DMX controlled bookcase

Andrea tipped me on this bookcase (they look like billies) modified to have 96 channels of DMX controlling many tiny red, green, blue LEDs. Click to play the video. Impressive effect.



link

Update!
After posting this, Timothy, the creator of this LED bookcase contacted me with details of his hack. Click here for a downloadable pdf to make your own DMX controlled LED bookcase. Also see his other LED creations on youtube.

Weekend Project #2: Go fly kite!

Summers are for picnics and fun in the sun. Wendy Cook of Mother Rising sends me this project for an Ikea kite (based on this one). Best thing is, you'll be putting old Ikea bags to good use.

Wendy's Ikea kite


What you'll need:

• 1 sheets of colored 8 1/2" x 11" construction paper
• 1 8" bamboo skewer
• 1 Ikea bag cut in a 1" wide spiral all around for the tail
• 1/2"wide masking tape or scotch tape
• 1 bit of baker's twine - 6 to 10 feet for a child or a roll of kite string for an adult
• a twig to wind the string upon

Tools:

• Scissors
• Hole punch

Here's how:

1. Fold a sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" paper in half to make a 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" rectangle.
2. Fold again in a diagonal 1/2" from the top folded edge, and 3" from the bottom folded edge.
3. Fold back one side forming the kite shape. You won't need a stick here because the folded paper acts as a spine.
4. Place skewer from point to point horizontally at the top of the kite and tape down securely.
5. Cut the Ikea bag into a long spiral and tape to the base of the kite.
6. Flip kite over onto its back and fold the front flap back and forth until it stands straight up.
7. Punch a hole in the folded area approx. 1/3 down from the top point.
8. Tie one end of the string to the hole and wind the other end around the twig.
9. Let it soar!

See more of Wendy's Ikea kite on her blog.

Make a compact banquette from kitchen cabinets

Eugene does a fabulous job with this banquette, constructed from kitchen cabinets.

"I needed to build a kitchen banquette for my house, but the options for having one custom-built or buying modern benches was just too expensive." he says. "I then came up with an idea to use Ikea kitchen wall cabinets (Akurum) to use as the base/seating of the banquette. Using the cabinets served two purposes: (1) seating and (2) storage.

The seat cushions were custom made with vinyl by an upholsterer. I had to build wood supports behind the cabinets to give the seating area sufficient room away from the wall. I also attached small wood risers to the bottom of the cabinets to give sufficient clearance for opening the cabinet doors. The cabinets, risers, shims and cushions were all screwed to each other. The seat back cushions used Velcro for attachment to the wall. The table and light are from Ikea... the stools were from another store."

See other Ikea banquette hacks: 

> Hemnes daybed turned banquette 

> Trofast banquette

Good looking Gronos

The Grono lamp is definitely a hacker favourite. Its smooth rectangle shape opens it to lots of possibilities. Here are a few.

Decoupage a Grono
Ingalill spent half an hour pimping this lamp. She found the picture and printed it, découpage it on and finished with a coat of varnish.


Have a Grono pARTy
Jen of Painted Fish Studio threw a pARTy, where her friends gather at her house and make an art/craft project. The object in the limelight was the Grono and at the end of the evening, out came a delightful array of Grono lamps, pimped to perfection.

Paper is used as the main decorative element, stuck onto the lamp with gel matte medium - which takes longer to dry but more forgiving when it comes to placement than glue.

Lovely aren't they? See pics of other Grono lamps.

Knitted Grono lamp shades
Michaela finds the Grono lamp too frugal. "It craved for an overlay. The milky background is just the right stage for a knitted lace cover in alpaca-silk-yarn," she says.


See other Grono hacks:
> Palm leaf textured Grono lamp shade
> Grono as hanging bathroom lights
> Hand painted Grono lamp
> More Grono hacks including one with moo minicards

Bathroom towel rack and toiletries shelf hack

Nathan has this great idea of using an Ikea coat hooks as supports for a towel rack. Sadly, I can no longer find these smart looking coat hooks on Ikea's site.

He says, "This hack involves two Ikea wall mount coat hooks. A hole was drilled 1/2 way through each one, to accommodate a dowel. Then a piece of 1/4" pine was cut to fit the length of my wall section, and the depth of the coat hangers, which have now become
supports for a shelf and a towel rack."

