IKEA Hackers

Corner & Extra Tall Standing Desks

2012-05-19T08:37:00.007-04:00

Materials: Expedit shelves, Vika Amon corner desk top, Capita legs, Capita brackets

Description: I've really wanted a stand-up desk for sometime and although there are lots of great Ikea hacks posted for this, they either didn't have enough storage room for me, were the wrong height, or just weren't my style. So, after looking through the Ikea website for HOURS, I came up with my own hack.

Materials:
2 Expedit 4x2 shelves - $59.99 each
1 Vika Amon corner tabletop - $47.50
3 packs Capita legs (4 legs/pk) - $10 each
3 packs Capita brackets (2 legs/pk) - $14.99 each
6 3/8" x 3.5" bolts - <$3.00

Instructions:
1. Put the Expedit shelves together following the included instructions
2. Add the legs, 6 on each Expedit
3. Put the Expedits in place in a corner. There are obviously a few ways to do this. They can either meet at a point so that all 8 openings on each shelf is visible/usable, or like in my case, one of the walls was not long enough to do this so we ended up covering up 2 of the openings for a more flush L-shape.
4. We did not fasten the Expedits together, although this can definitely be done using some brackets from a hardware store. We used some tie-down straps to hold the 2 shelves taut while we completed the project.

5. You'll need 2 people - one person to hold the tabletop in place and the other to mark where the 6 Capita brackets should go. A NOTE ABOUT THE BRACKETS, WASHERS AND BOLTS: The bolts that come with the brackets are not long enough to go through the top of the Expedit shelves. You'll need to pick up six 3/8" x 3" bolts from a hardware store and either some washers to replace the silver ones that are welded to the bolts that come with the brackets OR like my husband, you can hammer the bolts out of the washers and use the original ones.
6. Once you've got your marks made on the Expedit shelves, you need to drill pilot holes. We used a small bit first to get the hole started and then used a 3/8" bit to finish the hole.
7. Install the Capita brackets onto the Expedit shelves.
8. Set tabletop in place and finish installation of Capita brackets.
9. Stand up, work, ENJOY!

~ Julie U, Austin

Simple L Shaped Standing Office Desk

Materials:
1 x Expedit 4x2 shelving unit (501.030.86)
1 x Expedit 2x2 shelving unit (801.352.98)
1 x 59" Vika Amon tabletop (800.711.64)
1 x 47 1/4" Vika Amon tabletop (601.170.16)
1 x Lack shelf (101.590.99)
3 x Ekby Tore brackets (101.687.20)
5 x Expedit casters (601.699.77)
10 x "L" brackets (available at the Ikea stores)

Description: I wanted a standing desk for my office, but all of the decent ones seemed pretty expensive. I found a decently-priced and simple solutions by hacking together a couple of Expedit shelves and Vika Amon tabletops.

1. Put together the Expedit shelves, but do not attach the casters yet.

2. Take the 59" Vika Amon tabletop and place it upside down on the floor.

3. Turn the 4x2 shelf unit on its side so it sits horizontally. Position it in the middle of the 59" Vika Amon talbetop.

4. Use six of the "L" brackets and screws to secure the Expedit shelf to the tabletop.

5. Attach three casters to the bottom of the Expedit (which is currently the top of the unit).

6. Repeat the same process with the 47 1/4" Vika Amon tabletop and 2x2 shelf Expedit, using the remaining 4 "L" brackets and 2 casters.

Turn over your completed desks and arrange in an L or any shape you see fit.

7. (Optional) I created a shelf on the smaller of the two desks using the Lack shelf and the Ekby Tore brackets.

I've used this desk for about 6 moths, and it's the perfect height for me (I am 5' 10") when typing at the computer, etc.

I also bought some faux leather magazine boxes that I stick into the shelves for added storage space. I'm not sure IKEA sells these any more.

