Expedit Box Canvases for Lively Storage

Materials: Expedit Shelves 2X2

Description: We needed to create some storage in the flat and wanted something more exciting than traditional shelving units so created the box canvas concept which is both fun and helps to conceal some of our excess junk.

Method: We had some pre-primed canvas left over from a previous project. This was stretched across the front face of the Expedit unit and glued using 'extra strong all purpose' adhesive onto both side faces of the unit. A staple gun was used to staple round the edge of the box to ensure the canvas stayed tight whilst the glue set. The trick is to start by getting one side glued and stapled and then stretching from the other.

It is easiest to have the 2nd side surface pre-glued and have someone standing ready with the staple gun for when there is sufficient tension to eliminate sagging and warping on the front face. The excess canvas was then trimmed along the top and bottom of the box. We left a bit of overhang at each of the sides as we like the less clinical look but again the side edges could also be trimmed. Now the fun part, get creative! Acrylic paints were used which are nice and vibrant and easy to work with. The scenes we chose to paint were all (loosely!) based on our local beach.

The boxes were then stacked and positioned by a doorway creating a small partition that allows access to the contents of the shelves from behind whilst keeping them out of view from the main room.

~ Robbie Rickman, Wales

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Baby Karlstad corner sofa

Materials: 2 seater Karlstad, 3 seater Karlstad, 2 x brackets, drills and screws

Description: We have a small space in our lounge and wanted to put a corner Karlstad sofa. The problem was that the corner sofa available at Ikea was too big. We decided to make a smaller version of the Karlstad corner sofa.

Essentially this sofa is created by butting up a 2 seater sofa next to a 3 seater. We only wanted one arm on the 2 seater, obviously, so as the sofa legs are attached to the arm piece, we had to 'hack' our own solution to this.


We found corner brackets which would fit into the lounge and also fit to attach to the feet. We drilled 2 holes in the brackets for the bolt and dowel from the feet to go through. Next we screwed the brackets into the corners of the base on the side where the arm was missing. Then it was just a matter of attaching the bolts on the feet to the brackets with one nut each.

Et voila! With the addition of an extra Karlstad throw cushion for the corner, we have a corner sofa in the perfect dimensions for our small living room (205cm x 260ish).

One of the not-so-obvious benefits of our design is that we can pivot the 2 seater around in front of the 3 seater and make an almost full sized bed :)

~ A, Australia

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Hyllis Catwalk

Materials: Hyllis shelving units

Description: Use Hyllis shelving units to create a literal "catwalk" for your cats!

Writing up a good set of directions to do this is almost as hard as hanging the catwalks themselves. I'll do my best to make it clear but if you undertake this project then know that it will take a lot of patience, sweat, a good eye/mind for hacking.

Step 1: Take a look at your ceiling and determine where you want the catwalk to run. I did this on a flat drywall ceiling which was hard enough. You could conceivably do it on other ceiling material like wood but I'll leave that up to you.

Step 2: Get your Hyllis shelving units. Each Hyllis unit gives you just under 8ft of catwalk length when the four shelves are laid out end-to-end. If you are making a corner turn that will cut it down roughly a foot per turn.

Step 3: Gather all the other materials you will need. You will need a lot of threaded bolts. I used 1/4 but you could use anything from that size or larger to keep the walks steady. If you can, buy the threaded bolts in lengths that you can cut in half so you can get two poles out of one, but make sure they are long enough to reach into the drywall with a toggle bolt hanger and still give enough height clearance for the cats to walk beneath the ceiling. I used at minimum two bolts per shelf sometimes using three or four if I was making a turn and need extra stability or at an end point. You will also need toggle bolts that match the thread of your bolts. Get a lot of appropriately sized nuts and washers. Each hanging pole will require: 1 threaded bolt, 1 toggle bolt, three washers, three nuts. You will also need some sort of light weight board to place inside each Hyllis shelf (the shelves are flipped upside down and the boards placed inside them). I used cheap particle board. You will also need some low adhesive spray and lots of drawer liner for the final grip pads on the walk.

Step 4: Make a template! Get a piece of poster board and cut it to the exact size of one shelf. Mark the template with your spots for the hanging bolt holes.