Vestby light filter panels

Chris uses a Vestby (right) wardrobe panel as a filter for his windows.

He says, "Probably one of the simplest hacks out there. I had the Vestby sitting in my closet for years, I never bothered calling to get the many missing parts (the cloth that covers the front of the wardrobe, the missing rod to hang clothes, etc) but was cleaning in the closet a few days ago and thought I could probably use the panels for something rather than just throwing them away.

You just gotta attach them to the window whatever way works. For the skylight I used push pins temporarily as the skylight (and all the Sheetrock around it, it's all water damaged) is getting replaced in a few days.

For the other window (up near the ceiling) I used a weird long hook I had in a picture hanging kit. Just one was needed to hold it in place."

see more of chris' window filter.

Weekend Project #1: Hack a Lego table

One of the suggestions from this post was for weekend projects and I thought it was a great idea. A fun project that could be done in a day or two or less. Here's one from Josie I think would be great for a Sunday afternoon. Am sure the kids would love it too!

Josie's Lego Table

What you'll need:

• 47" Ingo dining table ($69.99)
• 4 Trofast buckets ($1.50 each)
  
• Lego 15"x 15" base plates ($14.99 each) and of course, lots of Legos
  
• Clamp work lamp (featured here is a discontinued Ikea lamp, but any lamp will do)
  

Tools:

• Jigsaw
• Safety glasses
• Sand paper
  
• Liquid Nails adhesive
• Paint (optional)
  

Here's how:

1. Assemble the Ingo dining table as per instructions.
2. Decide how may buckets you will be using.
   
3. Measure the table from underneath. Why? Because there are wooden supports with this table that would interfere with any cuts you would make for the buckets. Once you have avoided them, with the remaining space, subtract the amount of space required by the number of buckets you will be using and add a few inches in between.
4. Trofast has a few sizes of buckets. We used the white ones that are $1.50. There are some that are more shallow but wouldn't hold very many Legos. Also, when measuring the buckets and when cutting the holes, you would think you could just cut an oval shaped insert. But no, you need to cut a rectangle because the Trofast buckets have corners underneath the support lip that stick out requiring a 90 degree cut in the wood.
5. After measuring the rectangles for cutting we drilled in with a bit large enough to pass a jigsaw blade through it. Then cut out all four holes.
6. Sand the edges lightly so there aren't any slivers!
7. Paint if you want.
8. Glue down Lego baseplates, we used Liquid nails for plastic. Let dry over night and up to 24 hours.
9. Insert buckets and go build!!

If you want to copy this one exactly the measurements for the cut-outs are as follows:

• From the top measure down 2.25".
• From the sides measure in 4".
• Each rectangle that you cut needs to be 7" across x 10.75" long.
• And in between each rectangle there is 3.75".

For the lego baseplates I measured in only an inch and then put them side by side, leaving another inch on the opposite side. I put them flush with the bottom of the table.

Have a Weekend Project? Send it over to ikeahacker [at] gmail [dot] com.

a touch of faux

The first hack I've received so far using faux animal print. And this Svansbo table set (can't find it on Ikea's site) by Georgion turned out pretty amazing.

Georgion says, "This one is the Svansbo table set, like the one you have on your site with floral painting on it, only I have the set of nesting tables.

I took the upper wood veneer table and resurfaced it with a faux crocodile hide and then primed, painted and varnished it. The lower white veneer table is resurfaced in a faux python print.

I love some of Ikea's designs but cannot stand people coming into my home and pointing and saying Ikea, lol."

Hackeas: Quick and cheap to the rescue

I've not done quickie hacks for a while, so here are a few to fill a spare hour.

The first two are from Quari.

Really, REALLY cheap laptop stand
"My laptop spends a lot of time on the kitchen table (googling measurements for recipes mostly - how many teaspoons in a quart?) So I wanted to put it on an angled stand for easier typing and to allow airflow to keep it cool in a hot Australian summer. Then I found the Lamplig trivet for $8.95. Taking one trivet and a couple of rubber furniture feet that cost about $2 for pack of 4 at any hardware shop, I now have an angled laptop stand in cool stainless steel that allows airflow around the whole underside of the laptop. I thought it might need some rubber or anti-slip stuff on some of the rungs but my Dell laptop seems to stay put by itself."


