Trofast sand and water table

Materials: Trofast

Description: Cut out holes for the small Trofast bowls. Smaller so they won't fall through.

Paint to protect for outside use, use acrylic paint since the Trofast cabinet is already in acrylic.

Drop the bowls in and fill with water and/or sand.

The large bowls in the cabinet are ideal for storing all the sandbox toys!

~ Helen Magré, NL

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Lego Storage and Play Table from Trofast Shelving

Materials: Trofast (x3), Wood Shelf, 2.5" Hex Screws

Description: My Adjustable Height Lego Play Table and Storage Unit combines the Lego storage ideas you may have seen on Pinterest using the Ikea Trofast storage systems, with an adjustable shelf that serves as a surface for building. We covered one side of the shelf with green Lego baseplates, and left the other smooth for the option of building without baseplates.

To make it:
Step One: Get Your Supplies
3 Trofast Frames. I am sure if you are a carpenter or are married to one, there is a cheaper way to go about this, but for me, purchasing 3 frames was the simplest way to go. You will also need a shelf. I used 1/2" lumber, cut to 11 and 3/4" deep and 40" wide. Obviously, your shelf will need to fit your space. I have found that 40" is very sturdy, and at this thickness it could perhaps be a bit longer but I wouldn't go crazy with the length or it may start to bow in the middle. You also need to purchase twelve 2.5" long Hex Socket Head Screws. These will replace 12 of the shorter screws included with the units.

Step Two: Assemble Your Units
Follow Ikea's famously simple directions, with this modification: before attaching the inner wall (the wall that will ultimately face inward toward your shelf) of your shelving unit, place another wall (taken from your third unit you purchased in Step One) on top of it, with the grooves aligned but facing outwards, like you see in the picture. Now, attach both walls to the frame simultaneously using the 2.5" Hex Screws you purchased in Step One. You will use these instead of the screws included with the Trofast, to accommodate for the additional width introduced by attaching two walls instead of just one.

Step Three: Measure Carefully and Install
You will be latching your units to the wall, so it is essentially to measure carefully so that your units are precisely the same distance apart from each other as your shelf is wide. Please use the latches included with the units to latch them to the wall. They are surprisingly stable when standing on their own, but don't let that fool you into thinking you don't need latches...your kids will definitely climb on them at some point!

Step Four: Organize that Sucker!
Insert your pre-cut shelf into the grooves, and enjoy your awesome play surface! We waited a good six weeks while green baseplates were on back-order, and just played with the shelf like this. In fact, the back-ordered baseplates are what delayed this post so long! But of course we wanted baseplates, so when we finally got them, I glued them on with E-6000 adhesive, making sure to space them with LEGOs.

I used my Silhouette to make labels for Trofast bins. I chose to organize my son's Legos by themes, and it has worked extremely well. He has no problem finding anything or putting things away. Gone are the days of Lego explosions all over the place!

See more of the Trofast LEGO table and storage.

~ Michelle, United States

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Lego Activity Table

Materials: Vika Amon table top, Trofast storage boxes, EKBY JÄRPEN EKBY TÖRE desk top shelf

Description: After we moved our office from the largest bedroom in the house to a small office space we no longer had room for our two desks, so we choose to build an activity table for our son using one of them.

We decided to use Ikea Trofast storage boxes under the table for storage thinking it would be easy to buy runners for them. Although plastic runners were available a few years ago Ikea no longer sells them. Because of this I ended up having to build my own runners out of timber to get the boxes installed and sliding under the table top.

I started the construction of the activity table by attaching new coffee table legs from Home Depot. They set the table at a good height for my son to kneel and play at the table. Once they were attached I found the middle of the table and proceeded to attach the DIY Trofast runners I had previously built out of timber, starting in the middle and working my way out. I had to be very precise with my measurements here to make sure the boxes wouldn't bind while sliding them in and out. I finished the runners for the boxes by putting a small piece of timber at the back of the runners to stop the boxes from sliding all the way through.

After the main table was finished I then followed the normal Ikea directions to install the desk top shelf and brackets for the Lego display shelf.

See more of the LEGO activity table.

~ Bill Hutchison, Australia

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ELIOOO. Grow your food. How to go to Ikea and grow food in your apartment.

Materials: TROFAST, ANTONIUS

Description: Ever wondered if you could grow vegetables in your apartment? It may not be as far-fetched as it seems. Antonio has a created a hydroponic set up using the Trofast and Antonius.

You can find more information on the book he is trying to fund in this link.

He is also the creator of this other project called Malthus, a device to grow fish and salad using Broder.

~ Jules

WHAT: ELIOOO is an instruction book about how to build a hydroponic system to grow plants, herbs, or vegetables in your apartment, using IKEA components.

WHY HYDROPONICS: Hydroponics is a clean, sustainable, and efficient way to grow vegetables using water instead of soil. Hydroponics has enormous advantages compared to traditional agricultural methods. It uses only 10% of the water needed with traditional agriculture, allowing for higher production in smaller spaces. Plants get nourishment directly from a nutrient solution mixed into the water. Consequently, the risk of pests present in the soil is avoided and plants receive the exact nourishment needed for optimal growth. With hydroponics you do not have to water your plants; you can maintain ideal conditions for growth, without worrying about watering and getting dirty

See more of the IKEA Hydroponic set-up.

~ Antonio, Scarpo

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Vessla Kids Moveable Storage/Work Space

Materials: Vessla and Vessla Lid, Trofast shelf

Description: Katie's creates a movable storage and work space for her daughters. Their favorite activities are drawing and puzzles both of which we have always done at the kitchen table. Trying to do them both simultaneously on the kitchen table often ends with tears or pieces all over the floor. So recently at Ikea Katie picked up a few storage boxes (Vessla) and a two pack of flat white shelves (Trofast) for $9.00.

Her idea was to glue the shelf to the storage box to store stuff and also have a surface for them girls to work on. Here's how she did it:


1. Lay the shelf out on the lid of the storage box and mark with a pencil where you want the lid to be.
2. The lid is a little longer then the box but not as wide as the box so it gives ample work space without taking up too much room.

3. Then use an industrial strength adhesive (E-6000 from Michael's) on the back of the shelf and attach it to the lid, matching up the edges with the pencil lines. You could also probably screw them together.

Katie made two separate work spaces one for each kid. One is filled with blank paper, coloring books, lots of markers, crayons and colored paper. The other was filled with puzzles, which are kept in Ziploc bags. The best thing is, the boxes can be rolled around so they can be moved anywhere, closed up and stored away.

See more of the kid's workspace and storage box.

~ Katie Gill-Harvey

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