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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Stainless Steel Kitchen Island Cart

Materials: Ikea Hyttan Table Top (1 large, 2 small), 4 Vika Moliden Legs

Description: Ikea ($390)
1x Ikea Hyttan Table Top, 59" x 29 1/2" x 1 5/8". http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40115532/
2x Ikea Hyttan Table Top, 47 1/2" x 23 5/8" x 1 5/8". http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20115533/
4x Ikea Vika Moliden Legs, 1 5/8" x 1 5/8" x 27 1/2". http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30177912/
General hardware ($15)
8x L-Brackets
Nuts, bolts, and washers for connecting the L-Brackets to the legs. The number you'll need will depend on how many holes the L-Brackets have.
Wood screws for connecting the L-Brackets to the shelves
(The Ikea legs come with wood screws for mounting them to the top, so you won't need to get those.)


Optional Casters for rolling cart ($20)
You'll want casters with a "threaded stem", which just means that it mounts with a bolt. The ones I found were locking wheels with a 1.5" stem. If you get casters with a longer stem, make sure to consider where the bolts will go through the legs for the bottom shelf and that it won't collide with the caster's bolt.

Total: $425 (including optional casters)

Step 1: Drilling L-Bracket holes in legs
I wish I had had a drill press for this step, but I managed to get by with a hand drill and working on top of a stack of cardboard on my kitchen floor.

For a sturdy connection, the L-Brackets need to be bolted all the way through the (hollow) legs. I tried a couple different strategies but ultimately found the most success with tightly taping the L-Brackets where I wanted them on the leg, then drilling through one face of the leg, through the holes in the bracket. I then removed the bracket, and drilled through the freshly created holes and out through the back side of the leg, using the level on my drill as a loose guide.

It's important to drill all the pilot holes for the top shelf from the same side as those for the bottom shelf. The holes drilled on the side with the bracket are spot-on, where-as the holes on the other side may be a little misaligned if you didn't drill perfectly straight through. The error could very easily make the bracket not fit on the backside, so just be consistent and you won't have to worry about a problem when you go to bolt it all together. You'll run into this problem also if the holes on the brackets aren't symmetrical and you drilled from both sides.

Step 2: Attach shelves to legs
Once you get all the legs drilled, you can go ahead and bolt the L-Brackets onto them tightly. I didn't think to take any pictures of this step but it is straightforward.

Next, set one of the small shelves upside-down on a work surface. Set the leg on the shelf and mark the center of the holes you'll need to drill. Be sure to choose a drill bit that is smaller than the threads on your wood screws so your sure that there will be particle board left for them to grip when you tighten everything down. Also, set the drill bit deep enough into your drill so that if you drill all the way down, it will have nearly reached the finished surface, but not have damaged it!

As you can see, my brackets needed to be mounted through the edge where the metal top wraps around. To drill these holes accurately, use a hammer and nail to indent the metal where you want to drill. This will help keep the drill bit from sliding around when you are trying to drill through it. When you first break through the metal, you'll think the edge is hollow, but it isn't. The particle board on the inside is just a little deeper.

After you've drilled the pilot holes for the first shelf, set it aside and do the same for the next shelf. You won't want to start connecting the shelves until everything is pre-drilled.

Finally, mount all the legs to the shelves, using washers (as spacers) around the joints that are directly on the plywood portion (not on the metal frame.)

Step 3: Attach top
Lay the table top upside-down on the floor (on top of the cardboard box and plastic bag that it came in, to protect it.)
Flip the assembled 2-shelf-and-legs unit upside down onto the underside of the table top.
Measure everything meticulously and center the unit in all directions.
Trace around the bean-shaped mounting holes of the legs with a pencil
Move the assembled unit and drill all the pilot holes. Again, carefully check to make sure your drill bit is set deep enough into the drill so that it can't possibly drill through to the finished side of the top.
Set the assembled unit back on the top, center, and screw it down.

Step 4: Attach caster wheels (Optional)
The plastic bottom floor protector cap will come off if you can get something thin like a knife or scissor blade between the metal and the cap and work it back and forth.

