Expedit Queen Platform bed

Materials: Expedit

Description: We were inspired by other Expedit bed hacks, specifically this one and decided to make a Queen Platform bed. My daughter moved into an apartment and we needed to have more storage as well as a nice size bed.

We were very excited that we (two females without any experience) could create this bed. We used 2 1x5 bookcases, 1 1x2, and 2 1x1 bookcases so that we can get as close to a queen size (60x80) as possible. We attached a continuous hinge to the 2 pieces of 60x40 plywood, so that she can have storage under the bed as well. A black piece of fabric was used to cover the plywood. and we used a 4x4x12 but into 8 17.6 inches, which we used support posts. We used brackets and 3/4 size screws to attach the posts to the plywood.

I think that's it.. enjoy

~ KT, United States

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Faktum Storage Bed

Materials: Faktum (or equivalent) cabinets, Box Spring Bed (mine is Sultan Salhus), plywood, lumber for footing and inner structure, assorted tools, screws and various bits

Description: - Measure the space you have and figure out what size of cabinets to use and how to lay them out.

I used 9 Faktum cabinets in total: 4 x 80 cm wide, 1 x 60 cm wide (total width of the space was only 230 cm) and 4 x 40 cm wide, layed out as in the picture.

- Assemble all the full height cabinets. Leave the backing off one of the big ones - this will be the doorway to the storage space.

- Shorten the cabinets as needed prior to assembly. This is pretty easy to figure out when you look at the pieces, if you have prior DIY experience with tools. I'm looking into creating a tutorial for this, when I have the time...

- Lay out the cabinets. Optionally lay cabinets on a lumber footing, so they're easier to open. This also helps to attach the cabinets: you can screw them on the footing.

- Attach cabinets to each other and build an inner structure to reinforce them and to take the most of the weight of the bed and anyone laying on it.

- Optionally cover the tops of cabinets with plywood (or other material) for a sleeker look. Treat your chosen material (I waxed the plywood after sanding it fine) so it's easier to clean and will keep looking nice.

- Attach the bed on top of the structure. I used steel brackets (used them on a lot of places in the construction as well).

- Attach doors and handles. Line up the doors.

- Step back and enjoy! And then fill it up. There's more photos in my blog.

~ Nora, Espoo, Finland

 

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Floating Star Wars Beds

Materials: Linnmon Desk Top, MALM Floating Nightstand , 200lb Picture Frame Hangers, screwdriver, leveler, saw

Description: We bought two of everything for our boys new Star Wars themed bedroom.
Used the Linnmon Desktop (19.99) as the headboards and the MALM Floating Nightstands.

We cut the headboards down a few inches for the width of a twin bed (we added two inches for bedding). While the MALM is suppose to be used with the bed on the floor, we used 200lb picture frame hangers for them to look like they are floating. Used the same hangers for the headboards. Got them at Home Depot for $14.99 each.

Screwed everything into the walls and used leveler to line things up.

~ Team Thompson, United States

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Variera panels on a Hemnes nightstand

Materials: RATIONELL VARIERA shelf insert, HEMNES nightstand, L brackets, spray paint

Description: We had a couple of old ice-cube table lamps from IKEA that didn't fit the style of our new bedroom, so I was looking to make something that would allow me to hide them, i.e. some kind of lampshade.

It turns out that the VARIERA shelf insert matches perfectly with the height of the shelf of the HEMNES nightstand. As perfectly as if someone measured them to fit into each other. The VARIERA can actually be jammed upright on the shelf of the HEMNES, creating a panel. To make it even steadier, I attached L brackets at the bottom part of the VARIERA. I used some of the shortest screws that come with the shelf, so they barely stick out on the outer surface.

I spray-painted the panels black to match the nightstand, and just jammed them in place. Now the panels hide the ice-cube lamps, baby monitor, phone charger and all their cords and the nightstands look much nicer, especially with the light on.

~ Annie, Greece

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Retro bed table

Materials: EXPEDIT (44x44 cm) white and black

Description: Our IKEA hack is very easy. As we have black&white bed, we were looking for something simple that would match in colour and both of us will like (and of course will not be expensive).

