Ikea Hackz

Mini Bench Coffee Table from Frosta Stool

2011-04-22T03:44:00.000-07:00

Materials: Frosta Stool, Screws, Screwdriver

Description: These are Frosta stools (a copy of an Alvar Alto stool for Artek) hacked into small coffee tables by moving the legs around (and using it differently than intended). I did not make these, I just saw them outside a place called Tully's Cafe on the corner of Götgatan and Högbergsgatan in Stockholm, and thought I'd submit them.

Not sure if the stools are available at IKEA in the US though? They are called Frosta in Sweden at least.

~ Johan Perjus, Stockholm, Sweden

Hacker help: How to attach laminate flooring to Pax?

2011-04-21T20:52:00.000-07:00

Back on June 13, 2008, someone posted a piece about using Pax wardrobes as a room divider (Bedroom series #5: Room dividers for your bedroom). My daughter wants to do this, but I'm not sure how to attach the laminate flooring to the backs of the cabinets. Is there any way to find out how this was done? Thanks.

~ John

Art/Chalkboard from IKEA Scratch-and-Dent Pieces

2011-04-21T20:12:00.000-07:00

Materials: 2 cabinet doors from IKEA's scratch-and-dent section

Description: I found two great cabinet doors in the scratch-and-dent section at my local IKEA. They were begging me to take them home!

One of the doors had two glass panels, and the other had one glass panel and one wood panel.

I've been looking for some way to display my son's artwork, so I had an idea.

I painted the bottoms of both pieces with chalkboard paint. I wasn't so sure about painting over the glass, but it worked well.

I put some artwork behind the glass pieces, and then the chalboards at the bottom are for doodling and my son's daily "to do" list.

The cabinet doors look great in his room and they are useful!

~ Laura Stephens, United States

Asker Patchwork

2011-04-21T20:06:00.000-07:00

Materials: Asker hanging containers, pretty Japanese paper, Mod Podge, paint brush

Description: Once upon a time these containers looked nice and white. However, after a few months of hanging above our kitchen bench for cutlery storage they became scratched and well, not so nice looking.

Mod Podge and Japanese paper to the rescue!

I love this stuff! Now I'm searching the apartment for more Mod Podge candidates. Mod Podge is an all in one glue, sealer and finisher that can be applied to just about anything.

Step 1: Gather your Asker containers and wipe clean.
Step 2: Cut your pretty Japanese paper into small square pieces, or any shape you like. Smaller 1" pieces bend easier around the container's curves.
Step 3: Using the paint brush spread a layer of Mod Podge on the container. Work in small sections so the glue does not dry out.
Step 4: Stick the paper to the container and spread another layer of Mod Podge over the top, and so on until the whole container is covered (I didn't cover the back to save on paper).
Step 5: Once this first coat is dry, I waited until the next day, spread another layer of Mod Podge over the whole container. Just to make sure all the crevices are covered and sealed. Wait another day to dry.

Voila! Pretty Japanese paper patchwork Asker containers!

Sorry, I didn't take before and after photos, but with this hack it's fairly easy to imagine the before.

~ Cindy, Toronto, Canada

If I had a million dollars…

2011-04-21T19:53:00.000-07:00

OK, I know I’m not the only one who daydreams about winning the lottery. I think about the healthy college and savings accounts we could create, paying off our house and of course, because I’m a house nut and nuts for our house, I think about all the projects we would do around here.

It makes me giddy!

But there’s a little bitty issue. We don’t play the lottery. And like we’d actually win if we did.

DRATS.

So unless money starts falling from the sky, I will stick to dreaming. :)

But I do love thinking about it. What would we do to our house if said cash fell from the sky? It really doesn’t have to be meeeellions. Just a few extra grand. I’m not picky!

I’ve had a mental list for years. You know, just in case. :)

I would start in the kitchen. Because I like our cold food COLD -- call me crazy.

Our fridge looks great:

(Actually, most days it doesn’t look nearly this good. I cleaned for you.)

But the freezer door doesn’t stay shut anymore. Pretty much daily I’ll open it to find a layer of ice forming over everything. And the whole side by side thing is great, if you like to visit the grocery every three days.

Cause that’s all the food that will fit:

Of course I’ve found a way to smash the box of mini ice cream drumsticks in there. ;)

Me at the grocery store:

“Meat to make dinner or ice cream drumsticks? Meat or drumsticks? Hmmmm…drumsticks please.”