Step 5: Start cutting your boards for the shelves so you can just grab a new one and go. Don't drill all the holes yet. Only do that a few at a time just in case you have to make a change of direction. Drill your first shelf, making two holes on one end and one on the other. Make the holes just large enough to fit your bolt. Thread a nut at the bottom of the bolt and one at the top. Place a washer under the bottom nut and one on the top. Place a toggle bolt on the top with some bolt poking through the top. And then put the bolt through the shelf hole and place another washer then another nut. So the sequence of layers for each hanging bolt will be like this from top down: TOP small space-toggle bolt-small space-washer-nut-large space-nut-shelf-washer-nut BOTTOM

Step 6: Determine your starting point for the first shelf. Assemble one shelf with three bolts (two for the end). Hold it up to the ceiling and do your best to mark the spots where the toggle bolt will enter the ceiling and the bolt will stay upright and level as possible. Mark the three spots. Get a drill with a bit smaller than the size of your bolt. Use it to probe your ceiling at your marks to make sure you are not going to hit metal or wood. You can also use a stud finder to help out. If you do end up hitting wood you can still make it work by either drilling (with the appropriate bit) deep enough to get a toggle bolt all the way through the wood and using a longer bolt or you can use an adapter to combine a small screw tip to the end of your bolt (you should be able to find these at a big hardware store) Luckily I only had to do this a few times.

Step 7: I suggest buying cheap plastic paint throw covers and some good tape to hang all around the ceiling area and walls/floors of the areas you will be working in. Drilling this many holes in the drywall creates a lot of dust! So be careful and patient. Might be a good idea to get a breathing mask too. Drill at your marks and push your toggle bolts into the ceiling keeping the shelf as level as possible. Once you are sure the toggle bolts are secure then tighten all the nuts while still keeping the shelf balanced and level. The shelf will be a little wobbly for now. Don't worry about that. Later you will use the Hyllis legs that came with the unit as side pieces to secure multiple shelves together making the catwalk tight and stable.

Step 8: Assemble a second shelf and hold it up next to the first one and repeat. At corners you can use L-brackets to secure the shelves together. I also used a few larger L-brackets for the section of the walk that was close to the wall. Once you have enough length you can then place a Hyllis leg on each side of the shelves using a very small drill bit and wood screws to secure it to the shelves. You may have to cut the Hyllis legs to match the length of your walks.

Step 9: Once all the shelves are hung and secured with the side Hyllis legs then you can cut drawer liner with scissors and razor blades to fit the shelves and spray the back of them with a low adhesive glue .

Step 10: I installed a mini rope light down the length of my walks. And I used Ekby shelves as steps for the cats to make easy jumps to the catwalk entrances.

See more photos of the Hyllis catwalk.

~ Jason, Texas

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Very Effektiv Garbage & Recycling Bins

Materials: Effektiv Cabinets, Varde Countertop, Chrome trim rings, garbage cans

Description: One of my clients needed a clean solution for their garbage, so I came up with this.

Step One - Remove the back panel from one Effektiv cabinet to allow room for the garbage cans.

Step two - Pull the cabinet forward from the wall, cut removed back panel to use on the end to hide the space behind.

Step three - Add and cut holes in the Varde counter top and the top of the Effektiv cabinet.

Step four - Glue polished stainless steel trim rings into place. Notes: We also added a back splash made from a scrap piece of the Varde counter top....and you can see one of the garbage cans is missing! It was on order when we took the pictures.

Enjoy!

~ Andy, NYC

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Custom Crazy Clock

Materials: TAJMA wall clock ($9.99), Scissors, fabric glue, fabric, an inexpensive paintbrush, paper adhesive (such as double-sided tape), computer drawing program (such as Photoshop, Paint, GIMP, etc.), a box cutter, and small hand saw.

Description: Hi! I wanted a bright, fun clock for the pop-art inspired home office we decorated (a previous Ikea Hacker post), but didn't find anything I really liked. After making curtains and pillows from Ikea fabric, I had some left over and though it would be the perfect pattern on the clock.

Using Ikea's TAJMA wall clock for only $10, I created a fun and coordinated clock for this home office. I almost opted for using cut up strips of an Ikea catalogue as I was inspired by another Ikea Hacker post I read this morning (Ikea catalogue curtains - genius!), so any fabric or paper will do just fine.

See the step by step guide for the personalised clock.

~ Form & Function

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Rexpedit!

Materials: Expedit shelving unit

Description: I transformed a Expedit shelving unit in a desk with a lateral horizontal shelving unit.

I disassembled the long side of Expedit.
I took off the central shelves in order to make the space for the legs (human legs).

I took the central vertical piece of wood and I cut (at a DIY Shop) two pieces large 5cm. I cut the lateral part of the piece, that has the four holes to put the nails.