Nifty narrow shelves for novels
"I wanted small deep shelves to keep novels in that wouldn't take up too much space in a narrow hallway. As I rent my place I couldn't affix anything to the walls so it had to be sturdy and self-supporting. Rather than the old planks and bricks option I got a few Lerberg cd shelves for $10 each, assembled them and turned them on their side. Instant novel bookcase that's also really easy to move around and I can just add more shelving as I need it."


Frame it anew
What to do when the frame is great but the picture is not what you're looking for? Carl solves this easily.

original picture

"I recently noticed that my local Ikea (Ottawa, Canada) had a sale going on for the Erikslund (link points to currently available Erikslund pictures, can't find this one) 'By the sea picture' at $4 CAD, that is an amazing price for the size and style of frame involved, but I am not too crazy about the actual pictures. You pop out the staples from behind, pull out the original poster board and affix your own pictures onto it with two sided tape. If you want a cleaner job you can add matting and use glue instead.

I used three pictures out of a Telus Mobility 2008 calendar to quickly see if my idea would work. It added a lot of color to the bathroom and I am happy with it."


Line up your DVDs
Always wondered how some people have their DVD collection lined up in perfect rows?

Vitezslav lets us in on the secret - just stick a piece of cardboard as stopper.

See more of vitezslav's dvd stopper.

Updated! February 25, 2009
Philips vinyl stopper

He says, "As any vinyl fan knows the Expedit bookcase is perfect for record storage. However, unless you have it completely against a wall, the records slide out of the back.

Some scrap MDF and  a few drywall screws later - problem solved!  I do recommend using the clamps and pre-drilling the MDF, you only get one shot at Ikea particle board!"


Sponge dryer
Wendy says, "This is not a fancy hack, more of a simple solution. I dislike the idea of a constantly wet/damp sponge. So I got myself a Blanken shower caddy and stuck it to the splash back of my kitchen sink. Now my sponges can dry out after I use them. I even keep the rubber plug in there 'cause water collects in the hollow underneath and then mildrew grows.

Cut corners for a corner desk

Okay, I get it right this time. This one definitely is an Ivar! Dave builds a corner desk by modifying the 30" corner shelves that normally go with the 20" side rails to attach to the 12" side rails.


Here's what Dave did.

1. Start with the 30"x30"x20" shelf (Ikea part 737.637.09). My 89"-tall unit has four identical shelves above the desk - adjust to your needs.


2. Flip the shelf over and remove the stiffener (shown below as the dark vertical line).

3. Mark off a diagonal line beginning 11-1/8 from the back of the sides of the shelf:


4. Carefully remove the metal support channels from the sides of the shelf where the cuts will be made to avoid damaging the tabs that hold them in place, or cracking the thin rabbeted edge of the shelf.

5. Make the cut and, using a router, plane, file, sandpaper, or cornering tool, round off or chamfer the fresh-cut edge.

6. Using the cut-off piece as a template, restore the notches to accommodate the 12" side rails:


7. Cut and file the edges of the metal support to match the rounded ends of the original equipment and re-attach them.

8. Drill and countersink a new screw hole about 3-1/2 inches from one end of the stiffener.

9. Trim about 2-1/4 inches from the same end of the stiffener and re-attach it to the bottom of the shelf.

10. Finish - or not - as you see fit, and enjoy!

(If you look at the picture of my finished project, you may notice that I didn't complete steps 8 and 9 - I just reattached the stiffeners and left it for later.)

***

I also want to thank 2Furnish, a new sponsor for this site. You may have noticed their link appearing in the listing on your left. 2Furnish is a UK conservatory furniture specialist offering conservatory furniture in a range of materials including cane, wicker and rattan. Furniture styles range from the very classic to modern eye catching contemporary designs. Do drop by for a peek.

Hide your CDs

Adriana doesn't like her technology showing and decides to hide it in a cabinet.