My priorities are crystal clear. :)

And you’d think the door not closing is due to my fantastical freezer organization, but it’s not. The food isn’t the issue. The door just doesn’t seal unless we close it just right.

I dream of one of these beauties:

With big, wide drawers for frozen stuff. Big enough for a pizza! Or FIVE. Whatever.

My appliance dreaming continues into the laundry room. Sometimes I feel like the only house left in the country that doesn’t own a set of these babies:

And Ugg boots. The only house without a fancy washer and dryer…and Uggs. :)

But our seven year old set is still kickin’.

Can you tell I cleaned for you in here too? No?

I’ve pretty much given up on this space. :)

I’ve mentioned before we plan on moving our washer and dryer to another spot in the house, and it would be awesome if I had mucho dinero to turn it into this:

I don’t ask for much people. Three washers? Pushaw…I MUST HAVE THEM.

You know our family room has been a thorn in my side since day one. I dream of pushing out our window wall about five feet:

And installing some beautiful French doors instead:

And if I could buy the skinny, I’ll take that too. :)

Since we’d have the doors there (can you tell I’ve thought this all out?), we wouldn’t need the door in the kitchen bay window anymore:

It can get a bit tight maneuvering around our kitchen table, so I have to keep our chairs pushed in all the time to move around comfortably.

But with our money-from-the-sky, I could create my dream bay window, with bench seating all around:

Isn’t that beautiful? Loverly! I can just see it!

And because money wouldn’t really be an issue, let’s throw in a finished basement, just for kicks:

And if Candice herself could come help me decorate it, that would be fun too. ;)

Well, that’s my short list. I haven’t even touched the outside. My outdoor plans include trying to fit a pool in our tiny backyard. I have it all figured out in my head and it totally works. :)

You all know how much I adore our house by the way – I’m full out in LURVE with our home. I appreciate every inch of it, but it never hurts to daydream, right?

So what would be on your short list if you had plenty ‘o cash to spend on your current home? Not a brand new one – the one you’re working with right now. Or have you made one of your daydreams a reality? Do tell! I am SO determined to get our washer and dryer moved – I can barely contain my excitement!!

P.S. You will now have the Barenaked Ladies song playing in your head all day. You. are. welcome. :)

Malm Changing Table

2011-04-20T10:58:00.000-07:00

Materials: Malm dresser, wood boards, screws and glue

Description: Malm dresser can be used as a standard changing table and later as a normal chest. With 1m a perfect height to work (baby wrap) and with extra high side panels.

Malm with increased support for standard changing pads. (75 x 85 cm)

Both sides and head are connected with the board back

The cultivation is screwed on an angle on the rear wall of the chest no holes or screws on the top

On the sides, the Ikea trash and Ikea washing basin are appended. (I do not know the name)

If a station is no longer required, the additional bearing surface can be unscrewed easily.

~ Jens, Germany

Sideboard 320 cm

2011-04-20T08:31:00.000-07:00

Materials: Faktum/Abstrakt

~ philipp petersen

Potted Stranne

2011-04-20T03:25:00.000-07:00

Materials: 23" Huson plant pot - Stranne table lamp - Knaster decorative stones - cardboard box - packing tape

Description: (1) Cut a rectangle of cardboard and place it in the bottom of the pot to raise the height of the lamp.

(2) Put another layer of cardboard flat on top of it for the lamp to rest on.

(3) With the lamp in place, cut a circle of cardboard with a circumference that matches that of the pot just below the inside rim. Cut a square hole in the middle to match the shape of the top of the lamp, where the light stalks emerge.

(4) Bunch up light stalks and insert through through inner hole of cardboard. Tape cardboard to rim with clear packing tape. (Leave a small space to drape electrical cord over rim at back.)

(5) Spread stones around so they cover the cardboard.

(6) Plug in and turn on!

Total cost (US$): $81 (+ tax)

~ Venu Pillarisetty + Vivian van Gelder, Seattle, USA

Accidental redo

2011-04-19T20:45:00.000-07:00

OK Squeezies. Hang in there with me on this post. I’m going to try to make sense of the way my mind works and the stream of thoughts that go on. Aren’t you so excited to get a look into how my decorating ADD happens? My mind can be a very scary place. ;)

As I mentioned last week, I’ve started a little redo of our playroom/loft. I can’t even pinpoint when it started, but it’s been in the works for months. I’m just finally getting the projects going.