~ MDS

Extra Tall (but Adjustable) Standing Desk

Materials: Vika Artur trestle, Vika Amon desk top, Ekby Alex wall shelf/drawers, Lack wall shelf, Capita bracket

Description: When we moved into a new office this past summer, I had a chance to Ikea hack the perfect standing desk. I've been using this set up for about 6 months and it's been ergonomically sound and I'm quite happy with it. I'm taller than most people at 6' 5" so it was a bit more of a challenge to get the exact height I needed, but this desk is adjustable so will work for nearly anybody. Here's my desk and some of the thought that went into building a desk with my perfect working height 1 of 45 inches. For ideal ergonomics, you need to have your elbows bent slightly greater than 90 degrees. To get this height, measure from the floor to where your wrists wrest when your elbows are slightly obtuse of 90 degrees

The most important part of a standing desk are it's legs. Being much higher than a standard table makes it tough to find something solid and adjustable. The Vika Artur trestle has a max height of 36 5/8" and a wide base which makes them surprisingly sturdy for how lightweight they are. The shelves help structurally but also give organizational space. The trestles are adjustable and can work at a variety of heights including a normal sitting desk if you find yourself needing to go back to sitting.

The table top I went with is the Vika Amon that is 59" wide by 29 1/2" deep. Don't go with anything smaller since the trestles have a depth of 27 1/2”, but you could likely get away with going larger. I would recommend a solid wood top like the Vika Furuskog over the Vika Amon since it's extra weight would provide more stability and the solid top will allow you to securely screw, drill, or attach anything into it -- which I did.

I had to add a small hack to get just a few more inches to my ideal keyboard height. I found some decent looking doorstops at the local hardware store and used them in between the trestles and the table top to add a few inches. I screwed the end of the doorstop into the table top and, after removing the plastic cap on the doorstop, put the metal piece that remained in the holes in the top of the trestle, which fit perfectly and was secure enough to hold the top in place.

I added the Ekby Alex wall shelf on top of the desk for storage room as well as to gain a few extra inches height that I needed for my perfect vertical keyboard position. The size of the shelf provides just enough depth at 11" to comfortably host a keyboard but isn't quite long enough to store a piece of 8 1/2" x 11" piece of paper lengthwise inside the drawer, which is frustrating. The shelf just sits on the table and isn't fastened because on long days, I can slide the shelf back on the desk and move my keyboard and trackpad down onto the table top which is the perfect typing position for when I pull up a stool.

Between the 36 5/8" tall trestles, the 1 3/8" thick table top, the 4 1/2" drawers, and the 2 1/2" doorstops, I had my perfect working height of 45 inches. Now I needed to get my monitor high enough.

I wanted to have a solid, functional riser that could work with any monitor configuration even though I was planning on getting the yet-to-be released Apple Thunderbolt Display. I made the riser with a Lack wall shelf on top of the Capita bracket. This gave me enough clearance that I would have decent monitor positioning and wouldn't strain my neck looking down at a display.

This build gave me adjustability to get the ergonomic working height I needed, the stability to pound away at a keyboard all day without the desk wobbling, and all together a great looking and functional standing desk.

See more of the extra tall standing desk.

~ Nick Wynja

Compact Besta Standing Desk

Materials: Besta System, Vika Amon Table, Capita Legs

Description: Inspired by all the existing hacks on this site, I also wanted an Ikea Standing Desk.

I didn't like the fact that with existing hacks, the folders and other stuff were visible. Fitting a complete Expedit shelf with doors and drawers would have been to expensive. So I used the Besta System.

Items Used:
Besta Legs (3x) 15 €
Besta Bench (2x) 80 €
Inreda (2x) 24 €
Besta door (2x) 20 €
Besta drawer (2x) 14 €
Besta push opener (2x) 10 €
Vika Amon 150x75 29 €
Capita Legs (2x) 32 €

224 €

I especially like the small compartment at the top. The fully extending drawers would have been easier to access, because the table top is a bit in the way.
The table top is placed on the Capitas, so that the back Capitas are matching with the reinforced part of the table top. Therefore screws could be used. The front Capitas are glued with double-faced adhesive tape.

~ simon, germany

Good golly, Godmorgons galore!

2012-05-18T16:32:00.000-04:00

Materials: Godmorgon wash basin stands, wood dowels, spare wood

Description: I found a stack of Godmorgon wash basin stands in the As-Is section on clearance for dirt cheap, so I picked up as many as I could fit in two car loads. They are good quality, and have great soft-closing drawer slides with extra dividers to put in the drawers, and I thought they wood make a great dresser (or two).

I stacked three two-drawer Godmorgons and two four-drawer Godmorgons to make some great looking sets of drawers.