I assembled the two 5cm piece to the two "short legs" of the desk in order to have the same height of the the main legs.

I put the remained long side of Expedit on four boxes in order to make a lateral shelf that goes from the desk to the bed (it was necessary in order to have also a place to put my hand made night lamp.

That's it.
No glue, no other materials.

~ Serena Cangiano, Switzerland

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Closet isn't LACKing anything as a Bar

Materials: 4x4 Expedit, Lack shelves, Hutten, Counter lamps, wine glass holders

Description: Not the first Expedit bar hack, but hopefully you all will still appreciate our interpretation....

Our old place had a multipurpose room we converted into a dining room. The closet wasn't really being utilized, and looked strange with dated bi-fold doors so we stripped it down and converted it into a dry bar.

Using an Expedit and Lack shelves, we create the base layout for our bar.

(I drilled a couple extra holes into the LACK metal frame to line up with extra studs and used some extra strength butterfly anchors where there was drywall. I knew the liquor would add up in weight, so I wanted them to be strong.)

I cut down two Hutten 9-bottle wine racks to fit in the Expedit.

Added few wine glass holders,glass chess boards and shooters,and under mount lighting (wires hidden and run behind the drywall) with a foot switch by the corner. I had to pull power from an outlet on the same wall in the adjacent room. I had always wanted to throw in a proximity sensor for the lights but never got around to it.

Best part is that it was fairly simple to take apart and bring with us when we moved, however, I haven't had a chance to put it back together again yet.

~ aingco, Canada

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Upside down roller blinds

Materials: Isdans or Tupplur, Aluminum rod, Rod holder, screws, saw, screwdriver

Description: I wanted a blind, which covered the bottom part of the window, so people couldn't look in, but I could still look out. I saw this really neat roller blind which could be opened from the bottom, but also from the top. Unfortunately these blinds were prohibitively expensive. Then I figured the same effect could be achieved with much cheaper Ikea blinds.

You can do this with Isdans or Tupplur blinds (you could also use Enje blinds, but since the rod is attached to this blind, you have to cut it off and sew a pocket for the new rod). If you still want light through the blind choose Isdans, otherwise choose Tupplur.


You buy an aluminum rod and rod holders at the hardware store. You can also use wooden or iron rods. The rod has a diameter of 1 cm (7/16 inch). I did this with aluminum rods up to 1.47m (4ft10). For rod holder I used a rod holder intended for closets (for clothes holder rods).

Step 1- Install the blind as per Ikea instructions, except you do it at the bottom of the window not the top, and the chain goes up not down.

If you also install a regular rolling blind (top down), then you probably want to put the chain on the opposite side from the regular blind chain (otherwise they'll get intertwined).

Step 2- Install the rod holders at the desired height. The distance from the window depends on your window and what you want. With some windows I needed to account for the handle, and wanted to be able to open the window with closed blind, so there the rod holder needed to go further away from the window.

With other windows I didn't care, so there the rod holder was as close to the window as possible.

You can install one set, but if you want to be able to close the blind at different heights, then you'll have to install multiple sets.

Step 3- Saw the rod to the desired length (it should fit between the rod holders).

Step 4- Slide the rod into the blind pocket.

That's it!

If you think the Isdans or Tupplur blinds are rather boring you can fix that with this hack.

~ Jan Metten Van der Meer, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

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Statement stainless steel wall art

Materials: Ikea Fastbo wallpanel (use the stainless steel side of the panel), wall sticker/decal (I used silver coloured), hook to the backside to hang

Description: Want to make statement wall art? Want to do it fast and easy? Here's a great way to have a stainless steel wall art with etched look.

1.Remove the cover plastic
2.Attach the wall sticker to the panel. Silver coloured sticker makes an etched/engraved look.
3.Insert the hook to the back side
4.READY!

See more of the etched wall art.

~ Johanna

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Lack Ottomans

Materials: Lack side table, high density foam (21 5/8" x 21 5/8" x 4"), upholstery fabric (72" x 72"), craft glue, staple gun, jigsaw

Description: I wanted a couple of custom made ottomans that could also double as a coffee table or even extra seating in a pinch.

Using a jigsaw, I cut 4 inches off of each leg so that the finished height of the ottoman would be the same height as my couch.

I attached the foam square to the table top using craft glue (just so it wouldn't be sliding all over the place when I went to actually upholster it).

Once dry, I wrapped the fabric around the table top and secured it with a staple gun. This is definitely a two man operation. Hint: Start by holding the fabric taut and stapling the middle of each side first, then move onto the corners.