We decided for combination of dark and white EXPEDIT shelves. We followed the regular instructions from IKEA, but than mixed the material. And tadada.. :)

~ Spekulujeme

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IKEA Rast Hack {new nightstands}

Materials:
Rast dresser
Wood putty
Sand paper
1x4 the width of the dresser
2 1x6 the width of the dresser
About 40 feet of lattice (per dresser, if you're doing two dressers, get about 75 feet of lattice)
Drawer pulls
Stain
Paint
Floetrol
Polycrylic

Tools needed:
Miter saw
Nail gun
Putty knife

Description:
This is the IKEA Rast dresser. Pretty plain and boring, but solid wood and perfect for dressing up.

First thing I did was build up the bottom so that I could attach the base molding to something. I used one 1x4 and a piece of lattice behind it to build it out.

Then I cut the base molding and lattice to trim out all of the drawers and sides. I used my new miter saw I got for my birthday. Love it!

I then filled all the holes with wood putty and sanded, sanded, sanded.

Then I painted two coats of white paint. I put Floetrol in my paint to minimize the brush strokes. I used Sherwin Williams Antique White paint color.

I pre-stained the top "tray" that I put on the top of the nightstand. I placed two 1x6's and 1 1x4 side by side on the top and used the nail gun to fasten them to the top. And then I used stained lattice to trim around the edge of the top.

See more of the Rast nightstand.

~ Laura

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How to create a Gerhard Richtexpedit bedside cabinet

Materials: Expedit 2x2 and 1x1, inserts with door and drawers

Description: First of all, visit gerhard-richter.com and search some colour-combinations you like and buy them as spray colours.

Ikea does not offer a 2x1 Expedit, so I had to combine a 2x2 and a 1x1 in two 2x1.
I want a 2x1 horizontal with rolls, the vertical 2x1 is a side product.
I used my old and crappy 2x2 and bought a new 1x1.

You don't have to modify any Ikea-parts, all you have to do is simply combine the sides of the 1x1 with the tops of the 2x2 and the other way round, the rest is self-explanatory.

If you choose in the first step other colours than "white" you have to enamel the parts. If you like glossy, add a clear coat. The package of the 1x1 is a perfect spray cabin.

That's it.

~ cvb, Berlin

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TOGA place mat Headboard on the Budget

Materials: TOGA place mats (7), small nails (42), hammer (1)

Description: Use 4 TOGA place mats vertically and nail them to the wall about ¾ above the top of your mattress.

Use small enough nails that will fit in the holes for the threads.

Use 3 more TOGA place mats horizontally on the top of the four mats that are already nailed to the wall. Again use small nails and nail them to the wall.

If you have any small pictures frames you can hang them on the mats or just leave the mats as they are.

Total cost: $1.99 x 7 = 13.99 + tax

~ Martyna, Chicago, IL

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Very hacky in Berlin - 10m² full of storage

Materials: Mandal bed, Capita legs 11 & 21 cm, Galant extention & shelf, two 2x4-Expedit, two 1x5-Expedit, two Vika Kaj, 100cm Linnmon Tabletop, Expedit desk mounting

Description: Last year I moved to Berlin to start my masters degree. I found a wonderful flat mate that I totally wanted to live with. Only weak point: the room for rent was only ~10m². After 3 month of planning, searching hacks and forums, I came up with a plan to get most of my stuff from my previous 20m² to the new tiny room.


1) Mandal bed mounted on 1x5-Expedit

I love the Mandal bed frame since I first saw the black edition at my local Ikea years ago. On IKEAHackers I found tons of DIY-bedframes made from Expedit shelves, which gives you lots of space for storage - in the shelves and underneath the bed.

So the idea was to mount my favorite bedframe on two narrow Expedit. It is pretty simple. You put together the bedframe as described by the manual BUT you do not attach the white bars, that come with it as a base. The 1x5-Expedits are assembled like the manual says. Put them down on their long sides and place the bedframe on top. You can fix the bed by putting long screws (~8cm?) trough the holes where the base is normally screwed on. Voila, bed with lots of storage :)

2) 2x4-Expedit meets Linnmon (Amon in Germany)

Next I needed a desk with storage for books, folders etc. My first choice would have been the Expedit desk combination but there is not enough space for a 80cm deep table. So I got a 2x4-Expedit and the mounting for the desk (from the IKEA service counter) but not the desk itself.

Instead I bought the smallest Linnmon tabletop and the adjustable Vika Kaj legs. I put together the Expedit but left the vertical part in the second row from top out. This is where I connected the Linnmon Tabletop. To mount my monitor I attached 11cm Capita legs to the small half round Galant extention, like I had seen in my local Ikea.