She says, "I bought an Ivar Gorm shelving unit ($20) to put into the cabinet and hold my CDs and technology, but then realized it wouldn't work the way i wanted.

So, I decided to modify.

On an Ivar Gorm, the vertical pieces of wood are about 1x4, so I kept two of the four intact. The other two, I cut into pieces and made them legs that sit on each shelf.

So, I assembled the back according to directions and the 1x4s for the front acted as legs. The legs are only attached to the shelf above. They are not attached to the shelf below.

Someone who cared could do a better job. Mine was really in the moment when I realized my original plan would not work, and, if I didn't do it when it hits me, it won't get done. So, you can see I cracked the wood because I did not have the right screws.

But, it works and no one sees my stuff."

Ceramic tiles to the rescue

JoBeth from Singapore has an old Ikea table (name long forgotten) that little sis destroyed and Dad saved. All you need to re-create this tiled table top, which I think will look great on a lack coffee table, are a hammer, ceramic tiles in different colours, tile adhesive, grout, a sponge and an eye for colour coordination.

See JoBeth's tiled table top instructions.

Bedroom series #5: Room dividers for your bedroom

Room dividers do double duty - carve out your spaces and provide storage. Am loving this room divider hack, which really puts the Pax wardrobe system in a new light.

Pax wardrobe room divider
Phyllis is one lucky woman with a handy hubby who installed this wardrobe/room divider for her.

The beaming wife says, "My husband installed a two parallel row of Pax wardrobes as a closet system/room divider in our bedroom. We had two challenges:
1. How to finish the back side of one row of the closet shells, and
2. How to install closet lighting in a stand alone closet system for a room with carpet. Hard wire would have been really expensive.

He finished the backs of the shells with Ikea laminate flooring and silver corner trim from Home Depot. (We still need to add some artwork on this 'wall'.)

(By the way, the window treatment is just heavy fusible non-woven interfacing from a fabric store like Jo-Ann’s. I cut the decorative circles at the top using pot lids and dishes and it attached each piece to the window with double stick tape. It's been up for about 3 years now.)

The Ikea lights were hooked up to an X-10 remote control lighting system that uses wireless to operate the lights. It enables me to turn on the lights from bed in the winter when it’s dark (I really like that feature.) Picture on the right is the wireless switch. The switch is not hard wired – it sticks to the shell with adhesive!

Here’s how the lighting set-up looks. The first picture below is the wall outlet for the closet lighting and in the next picture, you can see a white conduit going up the side to the top of the closet shell.

Below is the transmitter unit on top of the shell. There are also transformers for each fixture and a power strip.

My husband is not an electrician by any means – he’s just a handy guy and really had no problems installing this system."

A Bonde divider
Olivier does a divider too, but with the Bonde. He says, "Living in a (small) loft space turned out to be quite a challenge and at one point we needed to make a room divider to separate the dining space from the bedroom.

The white unit in the divider is a 4 door white Ikea Bonde unit we already had. The low unit is a 39" Akurum kitchen wall cabinet with a frosted glass door. The cube shelf is just some left over Jarpen shelves cut up and stained to match the rest.

Bedroom series #4: What to do with odd shaped rooms?

Uneven walls, sloping roof or living in an attic bedroom? We can't always have the perfect room but that doesn't mean it has to be any less. Ikea hackers have found ways to hide the ugliness and bring on the beauty.

Hide it behind Pax doors
Wim from Holland bought his house and had to deal with a low ceiling, making it tough for him to put in a standard wardrobe.

low ceiling problem

He says, "To solve this problem we could use sliding doors, but we didn't like that style. We went to Ikea to see what parts they had available and we liked the Pax series.

I fitted the interior with just with cheap plastic fittings in the measurements of the Pax front doors and drawers. To create enough distance between the doors I used 10cm (approx 4") wood strips.

and you can't tell the room has a low ceiling

Richard's attic bedroom storage with the Malm
He says, "I had a need for more storage in my attic bedroom, so I employed three Ikea Malm dressers, a few cabinet doors that matched my finish, and carved myself a nice built-in storage space.

I built a cavity with plywood (after I measured all my dressers and doors) in my knee walls. Then I insulated behind the cavity, and slid the dressers in place. I just hung a clothes rod behind the door cavities for shirts and such.