I’ve told you before, I’m nothing if not efficient. :)

Let’s look back at how the playroom looked for a while:

There was a time when I didn’t care for our wall color (the one I had them paint half the house with) – and I thought I had to match everything to it. Hence the reason I used so much red. (I thought it was the only color that worked with the hue of the paint.)

I’ve grown to love the color, and realize it’s an excellent neutral paint. And it’s opened up my world people! I now know I can use more than red to decorate these rooms! ;)

Anyhoo, remember when I told you back here how I took a couple trips to IKEA in a couple weeks? (Gleee!) Well, the reason for my first trip was to pick out this beauty:

It’s the Hemnes dresser and I thought it was going to be perfect for the Bub’s room. I planned to paint it RED (OK, the red isn’t gone for good) to go with his room. Because of that, I got the navy blue version of this dresser, so it would be a good dark base for the red paint.

Well…the reason I loved this dresser was because it had so much storage. What I didn’t realize (even though I measured the space before I got it) was that it’s MASSIVE. I mean, seriously. It’s SO stinking big people.

So I put the MONGO dresser together, and moved it into the Bub’s room, knowing full well it wasn’t going to work. It was too tall and too deep.

Drats.

I was freaking out just a little. What in the world was I going to do with a gigantic navy blue dresser? We certainly don’t need anymore dressers in this house. (You know my dresser obsession.)

And then…it hit me. I could use it in the playroom. Ah HA!! (You can see how I resolved the Bub’s dresser issue here.)

We have had a cheapy laminate TV stand in their for years and years – and a while back I tried painting it. Most of it held up OK, but some parts were flaking off daily:

I’ve been wanting to toss that thing (it was literally falling apart) forever, so I knew this could work out perfectly. Oh yes, my evil plan always comes together…even when I didn’t have a plan to begin with. And it wasn’t evil.

So I crushed the laminate stand (it. was. AWESOME.) and put the new dresser in it’s spot. LOVE.

Even the insides are adorable:

I changed it up just a bit by adding some fun green knobs (half off!) from Hob Lob:

The blue and green color is so FUN – and will make even more sense in just a minute. :)

Because the dresser is ginormous, it works insanely well for toys and games. Between another purge and this dresser, all of it is hidden away. And there are even empty drawers:

Glorious.

Because the dresser was a lot wider than the old TV stand, it created a few more issues. I had to take down the mirror and the art pad off the walls to accommodate the width of this monster.

And doing so left lots of these:

But we don’t have matching paint to touch them up. And even if we did the wall is about ohhhh…20 feet tall? I’m not painting it, and I don’t know anyone who will. :)

I decided to hang the TV above the dresser, so the need to repaint continued when I went to take the vinyl off the wall:

NICE. What the ??

Good. Ness. See how these things happen? It’s just a tidal wave.

But tidal waves are good around here. They give me an excuse to get creative. And in my mind, creative usually equals putting wood on our walls. Or mdf, in this case. :)

I used about $40 of the good stuff and did another board and batten treatment on that wall:

Oh my, I never tire of how fresh and crisp and classic it is! Nevah!

The height has no rhyme or reason to it – I just wanted to cover the big holes that showed up when I took down the bottom shelves. ;)

I used this method to fill the other holes, painted a couple coats of primer on the wall, installed the mdf and then gave it a coat of primer. I covered everything one more time with glossy white paint.

It gives the large wall a base and grounds it – which is a very good thing in this space:

By the way, this whole room is still so in between – nothing has been accessorized, so many projects aren’t done. I just couldn’t wait to show ya. :)

Onto the final project (for now), which may have been the first project. I have no idea. It’s all jumbled in my head. Remember that beautiful fabric I used for the kitchen window treatment?

Well this is the space I got it for:

I wanted to inject some more fun, make it fresh -- but keep it an adult space too. This room has morphed from a playroom to a game room over the past year, and I’m going with it.

And the new fabric was the a beautiful change – still lighthearted, but more grown up at the same time.

I don’t know. All I know is I LOVE it.

A couple weeks ago I found a couple of pillows at HomeGoods that happened to have the exact same colors on them:

And the Bub loves them because the one side has pirates, and he’s ALL over pirates lately. They a little whimsy in the room.

So far I’m loving the changes – so fun and bright!:

That new coffee table is for another post – a Craigslist find a few months ago:

It’s Pottery Barn and it’s fantastic! And no, it’s not staying red. :)

I love looking back to see how our spaces have changed – here’s the playroom a couple of years ago:

And the new game room, as it is today:

There are so many things left to do – the chairs will be replaced with our family room sofa…when we get a new family room sofa. :) The lights will come down, and my plan is to put built ins on each side of the windows. (Dad? You there?) The gallery wall is coming soon, and I’m figuring out a couple of other changes as well.