3) Mounted TV

Yeah, not exactly new...but it belongs to my room. Since my bed is 90cm high I needed to mount my TV to see more than just the upper part of the picture, while sitting on the bed. So I bought the Galant shelv and screwed Capita 21cm to it. It has the perfect width for my TV and there is space under it for DVD-player and photos.

So, that's my room, basically. There are also two Grundtal drying racks, mounted high on the wall but that is not exactly a hack. Just using the ~3m of wall :)

And just if you wonder about the red and grey blankets - thats sleeping places the cats choose. If we miss one of the kittys, just look under my bed ;)

~ Bianca, Berlin, Germany

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Ikea Rast Dresser with silver ring pulls

Materials: IKEA RAST

Description: I bought the IKEA Rast Dresser since it is solid wood for only $34, and then hacked it into a beautiful nightstand for our guest bedroom.

After priming & painting entire piece Benjamin Moore's Dove White, I then measured and taped off a design for the front of the drawers. I used left over wall paint (Sherwin Williams Misty) for this part.

I bought my silver drawer ring pulls off Ebay for around $2 a piece. So for $47, I transformed the IKEA Rast Dresser into a trendy nightstand!

See more of the Rast makeover.

~ Leah

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Borrowed Bedroom with 4 little hacks

Materials:
For wardrobe: Elga wardrobe, wallpaper, matte Mod Podge
For Billy bedside storage: Billy bookcase, Olsbo doors, wallpaper, Liksidig, Jansjo
For Ribba clothes hanger: Ribba picture ledge, Grundtal bar, Grundtal hooks
For lampshade: Fansta lampshade, wallpaper, PVA glue

Description: There are really four little projects in my Borrowed Bedroom, none of them particularly difficult and all spotted elsewhere (hence the 'borrowed' in the title!).

First, and probably most dramatic, is the Elga makeover. Our master bedroom is really quite small and we needed as much storage space for our clothes as we could squeeze in - the Elga was the best fit. However we couldn't agree on colour and finish - I wanted as much light as possible in the room so was inclined towards a white carcass and 3 mirror doors. Husband on the other hand had no interest in seeing himself endlessly reflected and neither of us liked the Aneboda doors. So in the end the Engan doors with black carcass and one mirror door was our only possible compromise. As I'd suspected, it overshadowed our little room but as we were shortly to have no. 2 baby I didn't feel up to doing anything about it for a while. Then while browsing Ikeahackers one day I came across this post and was inspired!

I found wallpaper at Homebase that was a perfect colour and style match for our walls and room...and it just happened to be in their value range at just under £5 a roll.

I cleaned the Engan doors thoroughly to get rid of any dust and grease. Then, using a Stanley knife, I cut 7 sections of wallpaper to fit the 6 inset panels of the 2 Engan doors plus one trial run (leaving them slightly smaller all round as wallpaper stretches when wet). Next I Mod Podge-ed the back of the wallpaper with a sponge applicator and let it rest for a few minutes then did a trial run applying the paper to the underside of one of the wardrobe shelves. Good job I did as I made a complete mess of it! First time I'd ever done anything with wallpaper and I didn't know about smoothing out the bubbles. If you're thinking of doing this have a look on the internet for advice as I don't think I'm quite an expert on it yet! For what it's worth, I used a dry mini paint-roller fitted with the sponge applicator as my smoothing tool and it worked for me. I also found that the smaller bubbles vanished by the time the paper had dried and luckily all 6 panels are now completely bubble-free.

Next projects in the Borrowed Bedroom grand plan were a lampshade, a gently vamped-up Billy as a bedside table-bookcase and a Ribba/Grundtal storage solution for half-worn clothes.

Next job in our Borrowed Bedroom was replacing the low and dark Engan bedside units that we had bought to match our Elga wardrobe with white Billy bookcases, very little actual hacking here. These are the 40 wide, 202 tall Billys.
I left the back off - firstly for aesthetic effect to show our paint colour through the shelves and secondly because the only power point in that part of the room is behind the Billy on my side of the bed. This way I can access it whenever I need to. Leaving the back off compromises the stability quite a lot so we've fixed it to the wall with the brackets provided and, if we find it's still not strong enough in a week or two, we'll add brackets under the middle fixed shelf too.

I put solid Olsbo half-doors on the bottom and a glass mini-Olsbo door on the top, inside which I taped the same wallpaper as on the decoupaged Elga to create a theme and hide the contents.

