Expedit kitchen and bar

Materials: Expedit, Expedit doors and drawers, Vika Amon table top, Capita, 4 baskets to use as drawers, a piece of MDF, white paint and cute doorknobs

Description: My husband and I live in a very small place, so we need all the storage space we can create. That is why we build an Expedit kitchen bar. It is perfect as a breakfast and dinner table and also creates loads of storage space in the kitchen.

Description:
Step 1. Put the Expedit together.
Step 2. Screw the Capitas on Expedit.
Step 3. Screw the Vika Amon table top on the Expedit.
Step 4. Put in all the Expedit doors and drawers.
Step 5. Make sure the MDF board is the right size, then paint it in the same color as the Expedit.
Step 6. Put the MDF board on the Expedit with a lot of small nails, using a hammer. Paint the nails when done.
Step 7. Find yourself fitting baskets to use as drawers.
Step 8. I didn't like the Ikea doorknobs, so I replaced them with little stones.

We are thinking about replacing the Vika Amon table top with an old door or something like that, because Vika Amon damages very quickly.

~ Dieuwke, Groningen

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T Kitchen Island/Dining Table

Materials: Expedit Shelving unit, Pragel Countertop, Galant Tabletop, Vika Byske legs, wood and hardware

Description: 1. Attach the countertop to the bookshelf using Gorilla Glue and L-brackets. I used 8 brackets total: 1 on each short side and 3 on each long side.

2. Drill holes into the countertop.
I taped the area around the hole to prevent the laminate from shattering. I also started with a very small drill bit and gradually increased the size of the hole.

All the while, I had the drill in reverse to further prevent unwanted damage to the laminate. The metal attachments on the underside of the table will simply sit in the holes (about .5" deep). I initially thought the diameter of the metal pieces was 1.5 inches. It turns out the diameter was slightly larger than that, so I had to twist the drill around in a way that would make a real carpenter cringe.

3. Attach legs to the other end of the table.
I cut a 2x6 to about 24" and painted what would be the underside. I used the same 1.5" spade drill bit to put in holes (about .5" deep) into the wood. I then drilled a .25" hole so that I could run a bolt through the wood and screw it into the metal pieces on the table. I'd recommend starting with the small hole (I didn't, and what I did to get things to line up right would've made that carpenter cringe again).

Once the wood is attached to the table, just drill small pilot holes and screw the legs onto the wood.

4. Put it together. Have the metal sit in the holes on the counter (mine is pretty snug), and adjust the legs on the other end until everything is level.

5. Throw a party.

~ Glenn, Washington, DC

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Breakfast bar/home office desk

Materials: AKURUM kitchen wall cabinet + LINNMON table top + cover panel

Description: We needed a dining table and home office desk in a very small area. Also needed storage space for office that wouldn't look cluttered.

Bought AKURUM kitchen WALL CABINET in the wood finish that matched existing furniture. We chose the 30" high X 39" wide cabinet and assembled it and sat it on the floor as the base of the table/desk. We could have bought short legs or built a base to raise it up higher, but chose not to because our existing stools were the right height to leave it as-is.

If you want to install doors to hide the shelves, you WILL need legs or a base for it so that the bottom edge of the doors will be off the floor. This wall cabinet has many holes pre-drilled for adjustable shelves so we bought 2 pairs of shelves that fit the entire width and installed them where we wanted (pegs are included with shelf purchase).

We bought a "cover panel" from the selection of cabinet doors and cover panels that also matched the existing furniture - we glued that on the back side of the cabinet since that side normally mounts on the wall and is not "finished".

There are several finishes to choose from. In order to be the right size, we bought one that had to be turned sideways and then we sawed off one edge that would be up against the wall, so it didn't need to be a "finished" edge. There are several sizes of wall cabinets and several sizes of doors or cover panels, so find the size and color you want.

Next, we found a LINNMON table top in black-brown that matched our stools (several colors are available). The size we choose for our space was about 24" X 48" and we placed that on top and positioned it where we wanted (a little more overhang on one side worked for us).

