Reclaimed Lerberg Etagere

Materials: 2 Lerberg Shelf Units, 4 Planks of Reclaimed Wood, 32 Screws & Washers

Description: This hack couldn't be simpler. In fact, I'm convinced I'm not the first person to think of this.

I picked up 4 planks of wood from my local salvage goods store, 2x6, each 6' in length. (These will replace the wire shelves that the units come with.) I also picked up 32 2" wood screws and 32 washers. I used the washers to protect the legs from the screws drilling too far into the metal frame.

before

My 2 Lerberg units gave me a total of 4 upside-down 'U'-shaped legs. You'll turn these legs sideways for this hack. (The Lerberg legs shift and move quite a bit. Their stability is created by the shelf. For that reason, it's best to measure and mark out your screw locations on your planks for even placement.) Screw the legs into place and voila - you have your new etagere!

See more of the Lerberg Etagere.

~ Rachel, New Haven, CT

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Lack Table Corner Shelf Hack

Materials: Lack side table, Ekby Stodis, screws, drill, screw driver, raw plugs

Description: Start by cutting a Lack side table top into quarters.

Next screw on the brackets as seen in the photo.

Mark up the bracket placement on the wall, drill the holes and put in the raw plugs in.

Finally screw the shelf in.

~ Lewis, essex

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Indirect Lighting for MANDAL headboard using LEGO

Materials: MANDAL, DIODER, LEGO bricks

Description: I used the MANDAL headboard to add some shelves to my desk, where I can display my LEGO models. They needed some highlighting so I started adding DIODER led strips on the top and bottom of the shelves.

But DIODER doesn't look too good , so I wanted to hide it, creating some indirect lighting. I built frames using LEGO that you can slide onto the shelf. These frames hide the DIODER. By adjusting the distance between DIODER and the frame, you can control the brightness and the reach of the light beam.

You can use LEGO in many different ways to hide lights on any kind of shelf. Have fun creating your own version of this hack!

Check out the project-page on Snapguide for detailed instructions!

Check out How to Add Indirect Lighting to Any Shelf Using LEGO+LED by Martin Storbeck on Snapguide.

Or go directly to the snapguide via this link.

~ Martin Storbeck, Stuttgart, Germany

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Built In Ikea Hemnes Hack

Materials: Hemnes and Besta systems

Description: 1.First built up stands for the bookcases to sit on top.
2.Then place bookcase on top and anchored to the wall.
3. Placed extensions on top of bookshelves.
4. Placed Hemnes TV Table in middle and Hemnes Bridge anchored to wall.
5. To finish added flat base across the bottom then base board. Between the extension and bookcase added a base board. Top finished with crown molding. Added some quarter round on sides in the middle where TV sits and inside of the bridge.

~ Sherri B

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Old World Library

Materials: Billy Bookcase

Description: We have quite an extensive book collection and didn't want boring bookcases. We also didn't have a ton of money.

Base board heater prevented putting anything directly on the floor in front of the wall. We screwed a board to the back wall (same as is done with the lower Ikea kitchen cabinets). We then bought metal flanges and pipe from the hardware store and set a board across from the wall to the flanges. Set the bookcases on the board and secured.

I built the cover boxes with trim boards and painted to match. Carpet and chairs were from obtained locally online. Easy peasy. And we don't think it looks bad either.

~ Robert Fontaine

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LERBERG as bookshelf extension

Materials: LERBERG DVD rack

Description: I am always trying to fit more books into our place. Now we don't have any more wall or floor space, but books keep accumulating...

So I came up with - not a real hack, since I didn't alter anything - but a new use for the LERBERG DVD rack.

Screwed to the side of a (BILLY) bookshelf, I get a little extension, that doesn't use much space, is minimalistic but can house a pile of paperbacks :-)

Now I am dreaming of a real hack: Connect two LERBERGs back to back (on a board) and fasten the whole thing somehow onto a SNUDDA Lazy Susan... But for that I have to find 40x40 cm floorspace.

See more of the bookcase extension.

~ Susanne, Antequera

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Hang 'em up!

Materials: Ekby Tryggve shelves, metal chains, four sturdy hooks, four small hooks for each shelf

Description: I've just moved into a new place and I like raw materials - wood, metal etc. One of many DIY projects was to create a hanging shelf. I used three Ekby Tryggve shelves, chains, and hooks.

This is how I did it:

1. I measured where I wanted the shelf to hang from the ceiling, drilled holes and screwed sturdy hooks into the ceiling from where the chains would hang.
2. I drilled four small holes on the sides of each of the Tryggve shelves. I used three shelves but you could use more than that. I screwed small hooks into each hole, with the hook opening facing down.
3. I hung four chains (in this case 5 feet each) from the ceiling hooks, then hooked the three Tryggve shelves onto the chain. Done!

~ SK, New York

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Another Stolmen bookshelf

Materials: Stolmen posts

Description: Inspired by other posts I saw here I built this shelf.