First, I assembled them as per instructions.

Then, I drilled 6 mm holes in the tops and bottoms of the stands to attach them with dowels. Remember to measure twice and drill once so the holes and dowels match up. Also, remember you don't need holes in the very top or bottom surfaces once stacked. I then put in 6 mm wood dowels (without glue so they can be easily unstacked for moving) and attached them to each other.

Finally, I made a top for each with some spare MDF that I had and mounted it on dowels mounted horizontally at the correct depth for the top to mount flush into the dresser.

I also made a bookshelf to go on top of the office drawers using spare wood for the shelf, cut up an Ikea Bygel metal rail for the book ends, and finished the legs with some metal feet from another Ikea project.

~ Dan, Adelaide, Australia

Godmorgon sink basin stands turn into a bed

2012-05-18T11:14:00.000-04:00

Materials: Godmorgon sink basin stands,scrap wood, screws, your old bed parts (if desired)

Description: I found a stack of Godmorgon sink basin stand for dirt cheap on clearance in the Ikea As-Is section, so I filled up my little car with as many as I could fit (twice). The Godmorgon basin stands are good quality, and have very nice soft-closing drawers with extra dividers to go inside them.

My first project was to turn three of them into a new bed. We live an apartment that is seriously lacking in storage, so we want all of the drawers we can get. I've always thought hidden under-bed storage was a great use of space, so I got to measuring and discovered that an arrangement of three of the basin stands fit perfectly under our double bed.

First, I assembled the three stands as per the instructions, including the optional wall mounts.

I wasn't sure if the stands would safely support the weight of the bed and two adults, so I then used a couple of scrap 2x4's laying around to attach to the wall mounts at the correct height for the bed boards to rest on.

I also attached the side rails from our old bed to the sides of the stands with screws to keep the boards and mattress from sliding sideways.

Now we have a great looking bed with lots of practical storage!

~ Dan, Adelaide, Australia

Better Besta Jagra TV Stand

2012-05-18T07:59:00.001-04:00

Materials: Besta Jagra TV stand, doors, hinges

Description: I was looking for a TV stand, so I went to check out my options in the Ikea As-Is section. I found a Besta Jagra TV stand with the drawers missing, and just the middle shelf, with nothing to hide the electronics inside. I looked around some more and found some nice gloss black patterned doors (I think they're Besta, maybe Effectiv) that are the perfect size to fit 3 across the front of the TV stand. I attached them with hinges to the underside of the top of the TV stand before finishing the assembly.

~ Dan, Adelaide, Australia

Lacked a piano bench, so made a Lack piano bench

2012-05-17T16:40:00.000-04:00

Materials: Lack shelf, discontinued shelf parts from As-Is, metal brackets and screws

Description: I bought my wife a digital piano, but didn't want to buy a piano bench since they tend to be fairly expensive. So I took a trip to Ikea and had a browse of the As-Is section.

I found a pine Lack shelf and some parts from a different discontinued pine shelf, which I decided to chop up and attach to the Lack as legs.

To do so, I used some metal L brackets and screws.

I think it's better looking than a metal bench, and cost much less!

~ Dan, Adelaide, Australia

Tea for Two

2012-05-17T13:51:00.000-04:00

Materials: Lack table [black], spray paint, silicone, jig saw,

Description: As our granddaughter grew taller, we needed to add height to the existing black Lack table used by her for her tea party time.

We used 3 3/4" unpainted fence post finials (w/screw already imbedded in the finial) and thin 1/4" wood wafer circles cut to hide the top of the finial.

The finial and thin wafer circle were painted using spray can paint the colors our granddaughter picked out.

The finial was screwed into the wafer then into the table leg.
This raised the table approximately 4".

We finished the project by adding
1 1/4" craft balls and wafers painted the same combo as the table legs, to the chairs. We screwed the balls/wafers into the chair legs using drywall screws.

The same small painted craft balls were glued to the clear plastic tray that holds the tea set.

Now our 3 year old granddaughter has a few more years of "Tea for Two" play.

