coffee table on top of the base of the restaurant table. This would give me the slot space I needed to for the DVD player and bring the TV up high enough to see.

I searched Craigslist and found this Ikea coffee table which was perfect. It was plenty wide enough to fit my TV, nice and modern looking, and it had a nice open center. It was a really easy thing to do. I just found the center, marked it, and mounted the diner table base to the Ikea coffee table with some wood screws. The cables are still a little sloppy but haven't really gotten around to working on that. Other than that I think it looks awesome. I got the old restaurant table for 30 bucks and the coffee table for 40."