We found the 'bedside table' shelf too high and awkward to reach from the bed, also our iPhone charger cords are a bit too short to reach properly from the power point so I screwed in a Liksidig napkin holder to the bed-side of each Billy (thanks to this post for the inspiration). I popped a cable drop next to each to hold the charger cables when not in use and now I have my iPad and phone next to me, he has his Kindle and phone.

Perfect.

Last move was to replace our former touch table lamps with Jansjo clamp lamps, we were worried that the touch lamps were a fire hazard as the shelf above them was getting very hot. The Jansjo lights are great as they're nice bright spotlights for reading but can be angled differently to create mood lighting. Getting rid of the table-top lamps means there's more usable space now too.

The Borrowed Bedroom story continues with a crafty 2-in-1 combining clothing storage and picture rail. Our room isn't quite big enough for either an armchair or a towel horse, both classic solutions to the problem of clothes in limbo between wardrobe and laundry-basket. Everybody has this problem so I'm amazed how few decent solutions there are, especially for people with little space to spare. Yet again the internet came to my rescue and this provided the perfect solution.

The only space in our room is a metre-wide inset between the chimney breast and the window. I cut the ends off a longer Ribba with a hacksaw (slow but no power-tools in this house!) - making sure to keep the pre-drilled holes centred. Then husband screwed in an 80cm Grundtal rail to the underside of the Ribba, drilled some holes in the wall, screwed the Ribba to the wall, hung some Grundtal hooks on the rail and that was it!

Much neater and it takes a surprising amount of clothes.

The last, least hacked and smallest project in the Borrowed Bedroom.

I had quite a bit of wallpaper left over after decoupage-ing our Elga wardrobe and was feeling, quite frankly, a little decoupage-happy and generally pleased with myself. I was eyeing up possibilities around the house when I came across this.

The plain Fansta lampshade in our bedroom was the perfect candidate for a makeover and would match my lovely new wardrobe - the Fansta is no longer available but the Jara looks pretty similar. I used watered-down PVA (I'd run out of Mod Podge) but I don't recommend it, I found it a messy, awkward job and the paper just wouldn't sit right. The stretching of the paper when wet was impossible to gauge and working inside something with rounded sides was a pain. It looks fine but doesn't stand up to really close scrutiny! If I ever do it again I'll either use something like Pritt Stick or simply tape down one side of the paper to the shade then curve it around the inside and tape down the other side.

Regarding measuring and cutting the wallpaper, I just cut a rectangle off the roll that was quite a bit larger than the shade top-to-bottom then slowly rolled the shade from one side of the paper to the other and drew a pencil line above and below as I rolled. No photos of this I'm afraid, I was far too involved to remember to take any! Then I cut along the pencilled lines and wrapped it around the outside of the shade, trimming and trying it inside the shade as I went til it fit perfectly inside. If it helps, left flat the final paper is banana-shaped.

A couple of annoying things:
1 - you want the pattern to face out of course but the wallpaper will have been rolled the 'wrong' way, it takes a bit of flattening out and counter-rolling and a lot of steady patience to make it unfold out inside the shade without creases.
2 - as mentioned earlier the paper stretches when wet so the actual measurements are almost impossible to get right. My finished shade has a few little air bubbles and the paper doesn't quite go to the edges all the way around which is fine in daylight but as the pattern is visible through the shade when lit it's not as professional a finish as I would like.

But it's so pretty!

~ ioana

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EXPEDIT Loft Bed

Materials: 2x EXPEDIT 4x2, optional PERFEKT plinth, optional GULLIVER or other junior bed

Description: Here is my latest Ikea hack, where I'm using a pair of 4x2 EXPEDITs to make a single loft bed. It seems that the 79cm width of EXPEDIT is a perfect match for a UK 'small single' mattress which is 2'6 wide by 6'3 long, or any of IKEA's junior beds that are around 77cmx168cm long.

Note - I'm fully aware of the fact I'm mixing feet/inches and mm - just go with it!