~ Di "Mimi" French, Desert Hills, Arizona

Trunk bar

2012-05-17T07:27:00.000-04:00

Materials: 2x Besta 60x20x200

Description: I bought two Besta in same size. Cut the upper part to the preferred size, in this case 150cm high. Mount 2 hinges between the two box. Screwed the shelves into to boxes with rails for the glasses. Covered first with foam and after with leather using 2sided tape. Decorate with nails on the edges and locks. Finally wheels are screwed to the bottom.

~ Csaba Szomor, Budapest

Extensive Ivar Hack: Workstation & Micro-foyer

2012-05-16T17:42:00.000-04:00

Materials: Ivar shelving, lumber (luan, pine plank, molding), various mending plates, L-brackets, handtools (saw, screwdrivers), power tools (circular saw, drill, Dremel).

Description: My flat is rather small and I have a large computer workstation so maximizing space and being able to integrate work and living space is important to me. Also, from the outside, the flat's front door opened into my living room. If the front door was open there wasn't much privacy and too much gear would be potentially on display for my taste. This Ivar hack solved these two issues for me.

The "smart" side of the hack provides adequate ergonomic space for my workstation and the "dumb" side works to create a micro-foyer. By adding a "ceiling" above the smart side I was able to create some space to keep the gear I'm not using on any particular project nearby.

This is a big, multi-day, project for those with intermediate "home improvement" experience. For those with several years of intermediate experience I don't think this hack should present any challenges not encountered before but there are a couple of areas where calling on a friend for an hour or so of their time to assist is a good idea.

The unit is mostly standard Ivar shelving & cabinets. Ikea discontinued their corner shelves so I had to go to my local home improvement store for lumber that I cut to size and secured to the adjacent shelves with mending plates and to the Ivar vertical supports with L-brackets. Brackets and mending plates are used to secure the "ceiling" and elsewhere, throughout, for structural reinforcement. Where necessary and appropriate, shims were used during leveling.

To create the micro-foyer I used luan and standard molding to construct a "flat" or fake wall. The fake wall is two parts, a top panel and a bottom panel, with their seam hidden behind molding. In order to access the back of my equipment and patchbay, the upper fake wall panel is hinged at the top and the lower panel is completely removed. When closed the two panels are secured in place with screws & bolts at the corners and 3M Dual Lock attached to the Ivar vertical supports along the edges.

It's important to use angle brackets for reinforcement during assembly and, as always with any shelving unit, judiciously distribute the weight among the shelves after completion. This amount of pine will noticeably contract and expand with the weather as it continues to cure (most Ikea pine pieces I've assembled seemed to finish curing over time) and the extra reinforcement helps mitigate the potential for going catawampus. If you live in earthquake country and secure it to a wall make sure there is some give; the straps included with the Ivar units, when properly secured to a properly assembled unit, should be enough.

Everything associated with wood working and "home improvement" apply to this hack: measure twice (or more), cut once, use the proper (quality) tool for the task at hand, give yourself enough time and be realistic about the time it takes to complete. I used an accurate carpenter's level throughout. When measuring and cutting the luan I used a carpenter's chalk line. I also used hand tools for most of this. When using wood screws on the Ivar vertical supports use a hand screwdriver to avoid splitting, even when screwing into predrilled starter holes.

~ m1ckDELTA

Wraparound Mandal

2012-05-16T13:08:00.000-04:00

Materials: Mandal Headboard

Description: Not really a hack but a modification.

I love the look of the Mandal but our recent downsize left us with a very cramped bedroom. So we chopped the ends of of two Mandals and mounted them on the side walls. The only addition was to add a extra strip of wood along the back of the side pieces to keep all the slats from moving about. The headboards are affixed directly to the wall. One final touch, not done yet, will be to paint the screw heads used to affix them white so they will not be visible.

Many thanks to Ernest who helped us make this happen!

~ C I, London

UDDEN goes living room

2012-05-16T08:04:00.000-04:00

Materials: UDDEN Wall units, coated chipboard, metal angles, screws

Description: I was looking for a sideboard/storage unit for the living room. As I have a open kitchen that can be seen from the sofa, I wanted something to match with my UDDEN kitchen units.

Still considering different solutions, I bought two wall units for the kitchen. As I assembled the units in the living room, I realized a nice solution that just needed very little hacking:

I built a rectangular base from coated chipboard and metal angles (approx. 10 cm in height), stacked six wall units on the top and fixated the ensemble with some metal screws here and there...

