Lack Rack & Expedit Desktop

Materials: Expedit Desk/Bookcase, Lack Table x 2, Lack Shelf & Besta Legs.

Description: I needed to increase capacity of the Expedit desk to accommodate my stuff more efficiently & also raise the height of my reference monitors & at the same time build some sort of housing for my existing rack gear to go underneath the desk (previously stacked on top of an old Ikea storage box).

I found this site which made me realise the Lack table is a perfect fit for 19" rack format equipment & a better alternative to the 'Rast Rack' in my case as some of my gear is over 400mm deep & quite heavy.

Total weight of the rack gear is around 25kg so I decided to get 2 Lack tables (Birch effect matches the Expedit), mount everything in an assembled table upside-down for stability & use the top from another table to form a box, on top of which I could then stand a turntable.

I fitted the mounting screws into the 2nd tabletop, drilled a hole in the 'top' of the upside down table legs & fitted the top like that. The rack gear was then fitted using wood-screws.

The LCD monitors are mounted to the back of the Expedit using a double vertical stand with Vesa mounts (I already had this) so I was limited to the maximum height of the lowest screen for the desktop shelf... I found that the Lack shelf (110cm width) not only matched the desk, finish-wise but also gave the correct height in combination with the Besta legs to raise the height of the reference monitors & accommodate the keyboard underneath.

I used the existing holes in the underside-rear of the shelf & drilled an additional two holes at the front corners which I then attached the legs to using the provided fitting 'screw' & some resin glue. I've also fitted an LED strip light to the front-underside of the shelf.

I'm very pleased with the overall finish & look & it was very cheap...£18.59 for the rack (I've retained the spare legs) & just under £25 for the shelf including light.

~ Winston Smith, Leeds

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Easy made conference table

Materials: 3x Vika Amon tabletops 1x Galant table legs (only the table legs not the tabletop), 1x Chipboard (it should be a bit smaller than the size of the three tabletops)

Description: Why are we hacking? We are a new company in Denmark and needed some furniture to fill our office. As a entrepreneurial company it was not necessary to have expensive designer furniture filling up our office, however, we would like some good looking furniture that fulfills our needs. Where else to go but IKEA!

What to do?
1. The chipboard was put underneath the 3 tabletops and screwed together.
2. Afterwards we screwed the table legs to both sides/ends of the tabletops.
3. Voila! It turns into our new conference table.

See more of the Vika Amon conference table.

~ Stine Olesen, Compell, Denmark

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Flower box from a Gorm

Materials: Gorm shelves

Description: First took 3 pieces of 5 board GORM shelves (they are sold in a pack of 2). I just dismantle all the pieces of wood, place the boards stuck together, and cut the spare pieces of wood that were hammered in. The final dimensions are (LxWxH) 78x37x37.

~ Xristos, Greece

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Lillangen TV unit

Photo: IKEA.com

Materials: Lillangen leg frame x6, drill, self-tapping screws

Description: My cable guy told me that my previous TV unit was not letting enough heat to vent out of my cable box, PS3, Xbox etc. So I had to look for something with a lot of airflow and still fit all my stuff.

The local Ikea had a sale on Lillangen leg frames for $5 CDN a pop. So I just started assembling 3 leg frames. Then I drilled the holes at the lower portion of the legs to install the horizontal pieces at the bottom. I did this to all 3 legs. Just for kicks I staggered them randomly.

~ Roy, Vancouver

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Expedit/Cubes Bar table

Materials: Expedit Shelving Unit, Capita Brackets, 3 Way basics Cubes (non-Ikea), Vika Glasholm table top

Description: This table was inspired by other Expedit Bar table hacks posted on this website.

I first secured the capita brackets to the glass top with epoxy and then to the Expedit shelving unit.

I was going to use vika series leg for the other side, but since there was none that could extend to this height, I replaced the right sides with 3 Way Basics cubes stacked together.

I also installed the INREDA glass rack on one of the Expedit unit to put my wine glasses. :)

~ SAK

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Malmus Maximus: hacking MALMs and LERBÄCK into storage bed

Materials: several MALM dressers, lots of timber, mounting parts, glaze, optional: LERBÄCK slatted frame

Description: When I recently moved and needed a bed, I had these expectations: a lot of storage space underneath, preferring drawers because of the cleaner look and storage, and don't lose space or drawers while placing the bed in a corner. Even when ignoring the prices I found nothing, but luckily I had been inspired by ikeahackers.net.