I trimmed any excess fabric, then reattached the legs with the provided screws and voila! Almost instant ottoman/coffee table/seat.

~ Linda, California

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Scanner cart from Molger

Materials: Molger cart, tools, "L" brackets

Description: I needed a cart for my flatbed scanner that would give adequate ventilation and a lower work surface than a standard table. The Molger cart was "almost there", with slatted shelves and locking wheels. However, the railing/handle around the top presented a problem.

I cut off the extensions that would have held the handle in place and assembled therest of the cart as per the instructions.

Then I hacked the railing to hold the scanner in place on the top shelf. I had to remove some wood from the edge to accommodate the cords. Eventually, after much trial and error, I found that old-fashioned wood chisels worked the best for getting a clean cut-out.

Finally, I fastened the railing to the top using brass L brackets.

See more of the scanner cart.

~ Fairevergreen

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Hackers help: how to reduce Besta Jagra depth to 40 centimeters?

Materials: Besta Jagra TV stand

Description: I am planning a Besta Jagra hack, inspired by this Ikea Hackers post.

Currently, under the TV, I have a Besta Jagra TV stand, which is 60 centimeters in depth. My idea is to cut it, so that its depth becomes 40 centimeters: in this way the Besta Jagra would fit more nicely when associated with some other Besta series cabinets I already have (and whose standard depth is 40 centimeters).

It seems to me that reducing the depth of the Besta Jagra structure should not be very difficult... but what about the drawers?

Unfortunately standard Besta series drawers do not fit inside the Besta Jagra structure (and anyway Besta Jagra drawers slides works much better).

Did someone already tried such an hack?
Do you have suggestions on how to reduce the depth of the drawers, and how to deal with the drawers slides (which must be reduced too)?

Thank you very much in advance!

~ Sara, Italy

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PS Maskros Floor Lamp

Materials: PS MASKROS (901.474.65) + RODD (701.924.06)

Description: This is a simple hack that combines a PS MASKROS pendant lamp and RODD floor lamp base into a gorgeous floor lamp.

The hack is plain dead simple and literally takes 10 minutes to complete:

1) Fully assemble the RODD base.
2) Take the MASKROS pendant base and unscrew four screws to remove the white plastic ring around the lamp-holder.
3) Cut the four L-shaped legs that supported that ring as depicted on the image, with a hacksaw. You can just make a small notch and then bend the leg couple of times to break it apart.

4) Screw these four legs back onto the ring.
5) Put the assembly onto the RODD lamp-holder all the way down so that those four legs are about 5mm deep in the gap between the outer metal shell and the inner plastic part.
6) Now screw the plastic ring that comes with the RODD base, but place it bottom up. Tighten it so that it locks those four legs.
7) Now you can assemble the PS MASKROS per its instructions. The further decoration is up to you: leave it "naked" as depicted on the photos, install the standard decorative "dandelion florets" that come with the pendant, or invent something unique, combining this hack with the other MASKROS ideas that you can find on this site.

~ Igor Afanasyev, Moscow, Russia

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Top Cabinet Pull-out

Materials: Akurum pantry & drawer kits

Description: We took the Akurum WRD refrigerator cabinet & Akurum HD pantry & modified them to use Rationell pull-out drawers for storage items. these cabinets typically don't have drawers in the top, just shelf storage. we figured, we won't be getting up there very often, but when we do, we want it to be somewhat convenient.

The pantry was pretty easy since it already used the Rationell drawers for the main storage. We just ordered an extra drawer & fit it into the top.

The refrigerator cabinet does not typically have drawers & is 36" wide. They don't make a 36" wide pantry so we had to use a 36" wide drawer from a base cabinet to fit this. The only thing different about that drawer was no "bar" going across the top & we were fine with that.

See more of the top cabinet pull out.

~ DeNacho, Illinois

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FÖRHÖJA Kitchen cart with Wine Crate Fronts

Materials: FÖRHÖJA Kitchen cart

Description: Bought a Birch FÖRHÖJA Kitchen cart from Ikea.

We took the top of the cart and stained it with a dark stain from Home Depot.

We then went to our local wine shop and purchased the fronts of a few wine crates which we cut down to the size of the drawers and stained them with the same stain as the top.


Lastly we purchase a small can of paint in a blue color. To make sure that the paint would not chip, we added a little tile grout to make it more like chalk paint.

Let everything dry for a day and then sealed the top with a food friendly wax sealant.

~ Jaime, Pasadena, CA

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