Et voila! a nice and clean sideboard with lots of storage (and pretty cheap as well).

~ Folke, Berlin

A garden swing-a

2012-05-15T16:07:00.001-04:00

Materials: PS SVINGA

Description: Alternative mounting making an indoor children's swing chair a nice garden swing for the parents.

~ Bjarne Bisballe, Denmark

SOVSÄCK HACK for ALVINE Bedspread

2012-05-15T15:41:00.001-04:00

Materials: ALVINE Bedspread, 100" zipper, upholstery thread, sewing machine

Description: I am going camping in a few weeks, and I wanted a sleeping bag with style. Along those lines, I devised this very simple sleeping bag hack.

SOVSÄCK means "sleeping bag" in Swedish according to Google Translate. :)

You will need:

1 Sewing Machine (or a hand sewing needle and a lot of patience)
1 Size 16 (heavy gauge) Machine Needle
1 Spool Heavy Duty/Upholstery Thread
1 100" Sleeping Bag Zipper
1 Bedspread

I've included some lovely IKEA-style instructions (if slightly inaccurate and not all that informative - hey it's harder than it looks!) for a visual.

What you do is fold a bedspread vertically (so that it's very long/tall) and then sew a zipper on the outside edges of the fold. Instant sleeping bag. So incredibly simple, especially if you know how to sew. It took me about 2 hours to make (it took me as long to mess with the picture I took and create the instructional graphic).

I had a good bit of bedspread left over at the top, so I folded it over. You can easily use this extra as a hiding or pillow space.

There's not much to it, but here's a helpful tip about sewing zippers for the novice sewing hacker: Pin the zipper to both individual sides of the bedspread while it's zipped up, then unzip the two sides once each is pinned to its side of the zipper, to sew each side (try not to pin one side of the bedspread to another, or you'll sew through both layers and you won't be able to unzip your sleeping bag - it's an easy mistake to make, and I make it all the time with zippers). Not absolutely necessary, but it saves some headaches and the sleeping bag ends up even on both sides of the zipper. Alternately, if you're feeling brave and accurate, you could unzip the zipper all the way, and sew each side of the zipper to each side of the bedspread without pinning.

~ Stephanie, Maryland

Tufted. A love story.

2012-05-15T11:01:00.001-04:00

Materials: Rykene Ikea full size bed.

Description: We wanted to jazz up an existing Rykene bed in guest room of our recently purchased home. I had done a little bit of research on tufting and found a great tutorial for making tufted headboards. Using a pegboard and some 3 inch foam, I laid out a pattern of tufts.

Using pegboard was the most ingenious idea! After figuring out where I wanted the tufts, I cut through the foam (a little larger than my button size) so the tufts would be very deep.

I used gorilla glue to hold the foam to my peg board and laid a layer of batting on top. Then I draped my fabric (we used a really crazy pattern -- we wanted BIG change in that room) over that to center the pattern on the headboard.

We made fabric covered buttons using a little kit (sold at fabric stores) using a bright terracotta color. Using upholstery grade thread, and starting in the center/top of my headboard, I sewed from front to back with a super long needle... this is where it gets a bit tricky.

Holding the button securely in front I pulled the thread super tight through the hole in the back and stapled it in various directions to hold the tension. Moving equally outward from the first tuft, I continued this until I had a whole row. I started the second row the same way and gently pulled the fabric into diamond shapes around the buttons.

Once the whole thing was tufted, I pulled the fabric around the bottom of the pegboard and stapled it securely on the back. Then I attached the pegboard to the Rykene bed with a couple of wood screws to hold it tight against the frame. Starting again at the top/center of the headboard I pulled the fabric over the frame of the bed and stapled it snugly.

I continued the same method as before, moving evenly from the center outward. I folded the corners of the fabric neatly and finished the headboard stapling the fabric around the sides. The back doesn't look TOO neat (but I figured no one is ever going to see it -- and I could always put a piece of thin wood back there to cover it eventually)

We are so incredibly happy with how this turned out. It was certainly a labor of love. My hands were killing me while tufting (the upholstery thread is unforgiving against your hands!) I am also glad we opted for a really funky fabric. We found our at Joann's in their home fabric section using a 50% coupon! Hooray for good deals!