For now, I’m so pleased with how it’s coming together! All of the voices in my head are making sense…finally. ;)

P.S. To see a few of my board and batten tricks, go here to watch a short video. :)

PAX Wardrobe Turned Custom Reach in Closets

2011-04-19T11:50:00.000-07:00

Materials: Pax wardrobes (1 large, 2 medium and 1 small), Various komplement peices and pax bergsbo / frosted glass doors, Martha Stewart living Paint #MSLO29 "glass of milk", poplar moldings 1x2 and 1x3. Crown molding 1x 5/16. Plaster, paint, Hammer, Screwgun, Level, Screw Driver

Description: I converted a basic reach in closet in a small bedroom into two stunning custom closets that look like a $5000 custom "California Closet" systems. One large closet in the bedroom and one small linen closet in the hallway.

The Original closet was 7' wide and 2'6" deep. The bifold door opening was about 4' wide and 80" tall. I completely gutted the closet down to the studs including the walls, ceiling and the framing around the closet door.

I cut out a space in the hallway to the right of the original closet space, framed in and finished a cove 20" wide, 79"tall and 16" deep. In that cove I installed a small pax wardrobe,(pax wardrobe 598.418.77), the wardrobe fits perfectly after i cut off 8" from the back. I finished it by applying a 1x2 poplar molding around the wardrobe, adding a pax bergso / frosted glass door and matching paint framing it in giving it a complete streamline look.

Back to the bedroom, I applied drywall (sheetrock) on the walls and ceiling making the closet space flush with all the room surfaces. The open cove dimensions were 79"w, 95"h (same as ceiling) and 23" deep.

I inserted pre assembled pax wardrobe frames into the cove, one large pax wardrobe frame (700.140.13) and two smaller pax frames (100.140.30). I shimmed the frames so they all lined up evenly and then secured them to the wall.

I made the wardrobes look more complete and custom by adding 1" x 3" poplar molding around the room and under the closet, on the front. Also across the top flush with the closet. I also added the crown molding in the room across the top of the closet achieving the streamline custom look i wanted. The molding was painted with Martha Stewart living Paint #MSLO29 "glass of milk".

All of the moldings were painted with "Martha Stewart" Paint (MSLO29)"GLASS OF MILK", it matches the Pax "bergsbo" doors perfectly creating a dramatic style.

~ Ilir Bitici, Berkeley Heights, New Jersey

Lack with an ironing secret

2011-04-19T08:35:00.000-07:00

Materials: Lack shelf, antique ironing board top, ironing board cover, 2 shelves from "as is" department, 2 bookends, graduated blocks of wood, black lacquer paint, L brackets

Description: I don't like setting up an ironing board and don't like the pull-down models, yet didn't have more than 10 inches clearance on the wall next to my small laundry center.

I found a Lack shelf still in plastic at the PTA thrift shop and, as it was the right size to fit in the space, decided to use it to hide an ironing board.

I found an antique wooden ironing board top made with one center board and two narrow side pieces. I pried off one of the side pieces and cut off the end to yield an ironing board top that would fit under the Lack shelf. I trimmed an ironing board cover and stapled it on the ironing board.

To make legs for the ironing board, I used L brackets to attach shelves to the bottom of the board at an angle. The shelves were from the "as is" department and originally from an unidentified Ikea item. The item is apparently graduated because the shelves' fronts are on a slant, which though not something I planned for works well with the design. I then mounted the Lack shelf to the wall just above the top of the ironing board.

To stabilize the legs I attached wooden bookends to the back of the legs at the bottom and graduated blocks of wood to the front, all painted with black lacquer.

When I need to iron, I pull the board out from under the Lack shelf and slide it over next to the dryer. I keep my iron on top of the dryer to make the set-up all the more handy.

~ Bess, Chapel Hill, NC

Kids Shoebox Dual Computer Cabinet

2011-04-19T04:30:00.000-07:00

Materials: Sandnes Shoe Rack, Svala Chairs

Description: I worked out that the Sandnes show rack was a complete waste of time for storing shoes. With a couple of changes the unit makes an awesome computer cabinet for two small children 4-8 years old.

I am writing this almost 4 years after building it and about 6 months after I sold it. I can't find any pictures of the build stage, so I just have the ones I took when I sold it on Ebay.