Concept
When in search of drawers, the [smallest, 40 cm wide MALM] with two drawers was perfectly matching my idea in height, price, handle-free front and of course storage space.

But as I hadn't wanted twelve small drawers, I also got two of the [80 cm wide MALMs]. As they have a minimum of 3 drawers, I had to cut one out. Both times I cut the lowest one to remove some previous owners' defects. But apart from that I recommend cutting the top one, which is the easiest way, as you only have to fix the top again, e.g. with dowels and glue or fixing brackets, and you won't get that small holes at the bottom I got.

I arranged the fully assembled MALMs on the beds accessible side and its foot end. With usual squared timber I build a framework leveled to the Malms top, on which the slatted frame will rest on the wall-facing sides. More details are shown in linked pics.

An all around border of nice glued laminated timber, in birch to match the MALMs, placed on top of the MALM/timber construction and later glazed uncolored twice, made a pretty rounding off and holds the latted frame and the mattress in place.

I used the left over drawers' front parts to cut covers for any hole left.

Accessing storage
Originally I planned to lift the whole slatted frame while standing at the foot end and backing it on a slat. But while assembling my [SULTAN LERBACK], I figured an even better way: I mounted the foot end tilt adjustments a lot closer to the bearing, so I can erect the foot end to about 70 degrees easily and access the underneath space safely (at everyone's own risk).

At the right foot end I couldn't place another MALM with dressers because of a radiator, so I made a door of one MALM that was left, which gives a quick view at the underneath space. Weeks later I figured how to affix the removable door: via two magnetic cabinet door clamps. By the way, those two L-shaped angle brackets holding the small cover beside the door often come with IKEA shelves and is quite multifunctional.

It's possible to step over the border behind the door to gain better access to stored items.

With about ninety Euros for the second hand MALMs, about the same for the timber plus a bit of hardware, I got a perfect bed for a very competitive price. In addition, I made three drawers for my desk from the materials left over.

See more photos of the Malm bed with storage.

~ Felix K., Hamburg

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IKEA VITTSJO Nesting Tables

Materials: VITTSJO Nesting Tables, Miter Saw, Jigsaw, Paint

Description: The VITTSJO nesting tables seem perfect in concept, except what's up with the child table being twice as long as its parent table? Not sure what IKEA is going for there. I would prefer that the smaller table nest fully within the larger table.

The original VITTSJO

There were five major steps with this hack: cutting the metal frame, piecing back together the frame, cutting the MDF shelf, cutting the glass and painting the legs.

#1. I needed to make six cuts and used a grinding wheel on my Ryobi miter saw, which was fast, accurate, loud and sparky. Hence the precautionary fire extinguisher.

#2. Sawing left me with four pieces. Modifying the bottom rails was easy; I just needed to drill new screw holes at the end of each piece to replace the holes I sawed off. The top was more challenging because I needed to reconnect the pieces in a way that would be as stable and seamless as possible.

I walked around The Home Depot inserting all manner of things into the hollow metal tube to determine what would allow for a nice, tight fit. The winner: a piece of 1/2 inch hardwood. It fit perfectly tight - so much so that I didn't need glue. I touched up the cut edges with a Sharpie paint pen.

#3. Reducing the size of the metal frame means the particleboard shelf will be too long. Nothing a jigsaw can't fix.

#4. The IKEA glass is tempered, so it can't be cut. I had a new piece of glass cut to fit at a local shop. $34, which isn't cheap, but $34 + the $60 tables is still significantly cheaper than anything I found elsewhere.

#5. I dressed up the tables a bit with some gold dip-dyed legs using Plaid's Liquid Leaf in Brass.

See more of the VITTSJO nesting tables.

~ Marti, Chicago

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A simple and tidy headboard

Materials: Vika Amon, Ribba Picture ledge, some screws

Description: I had to change my Malm headboard, for something thin, but convenient. So, I made my first hack...


For a new headboard, it's very simple.
1. Take your Vika Amon Table top and turn it around.
2. Set the Ribba Picture ledge with some screws, many times you like (I put six shelves).
3. Put your headboard between the wall and the bed.
4. Enjoy!

~ Celine, France

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