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Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Expedit Desk
Materials: Expedit 4-compartment (2), 96"x 20" pine project panel, 8' wood mouldings (2 each of 3 different designs), L brackets (4), wood glue, finish nails
Description: I'm a work-at-home author and knitwear designer whose only office space is carved out of the hallway between our foyer and dining room. My desk has to fit against the triangle wall formed by a staircase. Making my own desk from 2 Expedits gives me 8 feet of beautiful desktop real estate, while only taking up 20" of hallway.
While I love the quality and value of Ikea furniture, most of the styles are too modern-looking for me. To make my desk look more traditional, I added moulding from my home improvement center. First I trimmed around 3 sides of the bottom of each Expedit with 1 3/4" moulding, mitering the corners. Then I added 4 1" L brackets to the upper inside edges of each piece to anchor the desktop. After that I layered 2 different mouldings and ran them all the way across the front and 2 short sides of the Expedits. I hid all the finish nail holes with putty and paint. Then I added the desktop (which I stained and varnished beforehand), securing from underneath with the L brackets.
CD storage/sofa table
Materials: BENNO DVD tower, EKBY OSTEN shelf
Description: Having built the Benno tower, saw it off at around 50cm (tall enough for 3 CDs), and use the piece which would have been the top to create a tiny 3-CDs-tall version of Benno by drilling two extra holes on each side at the top of your sawn-off tiny Benno and using the screws it comes with.
Then make another of these from the remainder of the Benno, using what was the middle shelf as the bottom (leaving the same 8cm section at the bottom as a base) and creating a top for it from a spare side piece, attaching using nails or screws.
Then, place the two small units the length of the shelf apart and nail, glue or screw the shelf on to the top. This should create a CD storage unit which can sit between the sofa and the wall, so you have a surface to place drinks/remote and also some CD storage!
~ Katie Steckles, Manchester
Monday, April 29, 2013
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!
Narrow Bathroom Units
Materials: LILLA…NGEN Bathroom Units
Description: We have a narrow bathroom, but needed to put some base units in to cover existing pipework and provide some storage. Ikea have the narrow LILLANGEN washbasin cabinets but no other narrow base cabinets - so we used the upper wall cabinets as base cabinets. Batons attached to the wall brought them out to the same level as the sink unit. For the worksurface we used Pragel worktops cut to size.
~ Ian Grange, United Kingdom
Coffee table from old Nenne computer desk
Materials: 4 dowels, 2 x 6cm screws, 2 pieces of wood 44cm x 5cm x 2cm, 6 pieces of wood 72cm x 3,5cm x 1cm; 1 pieces of wood 44cm x 3,5cm x 1cm; old champagne box(optional)
Description: I decided to turn my old computer table in to a coffee table. Rather than buy one, I liked the curves of this discontinued Nenne. Initially my plan was to use copper pipes, but since I had plenty of leftover wood from other DIY projects, it was better to use it in this. Here are the steps:
1 - remove the castors, net and keyboard tray
2 - the bottom panel which had the castor, needs to the turned 180 degrees, so that the castor holes are facing inside.
3 - mark the inside of the panels where the supporting pieces of wood will be (I marked them at 6,5cm from the edge)
Tractor bed
Materials: Mydal bunk bed
Description: My almost 4 year old is crazy about tractors...New Holland ones, to be precise. The only thing he wished for for his upcoming birthday was a blue tractor bed. I researched some tractor beds online and found a John Deere tractor bunk bed which I revamped a bit and turned into this tractor bed, complete with scoop, cab, and play space underneath. We plan on fitting a platform on the bottom slats for a secret hide-out for him.
iPoise
Materials: TERTIAL lamp, 4world iPad bracket
Description: Taking the TERTIAL lamp (£8.50) from Ikea remove the lamp fitting and flatten bracket
Then take 4world iPad holder, position the bracket in the centre of the rotating disc, drill a couple of holes get a couple of small bolts nuts and washers.
Fit the bracket and there you have it a multi-positional iPad bedside holder for less than 20 quid!
~ Simon Knowles, Liverpool, UK
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Hacker help: Coffee to Dining convertible table?
Materials: unknown
Description: I'm looking to build a coffee/dining convertible table. Convertible furniture is becoming more appealing with smaller condos, but the prices are ridiculous. I think we can do better.
What I'm looking to accomplish is a table like this one (pics above).
Any initial thoughts are welcome!