I finished with some Ikea mood lights above, and voila!

About the only part that wasn't from Ikea was the wood trim outlining it all, but that was recycled from a salvage yard.

Mary's attic bedroom storage with kitchen cabs
She tells me, "I was turning an attic into a bedroom; it had short walls because of the roof. So I bought four basic kitchen cabinets with flat white doors and wire pullout trays, and set them into the wall (may have to trim base to fit) and added 1/2" shoe molding.

More space, less filling! (In the picture, you can also see that the lights are from Ikea and the little bedside table has been repurposed as a bathroom cabinet.)

Sloping wall gets a new face
I love how Rapunzel turned this lemon into lemonade. The sloping wall is hidden behind this fabulous looking fabric headboard, surrounded by cabinets (akurum, I think).

This is how the room looked before, with 15-year old Pax wardrobes.

The wardrobes were removed but the problem with the wall is that it is warped backwards, with the bottom the wardrobes close to the wall but gaping at the top.

The view from the bed was less than pleasant, as you would be able to look directly into the wall gap. To solve this problem, Rapunzel added wall cabinets between the wardrobes to create a nook for the bed underneath.

Then, she mounted a panel of fabric by way of a square timber attached to the bottom of the wall cabinets. The fabric is attached to the timber by velcro, which I think is brilliant. The look of the room can be easily changed just by changing the fabric. Fantastic!

The sloping wall makeover is documented here.

Bedroom series #3: Bedside tables to complete the look

Next are things that make your bedroom complete, like these bedside tables.

Rebecca's mirrored bedside table
Am absolutely loving this. Tres chic. Rebecca says, "We had wanted chic yet simple mirrored bedside tables and really didn't want to spend all the $ for them. We already had 1 Fornbro table (can't find the link on Ikea's site) so I bought 1 more and took the tops to a local glass store. For $15/mirror, they custom-cut a new top. A little glue and - voila - modern yet simple mirrored bedside tables. And all for about $60.

See more of her mirrored table on her design blog.

Dave's nightstand
Dave tells me, "I needed a bedside table/nightstand and didn't see any that I liked. Instead, I took a Mikeal drawer unit, intended for a workspace, and built it without the wheels on the bottom or the large file-drawer (so only with the two drawers on the top). The result is a great looking and functional bedside table at the perfect height."

Bedroom series #2: Bedposts can be hacked too

Continuing our series on beds and bedrooms, check these out.

Bedpost hacks
Maxd made me laugh with these 2 bedpost hacks. We don't always have space for the things we want to put next to our beds - so why not use the bedposts instead?

Maxd says, "Here are two hacks for my Ikea bed (name of bed forgotten)! It ends up that the inside diameter of the bedpost is perfect for snugly fitting 1.5" abs pipes. I will probably expand this abs structure when I need more space, or get a cool idea."

The first is this hanging wardrobe. Jump out of bed and into clothes. How about that?

See flickr photos with notes.

The second is this ingenious use of pipes to connect his 5.1 speaker, alarm clock and lamp to the bedpost.

See Maxd's step by step instructions for making a pipe alarm clock.

Tanja's canopy bed
"I used half of a Index curtain rod, two Andrea tie-backs and the Gava finials and two ready made curtains from a different store to make a beautiful hang for my old irish metal/brass bed. I just painted the rod white, and stuck it between the knots of the Andrea tie-backs, to hold them.

The lamp stand was a heritage piece from my grandmother, but the shade was awful so I got a new one from Ikea and mounted it on the old brass stand (I don't remember the name I think it's no longer produced). The little drawer beside the bed was in natural wood when I found it at a flea market. I painted it white, and put new handles from Ikea on it (the old ones were rusty and didn't look good) to fit the interior of my bedroom."

Hopen underbed storage

Florence and Tim found a simple solution for underbed storage.

"The Talbo 32" drawers with casters fit perfectly under the Hopen bed. No adjustments, no hacks. The freestanding kitchen drawers perfectly complement the Hopen. Four 32" drawers provide plenty of extra storage space for bedding and extras. We put this set together in 2005 and I haven't seen the Talbo collection recently but it definitely works for us."