The duvet, curtains and rug are also from Ikea! We like how unique this looks and still gives of a clean/modern vibe. We've struggled a bit with our new house (it's a 110 year old colonial) because our style is very mid-century, but our old house wants something cozy too!

See more of the tufted headboard.

~ Niamh, Philadelphia

TERTIAL lamp with a new lease of life

2012-05-15T07:33:00.000-04:00

Materials: TERTIAL Lamp

Description: For my father's 64th birthday, I wanted to make him an LED table lamp.

I have quite a few unused TERTIAL lamps from IKEA and thought I'd give them a new lease of life.

The lamp was easy enough to dismantle and by prying the black plastic pieces at the end of the metal tubes, you can effectively remove the existing wiring and re-feed another set of cables. For the lights to fire sequentially, I needed a cable with 4 wires.

Micro-controller duties was handled by the ATTINY2313v which I programmed by using the Arduino as the programmer.

I used an old wooden pencil case (which I bought in 1994!) for the headlamp. The LED strips fit perfectly.

I also hooked it up to 3 blue LEDs to give a visual cue of the settings of the light.

See more of the Tertial LED lamp. And also check out the cool vid above.

~ Benjy Choo, Singapore

Grow with these ideas

2012-05-14T15:18:00.001-04:00

Materials: transparent Samla box 53x37x12, peat rich in organic matter, vegetable seedlings

Description: Do you want to grow your own fresh salad in your balcony? It's much more simple than you thought. You just need ground and seedlings!

Fill the samla box with soil, plant the seedlings and water well! In a month your lettuce and fresh onions are ready to eat! Have fun and bon appetite!
See more of the Samla planter.

~ Emilia Rodopoulou, Thessaloniki, Greece

Applaro Garden Planter Box

Materials: Ikea Applaro Storage Bench, Staple gun, Black 3.5mil or higher plastic

Description: Put the Applaro storage bench together.

You can also use the larger one (the one with wheels if you need more space).

Lay in the black plastic sheeting (Got in the paint section of home depot, essentially a drop cloth). Staple down to insides of storage bench. Poke drainage holes on the bottom.

Add dirt and plants and you're finished. I'm currently using the lids as floor mats in the house.

If you are worried about the weather beating this up, you can add varnish to the wood which Ikea I think sells as well.

~ Robert Evans, San Francisco, CA

EXPEDIT curtain makes the clutter go away

2012-05-14T12:23:00.000-04:00

Materials: Expedit, betydlig

Description: Super simple hack, but I'm proud of myself for getting it done. My Expedit has been an eye-sore in my living room for the past month or so. It has everything in besides books; my dog's food/snacks, baking dishes, shoes, craft items etc. I've been looking for different ways to cover it up; Expedit inserts, boxes but I didn't feel like buying 8 of those suckers. Finally, I stopped by Ikea and found a cheap curtain rod, and brackets and hung a curtain.

1. I nailed the brackets with a drill. They're adjustable too. Super easy installation.
2. I painted the originally silver rod, brown, to match.
3. I bought 2 yards of fabric from JoAnn's, cut them, and glued the edges down (because I'm not a sewer)
4. Once the glue dried, hung it up on the rings.

See more of the Expedit curtain cover up.

~ CeeCee, San Francisco

Monster Desk for Med Student & Programmer

2012-05-14T10:02:00.000-04:00

Materials: 5xVika Amon (black-brown, 29.5x59), 1xGalant Drawer Unit on Casters, 3xblack-brown rails (as-is), framing 2x4's, 3 & 4 inch construction screws, L brackets, straight brackets, drywall screw anchors

Description: When reading the book "Med School Confidential," my girlfriend came across their number one piece of advice for setting up a study area: a huge desk for all the books and papers that you'll inevitably need to reference. So when we moved into a new house, we know our old Office Depot-bought small glass desks would no longer cut it. As a programmer, I wanted space for multiple large monitors as well as room for books and papers when designing out new code.

We knew we wanted a floating-desk style design, or at least as close as possible to it, which meant no legs, and some tricky engineering to get support at seams where the 4 tabletops met. I knew I wanted plenty of leg room under my desk, which made us opt for the wider (29.5") Vika Amon tabletops. We also each wanted an L-shaped desk, which meant a U when put together.