~ marek, Toronto, Canada
Photos: Modernika.net
Marek,
Please check out an earlier post and discussion on something similar. Hope it will kickstart some thinking. Here's the link. ~ Jules
Unnu inspired media bench
Materials: Besta
Description: Just bought my first apartment and have begun the process of furnishing it. When it came to the TV area I wanted this one. It wasn't only the look of it that caught my attention. The doors are covered in speaker fabric, and this way I would be able to hide my old, ugly stereo system in it. It would let IR signals in and sound out. Only problem was that it costs about $1000 here in Norway.
So I turned to Ikea. Here's a list of the items i needed to create my own version:
- BESTÅ Shelf unit (120cm)
- BESTÅ Shelf unit (60cm)
- 3x BESTÅ VARA door
I also picked up speaker fabric and a stapler from the local hardware store for about $25.
Molger 2.0
Materials: For this hack you need 2 Molger shelves and 1 (or 2, I used 1) Molger benches. Saws, drill, screws, nails and "brackets".
Description: After moving we had too many Molger units, and to save space I decided to build a shelf that fit around my washer.
It would be sweet if the Molger bench and shelf could play together like Legos, but they don't. So you'll need a lot of screws and plugs. Good tools are a must (or at least makes thing a lot easier).
Kroby into Skurar pendant double lamp
Materials: 1 x Kroby pendant double lamp, 2x Skurar plant pot
Description: This hack is made by my friend from Hamina, Finland. She turned her old Kroby pendant lamp into totally new look by changing the glass lamp shades into Skurar plant pots. It took only a driller to make a few holes to put those Skurar plant pots into the lamp and voila, great new lamp! She gave her permission to put this hack idea. Thank you Taru!
~ Mona, Helsinki, Finland
New LOOK for LOCK
Materials: LOCK ceiling lamp, napkins, PVA glue, brush
Description: To add an creative touch to a simple LOCK lamp you can use simple napkins with the design you like.
1. Release the LOCK glass from the mount
2. Detach the top layer of the napkin (the lower layers without print are not needed)
3. Apply glue sparingly to the glass and use the brush to gently press the napkin motive to the glass
4. Use more glue to seal the napkin to the glass. To avoid cracks and creases, always work from the inside out.
~ Svenja, Germany
Friday, April 26, 2013
Spiral Staircase with Numerar
Materials: NUMERÄR Countertop Oak
Description: After searching for spiral staircases and not finding anything that would work for my situation I decided to try and create my own. I stumbled upon the countertop at Ikea and Knew they would look great as the treads and they are decently cheap as well. I have about $200 in steel and $160 for the countertop in the staircase that would have cost upwards of $1k
I went with a 4" steel pipe from the local steel yard buying 18'. Also purchased some angle and flat steel to frame out the stairs. My treads needed to be 22" long making the whole staircase 4' including the center pipe. The treads are 30 degrees, so you can fit 6 on one side or 180 degrees together. I had a total of 7 treads or runs and about a 9" rise. Take the overall height and divide by the runs = the rise needed. Once all this was welded back supports aren't needed and the stairs are very rigid.
Malm Dresser Turned Dog Window Seat
Materials: Malm Dresser, Paint, Plywood, Foam, Batting, Fabric, Staples, Upholstery Nails
Description: I created a window seat for our dogs so that they are able to sit and look out the window.
Instructions:
Paint dresser (optional).
Cut a piece of plywood to fit the top of the dresser.
Cut a piece of foam the same size as the plywood.
Wrap batting and fabric around to backside of plywood and staple down.
To create tufts, I used upholstery nails hammered down through the fabric, batting and foam into the plywood. (optional)
See more of the window seats for dogs.
~ Lauren, Ohio
Billy library to entertainment center
Materials: Billy bookcases, Besta TV stand, Framsta panels
Description: We converted our guest bedroom into a TV viewing area and needed a wall unit that would hold a 42 inch TV as well as a boatload of books. Because the unit was being placed on the wall where the door opens, we only had about 8.5 feet of clearance. Most entertainment systems were either too long to clear the door or too short and would not fit all our books. Even at IKEA the majority of options were 15 or 30 inch wide bookshelves and 47 inch TV stand.
We decided to use our existing Billy bookcases and hack it to what we needed. We were staring with 2 24 inch bookcases (no longer available), 1 30 inch bookcase and 1 end unit (also no longer available). We gave away the 30 inch bookcase and used the rest for our hack. The length was exactly what we needed when combined with the Besta TV stand, but we ran into an issue with color. Since our Billy bookcases were years old, they were in a color no longer offered. We decided beech would be close enough considering most of it would be covered.
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