I bought the Sandnes new, and put the frame of it together. Instead of using the plastic hinge parts, I connected normal door hinges on the center edge of the lower doors, and between the bottom and top doors on each side. This allows the top to lower as a keyboard shelf and the bottom opens to allow access to the main PC box for putting in CD's and turning it on.

I made a new back board which holds the monitors up. This was done by using the Ikea panel bolts and retainers on both sides of a sheet of 19mm Melamine chip board. The back only goes down about half way so the PC's still get plenty of air. I pulled the monitor stand apart and managed to fix them directly to the back board without buying a proper VESA mount, but you could do that if you wish.

As I was in a rental property, I did not want to attach the unit to the wall, So I rebuilt the legs to give some stability, but this would not be needed if you are happy to screw it to the wall as originally intended.

I attached the PC's by removing the top lid and putting screw directly through the base into the back of the lower door. The choice of PC is critical, as it needs to fit! Don't forget to allow for the plugs at the rear!

A piece of chain holds the top door in place just below horizontal. I did have the keyboard screwed to the door so the kids could not move them and they wouldn't scratch the monitor.

I installed magnetic child locks to stop the unit being opened without help as well as hold the top door shut. A barrel bolt was used to keep the bottom door shut.

A set of Svala chairs were just the right size to finish the unit off.

The kids loved this setup and it is a shame they grew out of it.

~ David Haddon, Brisbane, Australia

Expedit turned into a guitar amp enclosure

2011-04-18T12:07:00.000-07:00

Materials: 1 "Expedit" Shelf, 1 "Rill" pack of 4 wheels, 4 brackets

Description: Having a 50 watt guitar amp at home can be quite messy when doing the weekly clean-up. I saw at friend's house an Expedit shelf used as base for a 2x12 guitar combo, so I thought it would be a great idea to have it with wheels so you can move it to your desire without effort (Tube guitar amps can be quite heavy) and in addition, keep my pedal case tidily.

Here's my hack :

- Assemble the outside square of the Expedit shelf

- Throw away the little separators and keep the big one

- Fix the squares to the desired height and put on the shelf you keep from the previous point

- Fix the four wheels with an electric screwdriver and ...

Voila!!

~ Joan Aparicio, Zaragoza - Spain

Ikea Expedit Three-Story Hamster Habitat

2011-04-18T08:50:00.000-07:00

Materials: Expedit 5-by-5 bookcase

Fred is probably the P. Diddy equivalent of Hamsterville, with a 5x5 Expedit megahome all to himself. Katja, Fred's dotting owner, removed dividers on two "floors" to create large spaces to stretch Fred's short little legs. She also decorated the space with hamster luxuries like wooden ladders, bubbly cork goodness for Fred to dive in and play.

See more of the Expedit Hamster mansion. [via Pawesome.net]

~ Sonia Zjawinski

TORSBY and MALM customization

2011-04-18T06:21:00.000-07:00

Materials: TORSBY, spray paint

Description: Very simple hack, just did the Torsby without the legs, so it would be the same height as the bed and painted the yellow strips.

The Malm has been personalised with Liberty fabric.

Take a tour of Julia's droolworthy home.

~ Julia, London, UK

Prettying up the ceiling fan

2011-04-17T19:33:00.000-07:00

Helloooooo all! Hope you had a great weekend!

A couple weeks ago I did a little project that only took about five minutes and buck to complete. So of course I had to show you. :)

It all started last month when I finally addressed the massive pile of magazines I’ve been avoiding for months (years?) now.

I saw an idea in one of my old BHG mags and then did a little researching online to see if I could figure out how to do it myself. I didn’t find the how-to, but I did find another inspiration picture:

We have a ceiling fan in our family room and even though I’d prefer something prettier, it’s staying. It’s necessary for the times the oven starts smoking in the kitchen, the smoke alarm is going off, and opening the windows and flapping the kitchen towel just isn’t cutting it. :)

The person that creates the smoke may or may not be me.

I will never tell. :)

The fan is darker brown, which I do like. It has three lights as you can see here:

It’s not bad. Nothing awful. I was just inspired by the photos I found and wanted to try something different.

I decided I was going to do my best to use what I had on hand to change it up.

I started by taking off the glass covers – you just squeeze the metal pieces inside and pull the glass off:

Next up – to figure out how to get my lamp shade to stay on the fan. I had large Goodwill drum shade I planned to use and it was the type with the wire circle at the top of the shade – the kind you have to use with harp. (More on that in a bit!)