Once the cap is off, drill a hole just large enough for your caster's threaded stem through the plastic cap, put the caster in and bolt it down. Re-insert the cap back onto the leg. Repeat for each remaining leg.

See step by step instructables for the kitchen island cart.

~ Rob Meyer, Seattle, WA

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REKTANGEL Knife Stand

Materials: REKTANGEL Vase and few packs of bamboo skewers

Description: Since there is too much room for my knives to play in a kitchen drawer, I created a place for it to standstill out in the open.

First, you need to get an IKEA vase of your choice matching the longest length of your knife....(Mine is called "REKTANGEL". It is rectangular shape and heavy at the bottom.)

Secondly, you need some skewers on your way home / order it online in advance. Alternatively you can get some chopsticks for the same effect.

Third, go stick your knife in there.

The End

~ SoloC, United States

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Personalised Lack TV unit

Materials: Lack TV bench, Perfekt plinth, Faktum legs

Description: Unscrewed the legs that come with the TV bench
- Set the legs to desired position
- Saw Perfekt plinth, sand edges
- Bolt the ends to the set
- Frame and then glued with acoustic cloth (stapled)
- DONE! :)

~ Lukas H., Hamburg

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DIY Arcade Machine Coffee Table

Materials: BESTA Bench, INREDA Drawers

Description: I've always loved old skool arcade games for the quick 'jump in/jump out' gaming and wanted to build a MAME cabinet. But I had no room nor have approval from the wifey to embark on the project, so it just sat there in the back of my mind.

Then I saw the Double7 Arcade Table by Surface Tension, and I thought it was a really nice design and even wifey thought it looked great, so the plan was hatched to build something similar as a DIY project as I didn't think it was worth the £2,799.00 GBP sticker shock price tag for it. Not being a woodworking expert, I spent a month just researching what I had to do, and then also had an idea to use stuff sourced from IKEA to hack something together, but it never went beyond a few conceptual sketches and links to items on IKEA.


Then about 6 weeks ago, IKEA was having a sale before the end of financial year and saw a BESTA Bench on sale for $25 down from $95 so thought what the heck, if I mess it up, it's only $25... Then saw these INREDA drawers on sale for $5 each!

So started the process over a couple of weeks to bring my plan into fruition.

Progress pics and more description of the build process are here.

~ Sam Wang, Perth, Western Australia

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Kitchen Handle iPad Stand

Materials: Curtain Rod, Kitchen Handle

Description: A kitchen handle, a curtain rod holder and some hot glues makes one cool iPad stand, which works in both portrait and landscape mode. It maintains a clean minimal look with something of the modernist mid-20th century, don't you think?

All you need are these two elements:

A white Ikea kitchen door handle
A silver/chrome Ikea curtain rod holder

Unfortunately the two particular items that I used do not seem to be on Ikea catalogue this year. But you could lookout for similar items that would work to create the same basic hack.

I hot glued the two elements together (my hot glue gun technique is a bit amateurish!), and used a few self adhesive foam stickers that I saved from something else.

My 'other half' uses this all the time on her work desk, and when she's not using it I tend to shift it around to the kitchen island to use with my Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (since this hack is agnostic).

See more of the kitchen handle iPad stand.

~ Theo, London

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The tiny kitchen island

Materials: Expedit 2x2, Vika Amon, Expedit drawers and legs from other shop

Description: I have a small area in my kitchen/livingroom so I decided to do this by using Ikea stuff which are cheap and easy to work with. Those legs I bought somewhere else. I'm very satisfied :)

~ Sabina, Tampere Finland

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Hacker help: Expedit Working-Desk - good idea?

Materials: Expedit 2x4

Description: Following idea I had just by looking my Expedit shelf and my iMac.

By "cutting" the upper 2x2 items out there must be enough space for the computer. The only problem is, that I have to turn my 27" iMac if I want to put in a CD/DVD... Another board in the middle will provide enough space for working.

Had anybody tried this before? Will this hack work? Problem with temperature of the iMac?

The picture is a just a digital photoshop-hack :)

~ Thomas

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