You will need:

1. 2 Stolmen posts
2. A set of Stolmen mounting fixtures (4 per shelf rack)
3. 2 mending plates per rack
4. Bolts & nuts

The process:

1. I bought 12 ft long, 3/4in thick wood boards from home depot. They were cut into 45 in long shelves. They had to be sanded and treated.

2. To each end of the boards I drilled a hole big enough for the bolt to go through. And also attached a mending plate at the bottom. The nut hole should align with one of the mending plates holes (see pictures).

3. Each board is attached to the posts using 2 fixtures on each side (see pictures)

This was a weekend long project and took a look of trial and error. Now that is done I think I could do it again a lot quicker. The good thing is that once you have this up you can keep adding to it, making the shelf wider. If you consider doing this DO NOT get the Stolmen END fixtures. Get the Stolmen mounting fixtures.

~ mauricio

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Posh gloss

Materials: Lack shelves, Besta Burs CD storage, Besta Burs door, hammer, saw, drill, carpenter's square, metal squares, screws, wood, fine sanding paper

Description: This is a very discreet hack! I wanted to create a smart, built-in-look bookcase with storage underneath. I didn't want it to look like an Ikea shelving 'system'.

I went for the full length Lack shelves (190cm wide) and underneath, two rows of Besta Burs CD-storage units (180cm wide). I mounted the besta Burs on a plinth the same height as the skirting board in the room. Once everything was mounted, I had a 10cm gap on one side of the Besta Burs. I hacked an extra Besta Burs door (which you can buy individually) to fit the small space.

I sawed two pieces of the door to fit the space and mounted them together from the inside with wood and metal squares. I then mounted a piece of wood on the outside of the Besta Burs storage rack and placed the two pieces on top and screwed it fixed from the inside of the the storage rack, through to the wooden support of the two pieces.

Three tips: 1) leave the protective blue plastic layer on the pieces you cut - you don't want the high gloss to be all scratched. You can even sand the corners with the plastic on; 2) saw the door in such a way that you end up with the outsides (ie the nicely rounded gloss-sprayed corners - against each other in the corner - it will make it look very professional...; 3) Make sure that the angle at which you put the two pieces together is a bit less than 90 degrees - that way you can squeeze them in a neat corner once you mount them on to the storage rack.

And hey presto - posh gloss!

~ Rutger Hopster, London

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Bargain corner - adjustable storage wall

Materials: Wardrobe sides, oddments of shelves, desk tops etc, two glass wardrobe doors, lots of shelf studs, circular saw, drill

Description: With only the vaguest plan in mind I bought a load of damaged tall wardrobe SIDES, some matching oddments of shelving, desktops etc, some long lengths of matching 10mm wide timber trim and a pair of damaged 600mm wardrobe doors, with obscure glass, which were the same height.

The wardrobe SIDES come already pre-drilled for shelf studs.

I cut each wardrobe SIDE with the circular saw to a 400mm depth, keeping the good leading edge and the first two sets of stud holes.

On all except the two outer SIDES and the two centre SIDES I drilled through the stud holes so each upright SIDE now had stud holes on each side. I cut away the back bottom corner of each one to clear the skirtings with a bit over to allow electric cables to pass along the skirting.

I fixed the two outer wardrobe SIDES first, straight to the side walls, cutting away enough at the bottom to clear the skirting boards but maintain the same height as the other SIDES.
Then starting from the centre I fixed the wardrobe SIDES to the back wall with brackets.

The central pair were fixed together to allow the wardrobe doors to meet properly (hence no drilling of the stud holes.) I then left a space equivalent to a 600mm wardrobe interior either side so the doors would hang and meet in the middle. From then I fixed the SIDES at 400mm intervals until I got close to the side walls where I left an oversized space. I made sure everything was vertical. I now had a series of uprights with two 600mm spaces at the centre, then 400mm spaces between and two spaces of a different size at the ends.

I used the left overs from the SIDES cut to size as a roof to the unit and fixed the trim to hide the raw edge.

I cut most my shelves, desktops etc into 400mm by 400mm shelves, always ensuring I had one good leading edge.The rest was custom measured to the spaces at the ends, this let me make allowances for the walls not being as vertical as my uprights! The pieces which weren't such a good colour match or had no good edges were cut into shelves for the centre, because they wouldn't be seen. I did have to make a few return trips to the bargain corner as the shelves took an astonishing amount of material. However the unit is stable so you can add the shelves at any time.

The end shelves became more or less fixed as they were custom cut to the gaps they fitted. Other than that all the shelves were infinitely adjustable (much, much more so than Billy bookcases)

In the beginning I had cheap lamps in some of the empty cubes which made wonderful mood lighting but as you can see from the picture eventually the books took over.

Two years ago I wanted a new look with straight white shelves ...

... so I transferred the shelving system to the space under my stairs. Using mainly the wider shelves from the cupboard area.

~ Ruth Holmstock, London

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