Bedroom series #1: Kid's bedroom is the place to play with ideas

I did headboards a while ago, so a series on beds and bedrooms seem to be best next step. To kick off this series are hacks and ideas for children's bedrooms and nurseries. They are always so fun to do and the place where your creativity can go wild. Don't forget to check out tips from the mothership too. Enjoy!

Stack up a kid's bed for storage
Michael stacks three old Ikea storage units (discontinued), arranged with two at one end backed on to each other, and one at the other end to create a kid's bed, with storage below.

He says, "I just took the top of one of Ikea's cheap bunkbeds and via a few extra batons and so on, attached it on top of the storage units. Then the ladder was created from bits of the bunkbed that were left over and since these weren't quite long enough (for some reason!?) I added a mini shelf/stand at the bottom.

See more of Michael's kids bunk bed with storage.

A girly girl bedroom
Dean solves the problem of a creaky tromso bed and turned it into a girly bed for his princess.

the original Tromso

He says, "The Tromso bed that we bought for our daughter was great, but after a year, noise from moving around bothered her. She wanted no noise and a princess bed.

1. We took off the ladder and turned it over.
2. We flipped over all of the wire mesh panels to give even support to the mattress.
3. We had a trundle bed and we fitted it under the Tromso upside down. We took off the back bar that was not lined up with the other two. We also took off the front boarder bars that were used to hold the bed in place (that was now upside down and where you climbed into the bed). Traced the middle hole of the boarder bar onto the back brace bar. This then was put where the front boarder bar was. This gave the bed stability again.

4. Screwed screws now on top of each post and strung wire across. On this wire we hung up curtains to create the 'princess' effect.

Put the trundle bed underneath, and mattress on top. Noiseless and very girly.

Kura bed with chalkboard ends
Luke got a Kura bed for his young daughter Letty. However he hated the blue panels on it. So he flipped the panels the other way round so the white sides were facing out and then used aerosol chalkboard paint to turn the tall end into a chalkboard for her.


Add fun with fabrics
Ana used a Hokus quilt cover to theme her daughter's nursery. She says, "Since I didn't like the Hokus curtains that matched the set, I bought a second quilt and sewed sections of it on the bottom of my own curtains.

I also cut strips of the little lines that divide each section and sewed it along the bottom of a white crib skirt from Pottery Barn Kids.

To integrate the theme into other parts of the bedroom, I cut four individual 'characters' from the extra quilt and put them on photo frames. Cute and inexpensive!


A platform crib
Taliesan and a friend just finished the attached project.

Taliesan says, "I, like the maker of the other crib you have listed, wanted to have a more contemporary design without having to pay the huge price. so we took the Gulliver crib, cut off the legs and a bit of the ends to make the entire bottom level and built a new base for it. The base is a routered piece of 10-ply birch cut to have a 3 inch overhang. The base has a 4" skirt that's tucked 6" back from the edge of the platform. The legs are 4" tall. I wanted it to feel like the oeuf crib (pic, right) but with a little more detail.

All we did on the change table was replace the drawer fronts on a 3-drawer Hemnes dresser with the same birch and add new hardware. I also built a tray to hold the change mat on top of the dresser.


And lastly, some eye candy
It's only painting, but Ricardo and his wife did a fabulous job in their baby bedroom. In the photos you can see a Sniglar crib, a Sniglar changing table and a Rast drawer chest.

Related posts:
> previous hacks for children

a train in your coffee table

steffen builds a model train inside his ikea coffee table, vinninga.

a charging station to organise your gadgets

we have too many gadgets, don't we? here's a charging station from jamie to help tame those wires.

jaime writes, "i have been looking for something to keep all my chargers and devices organized and i haven't found anything that i could afford and still pay back my student loans! so i started looking at diy ideas for charging stations. these required lots of parts and tools that i just don't have.

on one visit to my neighborhood ikea, i purchased a mackis storage rack for my crafting space. i got to thinking that i could hack it and turn it into what i needed, with very few tools or extra parts.

in the end, i made the station in two hours while watching tv. i was able to use tools i had around. the only cost was the mackis rack.

see jamie's charging station instructions on her myspace blog or more photos on flickr.