Ingredients

2x EXPEDIT 4x2
Either: 1x junior bed e.g GULLIVER
OR Small single bed frame (2'6x6'3) made by me from timber, or alternatively:
4x CLS timber 63x38mm
6x Planed Smooth Timber 38x18mm
2x Planed Smooth timber 144x18mm
+ Optional: 2x PERFEKT ABSTRAKT plinth (or 2 more 144x18 timber)
Big bit of 6mm Perspex and some aluminium profile that I had lying around

Recipe

Build both EXPEDITs as per instructions
EITHER Build a bed frame using the following cuts:
2x CLS timber to 6'3 (structural sides)
2x CLS timber to 2'6 (structural ends)
2x PS timber 144x18 (or PERFEKT plinth) to 6'4.1/2" (containing sides)
2x PS timber 144x18 (or PERFEKT plinth) to 2'6 (containing ends)
12x PS timber 38x18 to 2'6 (slatted bed base)
OR: Build the junior bed (GULLIVER), cut the legs off, and use either PS timber or PERFEKT plinth to make up a solid side guard, bolted at each end to the side.
Bolt everything together, and to as many walls as are available. I actually used 4x wall fixing brackets from PAX wardrobes, opened up the holes in the short part of the "L" to marry up to the fixing bolts in the top of each EXPEDIT, and screwing the long part into the sides of the bed, from the inside.

Outcome

I've built the bed frame myself so as to fit a small single and to make the best use of the available space in my boy's room. I didn't have PERFEKT plinth available and didn't have time to go back to the shop, but would have used it on the front fascia had I had it since its one less thing to paint and would be a gloss finish to match the gloss turquoise & white EXPEDIT units. I also built the ladder using CLS timber that will need painting too. Finally, the entrance to the bed at the top of the ladder in this case definitely needs another grab rail on the wall so as to make it easier to get in & out so I'll be adding a couple of long LANSA handles later; in the mean time I've added a spare IKEA handle (now discontinued).

See more of the Expedit Loft bed.

~ Theo Gough, London

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A Twin Size Headboard for Less than $10

Materials: Vika Amon (Article No 500.711.70)

Description: I was looking to buy a simple headboard for a twin bed for use with a standard metal frame. However, it was difficult to find one without having to buy an entire bed and footboard. I wanted to avoid the footboard especially since the room I was working in was very small and didn'€™t want to spend a lot.

The Vika Amon table top measures 39 3/8"€ by 23 5/8"€ by 1 3/8"€ thick. The 39 3/8"€ table top is almost exactly the width of a twin bed, so I turned the table top sideways and used it as a headboard. I used the Vika Amon in white (Article No 500.711.70) which lists for only $5.99. It is also available in the same size in the black/brown finish for $10.99 as Article No. 002.098.39.

I bought the nuts, washers and bolts at Lowes for less than $3.00. It worked great and with the hardware cost less than $10.00 for everything.

The headboard is not very high (only about 6"€-8"€ above the surface of the mattress but it is enough to keep the pillows from sliding down. It also provides a good place to mount one of IKEA's flexible reading lamps like the Tived LED flexible stalk light for reading in bed.

Materials:
- Vika Amon: White (Article No. 500.711.70, $5.99) or Black/Brown(No. 002.098.39, $10.99)
- Four 1/4 by 2"€ long hex head bolts (cap screws)
- Eight 1/4" fender washers (large diameter w/small hole)
- Four 1/4" nuts (I used nylon insert lock nuts for vibration resistance)
Tools:
- 1/4" drill bit and drill
- Two wrenches, 7/16"€

Directions:

1. Trace Holes: You will need to drill four holes in the Vika Amon for the bolts to pass through. In order to place the holes appropriately, I placed the Vika Amon flat on the floor and stood the metal bed frame up on it. Place the bottom edge of the bedframe near the bottom edge of the Vika Amon so that the lower hole is about 1/2 - 3/4"€ away from the edge. I traced the openings in the metal bedframe onto the Vika Amon with a Sharpie so that I would be sure the drill in the right places.

2. Drill: Remove the bedframe, put the Vika Amon on a work surface and drill the four 1/4" holes in the appropriate places. I drilled fairly close to the edge to take maximum advantage of the internal frame near the edges in the otherwise hollow tabletop.

3. Bolt: Put the bolts in from the back of the Vika Amon (wall side) using a large diameter fender washer to spread the load across the relatively thin surface material of the Vika Amon. Putting the bolts in from the wall side will also prevent the bolts from protruding and perhaps damaging the wall surface. Slide the bolts through the openings in the metal bed frame and again using a large diameter fender washer, put on the nuts and tighten. Be careful not to overtighten and crush the surface. This is another advantage to using the nylon insert lock nuts.

~ Rich M, San Diego

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PS 2012 pull-out tribute made from basic bed

Materials: Rykene bed, a little extra wood, screws, paint

Description: Take a very basic Ikea Rykene bed,with Sultan Lade slats and transform it into a single to double pull-out bed similar to the PS 2012 pull-out bed.

Full instructions on the blog link.

~ Pippa Metcalf, Netherlands

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