We operated under a few constraints like the size of our room, the height of our windows, and the fact that neither our walls nor corners were straight, but here's what we did.

Decide on a desk height - in our case, they had to fit below our windows. Cut and mount 2x4 framing studs along the walls so that the top of the desk will be at the desired height when laid on top of it. Use at least 2 construction screws at each stud for a firm hold. Make sure to keep everything level as you work around your perimeter.

Cut 1 Vika Amon table top in half (approximately) to use as end pieces at the tops of the U. Keep in mind that depending on how cushy your carpet is, with the weight of the table top, the end piece might sink down a little bit, so cut slightly higher than the top of the framing board you put up in step 1.

Assemble a triangular support system in the two corners of the room, spanning the seam where the tables will connect. It's hard to give exact instructions here, as it was a lot of trial and error getting the angle cuts and L-brackets set properly.

Assemble the Galant unit and place at the midpoint where the desks will meet. Wood-glue the as-is rails to the top to provide extra support. Use a hole saw to drill holes in the rear corner of one table top.

Flip the two tables that will make the L over, being careful to orient the holes and seams correctly. Screw the straight braces across the seam where the two tabletops meet. You'll want a lot here, because this is a weak point in the design. While it's upside down, use L-brackets to join the end piece to the table.

Carefully, and with help, flip the whole assembly over onto the 2x4's fastened to the wall. Attach plenty more L-brackets underneath to keep the desk from coming off the 2x4. Repeat for the other side, and voila, a monster desk is born!

~ Adam S, East Coast

Simple kitchen island from bed slats

2012-05-14T08:46:00.000-04:00

Materials: Sultan Lade bed slats, saw, drill with screwdriver bit, screws, hammer, finishing nails

Description: Saw some kitchen island that I liked but none of them had the exact dimensions I needed, nor did I want to spend $50+ on something that didn't work for us. Every renter can use a little extra counter space, right?
So I came across a guy getting rid of the Sultan Lade bed slats on Craigslist and I picked them up.

I just winged it with the dimensions, measuring our counter and the space around it to suit our needs. The wood is soft enough that it's easy to cut and easy to drill a screw through it without a pilot hole, so I hammered some of the pieces and screwed others. But it's also strong enough to hold steady when all put together.

It took less than an hour and voila! A simple, custom made island. Nothin' to it. and plenty of slats left over for another shelf or anything I might need in the future.

~ Jason, Eagle Rock, LA, CA

A castle bunk bed

2012-05-13T15:22:00.000-04:00

Materials: 1 Kura bed, 4 Flynn Lill, 1 Ribba, 2 Sultan Florvag, 1 Barnslig Natten, 1 Dioder, plastic duct 10 cm x 3 mt, pink painting

Description: A castle bunk bed for my two little daughters, with special effects, I hope you enjoy it :)

See more of the Kura castle bunk bed.

~ Anna, Italy

Baseball Card Table

2012-05-13T11:31:00.002-04:00

Materials: Lack End Table. Glue Gun and Glue Sticks, baseball cards

Description: Purchase of 22" x 22" Lack end table.
Picked out 1970's 80's Baseball cards of players I remembered.
Used Glue Gun to affix cards to table top.
Used white glue, 3 parts with 1 part water and applied to cards' faces.
Once dried I used an Epoxy Resin mix to seal the table and have a functional table that would be a great conversation piece at parties.

See more of the baseball card Lack side table.

~ Steve, New York

Turnbuckle Table

2012-05-13T09:37:00.000-04:00

Materials: 1 Molger table frame, 2 big slices of oak, 8 turnbuckles, 16 dome-headed bolts, 16 nuts

Description: I found a discontinued Molger frame in the As-Is section (best section EVAR!), and realized that I had to make a table out of it. So, I found a pair of beautiful oak planks at a local woodshow to add.

I assembled the Molger, then glued the planks together into a single surface and planed it smooth. I centred the Molger on the table, then drilled through the surface and into the tops of the Molger's corner posts. I glued dowels into the holes, connecting the two into a table and used a high-gloss varnish.

However, Molger wasn't made to be a rock-steady table, and was quite wobbly. To stabilize it, I got a set of turnbuckles at a hardware store. I drilled into the legs and lower horizontal rails, and secured the turnbuckles with the bolts and nuts, then turned all the turnbuckles firmly tight.