We attached it by drilling up through the top of the "cabinet" with wood screws. You can't see in the picture, but for an added effect, we installed a strip of Ikea's LED lights under the overhang on the finished side of the breakfast bar/desk. Perfect for home office and perfect for dining - fits in a very small space and the shelf contents stay hidden from view.

~ Rebecca & Manny, Orange Co. CALIF

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Cake stand with SKURAR

Materials: SKURAR candle dish, cake stand fitting, power drill

Description: Drill hole in SKURAR plate, put the cake stand fitting through the hole and.. done!

I drilled holes sized 6mm because the cake stand fittings are mostly for 6mm diameter.

This was very easy to do and looks great!

~ Susanne, Switzerland

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Dinner Table and Desk - Cheap and Easy

Materials: 1 Lack Coffee Table, 4 Vika Legs, 2 Lerberg Trestle

Description: We wanted a nice looking dinner table like the Torsby one, but we didn't want to spend 159 on it. The Vika system is cheap but the table tops are very narrow, not so comfortable for dinning. We decided to buy the Lack coffee table (118 cms x 78 cms) and 4 Vika legs (now Godvin).

The bottom shelf that comes with the Lack table, we used it as a desk, we just bought 2 Lergberg trestles.

Costs in CAD;
- Lack coffee table 39.99
- 4 Vika legs 40.00
- 2 Lergberg trestles 20.00

Total for a dinner table and a desk = 99.99 CAD

~ Am19

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Multifunctional hanging decor

Materials: Gorm

Description: This is made from 2 Gorm Panels, fixed together with a small piece of wood and hung from the ceiling with 4 cords. Very good for different decoration ideas.

~ Stefan

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Luxury dining seat

Materials: Besta TV bench

Description: We needed to fit 240 cm seat in our space in dining room, but couldn't find anything nice.

So we bought a 240 cm long Besta TV storage combination + old kids mattress and luxury fabric. Our friend made 2 upholstered pieces for us and put all together. We are very happy with result and take a lot of compliments :-)

~ Alica

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From Basic to Mid-Century Modern

Materials: Jokkmokk Table, wood stain, hairpin legs

Description: I transformed a basic Jokkmokk table by removing the legs and trim, sanding and re-staining the tabletop, and adding sleek, mid-century modern style legs.

The project took less than an hour to complete and the results are huge! A basic table was transformed from a near Goodwill donation to a piece I will treasure for years to come.

See more of the mid century designed Jokkmokk

~ Regina Morrison, California

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Kitchen cart with drop leaf extension

Materials: FÖRHÖJA kitchen cart, EKBY TRYGGVE 47 7/8X11" shelf, three 1 1/2" hinges, left and right hinge supports, scrap wood

Description: First the EKBY shelf was measured and cut to 39 3/8" to match the cart length. The cart top and the shelf are different thicknesses so scrap wood was used under the hinges on the shelf to even the height.

Flip the cart over and attach the hinges near either end of the cart and shelf with the final hinge being placed in the center.

Left and right hinge supports were attached to the outside of the cart legs and the bottom of the shelf. Scrap wood was again used between the support and the shelf to even the height with the cart top.

~ Feifei and Josh

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A Norden kitchen island

Materials: One Norden item and some Franklin chairs

Description: I was looking for an island in my kitchen which is not separate from the living room.

As I'm not a billionaire, was searching a cheap solution...
As I already have a Norden item from Ikea, the size of it was too small for me, and I wanted it to be able to sit 6 to 8 persons. I also thought it would look better if it was closed at the back.


So, I just removed the top of the Norden table which was 42x188 cm and found a bigger countertop which was 90x200cm.

Then, I closed the two sides and the back of the item with white panels, and added a foot for added stability.

I use then with some Franklin mid sized chairs (63cm high)
Et voila!

~ Jean fi, France

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A bowl becomes a dome

Materials: Blanda bowl, door knob

Description: A small burrow was made very slowly by a drill into the middle of the bowl's bottom for the knob. Good idea, minor hacking.

See more of the Blanda dome.

~ Kiki, Hungary

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Custom Dining Booth From Bookcases

Materials: Expedit Bookcases

Description: We wanted to make a dining booth for our odd shaped corner dining room.