salvage an old fjord dresser

after fixing his daughter's ikea fjord dresser drawers (discontinued) for the umpteenth time, mike gives up and decides to turn it into shelving.

he says, "we removed all the drawers and took the back off. then, we used the back as the bottom shelf. we hammered in some 1 by 2's to the inside of the side panels to hold another shelf. then, we purchased cloth bins to hold our daughter's clothes. our daughter emily picked out the colors."

double up your work space

dan and erin needed to fill their guest room / office with some thing that...
1) wasn't expensive and
2) looked good

so with a tape measure in hand, they spent 4 hours at the college park, maryland ikea and left with 2 vika amon 4' 11" table tops, 4 vika curry legs, 1 malm 2-drawer chest, and 1 set of 6" capita legs.

and here's what they constructed.

"we put the two vika table tops end to end, and installed the vika curry legs at the furthest opposite ends. two capita 6" legs split the middle seam, and sit on top of the malm chest. the chest supports the seam at the middle, and creates a storage space underneath.

i also installed the summera pull-out keyboard tray, but the vika tops are so hollow that it's already starting to strip out. in all, we spent $120, and the desk really has helped our new office/guest room.

we plan on finishing off the room with a 5' vika amon table top used as a headboard, and hanging the lack shelves above the desk area horizontally for more mementos and storage."

Updated! February 25, 2009
Reinforced double table
Beth was looking for an idea on how to enlarge her current desk without spending too much and gave her better access to her file drawer when she came across the hack above. But after reading the comments, was worried about having enough support along the seam. This is her solution.

She says, "My solution was to add 2 cheap legs to support the back, and screw the Capita legs into a 3/4" thick slab of plywood. This gave a lot of support to the desktop, and the plywood thickness made up the difference between the end of the leg and the desktop (legs were 12" long at the fully adjusted length and I had more space than that, but the next size up would've been too long). I then ironed on some edge banding to cover the front of the plywood slab to finish it off!

Products used:

- 2 Capita 4" legs

- 2 Vika Amon desk tops

- 1 Erik Drawer unit

- 4 Vika Fintorp 70cm legs

- 2 Vika Curry Silver legs

Materials Needed:

- 1 12x16" plywood slab (3/4" thickness)

- 1 roll Black/Brown edge banding (bought from Home Depot for Mills Pride Cabinets)

- screws

ikeahacker is ...

TWO!

woohoo! roll out the swedish meatballs.

thank you, thank you, thank you for sticking around and supporting the site. seriously. your hacks, comments and emails have kept me going. please do forgive me if i have been slow in replying your mails or posting your hacks. the last few months have been challenging for me as i finally said goodbye to life in the agency.

it is a dream come true to be able to work from home. and this site has partly given me the freedom to blog and freelance full time. while the dream is sweet, living it out is another thing altogether. i am an absolute newbie at freelancing and it has been a steep walk up the learning curve these last 3 months.

but i am not complaining - nothing beats waking up and strolling 5 steps to my 'office'. i do plan to start a new blog. it will be very different from ikeahacker and a lot of more personal, as i take stock of the lessons, trials and joys of working as a freelancer. hope to get it up by end july, if i don't get too lazy sitting around in my jammies watching tv.

but what i am really interested to know after 2 years of running this site is ... what do you think i can do to make ikeahacker better?

share your thoughts on one or all of the following:
> i think it would be great if i see more hacks on ...
> ikeahacker can help me hack better if ...
> this site will really rock if ...

click on the comment link and let me hear ya. all ideas welcome, fire away.

malm room divider

william does a great job with 2 malm chests as room dividers and storage space. am loving the back design.

"i wanted something wider that could also be used to separate living spaces. i screwed two malm 3-drawer chests together side by side, added some support so i could add elevator legs and make the chests appear to 'float' a bit off the floor. to tie it together visually i got a 1/2" piece of tempered glass that was painted white for the top.

the malm does not have an attractive back so i added a solid panel to it. i started with an organic design i made in adobe illustrator, and then had the design routed out of 3/4" mdf with a cnc router. after having it finished with a high gloss paint, it was simply attached on the inside of the 2 connected malm chests."