ikea hacker

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 Österbymo 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."

Cheers, it's a Kegerator!

Gill pulls a perfect pint with this hack.

"My husband and I took an old commercial fridge, and refinished it, to become a kegerator. We hit the As-is section of Ikea for the counter top (paid $30), and the rails are actually Enhit curtain rods (not on website), marked down to $4.99. Works perfectly!"

Compact music studio

Matt downsizes his studio gear with a rolling drawer system.

He says, "For the longest time I was using 2 tables for my studio gear and it wasn't until I moved to an apartment that size became an issue. So I figured out a way to put all my gear together right in front of me. What we have here is 9 Vika Curry legs and 2 Vika Amon table tops and a home made keyboard pull out shelf with drawer rollers.

First I cut one of the table tops 15'' length ways. I took 4 vika curry legs and cut them down to 14''. These support the half table top above. I used a drawer roller system to mount my pull out keyboard under the table and I added a 5th leg in the middle to help support all the weight."

Related hack:
- James' minimalist music desk

Add light to this watering can

Carlo gets arty with the Vallo watering can.

He says, "From the very first time we saw the Vallo watering can, we love its design. Too nice to be only a watering can! So here is our ValloLight Lamp!

We use the white Vallo ($1.99) and Ikea Parlor Glass Decoration (transparent ones, $1.99).

To achieve good results, it is very important to pay attention to the little things such as wire, switch and so on.

Please note that the Vallo is not heat resistant, so to avoid fire hazard, it is better to use cool light sources. The Ikea Parlor stones give a nice effect to the lamp and more importantly, increase the stability. Without them, the Vallolight is too light!"

Cosy nook for the bed

Dear John and Sherry Petersik,
If you ever need a housesitter, call me. ~ Jules

Sherry says, "Back in January we used a pair of Pax wardrobes (along with the customizable Komplement interior fittings) to create to 'built-in' closest in our bedroom. When we first installed them they looked pretty ghetto... and a bit too Ikea. But with a little effort, we persevered and pimped them out to look like an expensive custom built-in.

before

Ikea moves in

All it took were some curtains (also from Ikea) instead of doors, some baseboard installed as crown molding to bridge the gap between the top of the wardrobes and the ceiling, and a wooden header to make 'em look a lot less like doorless Ikea wardrobes and a lot more like a soft and cozy sleeping nook that just happened to triple our closet space."