We bought 2 Expedit bookcases in the dark brown-black and planned on turning them face down and making "lids". Turning them sideways made the height better, we could always add baskets or bins in the holes. But then we got a puppy...so we left them empty.

We butted them together in the corner, put a vinyl upholstered foam cushion on top (easy slippage for butts) and stapled upholstered foam to the wall for the back.

The person who bought the house insisted we leave it for them (must have thought it was some expensive custom-made piece!)

Oh yeah, those are Ikea chairs too.

~ Laura G

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Mini Galant and Media Stand

Materials: Galant Conference table, Galant tabletop extension half round with frame (2) and Galant A-frame legs (4)

Description: I had a Galant conference table with the half round ends. I just moved into a new space and didn't need such a big table for dining but needed a small table. So I took the two half round ends and secured them together. I used the frames that came with them and turned them so the little extension pieces slid in and provided support for the center. I purchased 4 A-frame Galant legs and secured them and Viola! a new round table for two!


I took the table and converted it to a media stand. So I got two pieces of furniture for the price of a set of 4 legs.

~ Lisa Wilcox, United States

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Ikea kitchen counter for under 70€

Materials: Faktum wall cabinet, Härling door (40 x 92 cm), Vika Amon tabletop, Capita legs, 2 Rationell shelves, 2 edge protectors, 2 mounting brackets with drill holes, 2 chipboard screws 3,5 x 40, 2 chipboard screws 3,5 x 20 , 2 expansion anchor 8mm and 2 screws for the expansion anchors

Description: You start by building the Faktum wall cabinet by following the Ikea descriptions. Then you can screw on the Capita legs, just like in the first picture.

The next step is to place the cabinet in front of the wall, which will later be used as the supporting wall, with about 40cm space between them.

Now you take the Vika tabletop and put it on top of the cabinet, push everything cautiously against the wall and align the tabletop with the cabinet. Make sure everything is even by using a water level.

Now mark the wall with a pencil, so you will know where to put the mounting brackets later on. Take down the tabletop and drill two holes in the wall where you put your marks for the expansion anchors and put them in.

Then you can screw in your mounting brackets and push the cabinet about 65cm from the wall, like shown in picture 3.

The next step is to put the tabletop on top of the cabinet and onto the mounting anchors and put them together with screws.

And last but not least you can put the edge protectors on with some glue.

See more of the Faktum breakfast bar.

~ New Swedish Design, Berlin

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Booth seating on a shoestring

Materials: Faktum, Meltorp

Description: Having moved to a new home I was faced with the problem of it being very small. We had only a 3x4m living room and a very small 3m x 1.9m kitchen. In our living room we had no space for a full sized dining table or large sofa suite. So this is what I did do overcome our problem.

We had been given a Meltorp table when we purchased some folding chairs off the local classified ads. When we brought it to our new house we could not accommodate the table or the chairs as there just wasn't enough space. We was going to chuck the table until one day I had a great idea.

I built a bench seat in an alcove in the living room using 4 Faktum 35cm fan units. I purchased just the frame without the doors because I was going to make my own sliding doors using the backs of the frame and some cheap plastic vivarium runners.

For the bench seat we used Ikea Iris seat pads until we can afford to get a custom made cushion to go on top of the seats. Ihe Iris pads fit perfectly on top of the units.

I have added strength to the units by added some vertical 1x2 in the middle of the units and have tested them with 18 stone mates. I would have used the deeper 60cm overfridge units but my alcove was 37cm so that's why I went with the 35cm fan units. The size is perfect and is a joy to have lunch, breakfast on.

For the table I had to take the legs off the Meltorp table and make a custom center post to make it easier to get in and out of the booth. I have made a secret shelf on the post for condiments such as ketchup and hot sauce. I then clad the post with contiboard. I think the table looks pretty good and looks very expensive designer table cost me about £15 because I got the Meltorp free.

Here is a rough cost of materials of the bench and table

4 x faktum fan units £44
2x base frame studwork 89MM x 38mm £8
sliding vivarium runners £5
381mm top panel contiboard
7x iris seat pads £3 each

Table
Meltorp table (free) or £28 from ikea
offcuts of timber from house renovation

~ Abdul Manik, East London

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