~ Andrew, Waterloo, Ontario

Cleaning up the Expedit

2012-05-12T15:32:00.000-04:00

Materials: Expedit, Leckman, tape, blade, 12x12 cardstock

Description: We recently bought our second Expedit 2x4 tower from Ikea. I love the versatility of this line. Our plan for the second one was to replace the older TV stand with this tower. The bottom row will house the media in the red Lekman boxes.

Before

My problem with the Lekman boxes is that they are clear-ish. You can still see all of the shadows and even colors of the items inside. And boy are there a lot of items inside! Another issue I have been having is seeing the cords behind the top row. I am not sure why there are so many cords…

Solution.

Get a 5th LEKMAN.

Do not put it together, instead use the 4 outer walls as a backing to the top row. I placed the shiny side out (so it mimics the bottom row). Since two of the sides are solid and 2 are exposed, I placed the exposed sides on either end. The spots on either end of the unit house the items with cords. The exposed sides are smaller than the solid. So by shoving the cords under the side, it settled nicely into the slot, but were still a bit too small. I used a strip of the spacer that was supposed to go under the Lekman boxes along the top of the exposed sides. This made it a perfect fit. The solid side was too big so I smushed it between the unit and the wall. Then reinforced with some scotch tape.

To take care of the problem of seeing all of my stuff, I took one sheet of 12x12 cardstock, traced the exposed squares out, cut them with the exacto, and placed with the white side facing out. The paper was super thick (too thick to use for anything other than getting on my cricut's nerves) so it is perfect for hiding all of my junk.

~ af, USA

Malm Chest to changing table

2012-05-12T12:36:00.000-04:00

Materials: MALM Chest of 4 drawers white, laminated wood, screws, metal brackets

Description: We needed a changing table and a chest for the room of our babies but there wasn't enough space, so decided to enlarge the top of a Malm chest and use it as changing table.

We bought some pieces of laminated wood in a bricolage store (they cut it for me).
These are the exact measurements I used:
- 1 table 22Cm x 80Cm (80Cm is the Width of the Malm I used).
- 2 pieces width: 70Cm, height 6Cm, Depth 2Cm that I used for the lateral edges
- 1 piece width: 80Cm, height 6Cm, Depth 2Cm that I used for the bottom edge.

Using some metal brackets (see the pictures for details), parser screw, and the electric screwdriver I fixed the pieces on the rear side of the Malm.

The last details:
- padded decorative cloth on the edges fixed using double-sided tape.
- Disney's princess decorations on the drawers

I used it as a changing table for about 5 years.
Now I unmounted it because the babies grew up, as all the screw hole are hidden in the rear part of the chest, now we can use it just as a simple chest.

See more of the Malm changing table.

~ Raffaele, Italia

Rast transformed in a 19-inch rack mount

2012-05-12T07:59:00.001-04:00

Materials: 1 Rast, 2 six units 19-inch rack rails, 1 Skubb (optional), 4 Slugger (optional)

Description: I don't know if IKEA made it on purpose, or if it's just a really useful coincidence, but the fact is that RAST has exactly the dimensions to host in its hole six standard 19-inch rack units.

So I have decided to use it to host the external soundboard of my laptop and, in the future, other rack units I'd buy.

I've prepared a scheme of the two iron rails used to hold the rack units (the holes distances are calculated according to the rack units standard) and I've given that scheme to an iron artisan to build them for me.

After that I've screwed the rails on the side indicated as B in the scheme to the RAST and then I've inserted my soundboard in.

As a plus, I've also noticed that SKUBB fits exactly in the RAST with the who bars, so while waiting to fill the whole RAST of rack units, I've bought it to keep cables and stuffs in order.

Other modifications that can be added to this basic hack are to paint the RAST or to put wheels (4 SLUGGER should work fine) under it to move it around easily.

That's all!
I hope someone will find it useful.

~ Francesco Verdoja, Rivalta (TO), Italy

Romantic book shelves

2012-05-11T14:23:00.000-04:00

Materials: Liksidig napkin holder

Description: I was creating a small nursery corner and used the Liksidig napkin holder as a bookshelf.

See more of the napkin holder bookshelf.

~ Soffia, Iceland