So I stood under the fan for about ten minutes, thinkin’ and a thinkin’. I noticed there was a little jobby on the bottom where the pull chain came out. It matched the one on the side:

Because I’ve changed out a meeellion lights in this house, I have plenty of electrical parts laying around. I dug through my stash and found this threaded connector:

The real name of this piece will create some major spam and unwelcome searches if I use it, so for now it’s called a “threaded connector.” ;)

Anyhoo, I knew if I could get it connected to the fan, I could figure this out:

I looked and looked and LOOKED and tried every little trinket I had in my tool box, and nothing worked. Drats.

I was so determined at this point, I was off to the hardware store. :) I looked around for awhile, but couldn’t find the exact piece I needed. Lowe’s Guy and I both spent a good ten minutes looking through the drawers of nuts and connectors, and still couldn’t find anything that worked. And then Lowe’s Guy No. 2 came up to help and suggested I look in…wait for it…the ceiling fan area.

Now, who would have thunk it? :) Bahhhrilliant.

There I found exactly what I was looking for:

Two of these little connectors came in a package for about $1.50. Not bad.

I threaded the connector to the fan, put the longer connector into that one, and then put the hole of the lamp shade over the long piece:

I secured the shade up there with a small nut (picture on the right). It worked perfectly!

The original lamp shade I tried was way too big though, so I took another off a lamp and used that instead (a lovely from Pottery Barn I got with a gift card last year):

Love, love, LOVE.

There’s a few things to consider if you want to try this out – first of which is your ceiling height. The shade hangs lower than the glass shades did, by about five inches I'm guessing? Our ceilings are nine feet, so we still have plenty of clearance. (I’m 5’9”, hubby is 5’11”.)

Something else to consider is your lamp shade. My shade was the type that fits on the lamp with a harp – it’s called a spider fitting:

If you have an uno style shade, or the type that fits right over the lamp socket, you’ll have to use a different method:

I’m sure there’s a way to wire that type of shade up there. But if you are thinking about trying this out, I’d suggest using one with the spider fitting, just because it’s SO easy.

If the bare bulbs showing from underneath the fan are going to bother you, this isn’t for you. That doesn’t bug me one bit, since you only see the light bulbs if you’re right under it:

Honestly, you see less of the bulbs this way than with the original glass shades.

One more thing to consider is the size of your shade. The light bulbs need to be two to three inches from the shade, for safety reasons:

But that also depends on the wattage of your bulbs – ours are 60 watt and we have a dimmer on this light. (And even though our shade is large enough, I had the light on full force for hours the first day, feeling to see how warm the shade was every ten minutes or so.)

It was fine. But I’m a freak like that. :)

It’s odd – it’s makes more of a statement than the glass shades, but I find I notice it less. Maybe it’s because those covers were never my cup of tea. Or it could be because I’m obsessed with drum shades (especially those trimmed out with lovely jute trim).

I don’t know what it is, but I love how it turned out. Especially because it only cost $1.50:

If you don’t have a drum shade, check out Lowe’s! They have a great selection. I always find great options at HomeGoods too, usually for less than $15.

Oh, and it holds up great when the fan is running too. Our fan doesn’t shake much anyway, but it’s totally secure.

So have you doctored up a ceiling fan? With spray paint? New shades? Some bling? :) Have you tried this project? Do share!

Oh, and by the way -- this version:

Is $540. :) Rock. on!!

This week in April '07

2011-04-17T07:07:00.000-07:00

Bamboo dish clock: A classic! Minimalist, striking. Love.
Stairway to cat heaven: Whaddaya know, the Lack zigzag bookshelf is the pathway to cat nirvana.
Splatgirl's stylish bathroom hacks: A butcher block may seem out of place in a bathroom but not in this one. Check out Splatgirl's vanity station.

Gorm Bunk Bed Made in Italy

2011-04-16T13:09:00.000-07:00

Materials: GORM

Description: Hello, I am Daniele Rossini (nickname MacGyver). I have a house of 50 square meters and two children. The need now is to buy a bigger house, but right now I'm happy to organize them to take advantage of all 50 square meters. To start with I'll tell you how did the idea of building a bunk bed structure with GORM:

I have a bedroom about 16 square meters and with two young children need two beds with a space that you desire, then I thought about a bunk bed, but not a normal one that measures 60 x 120 cm. I begin to think, imagine and measure the space without finding solutions ....... then I do not know why the port facilities Gorm with me, I take a pencil and paper and in the blink of an eye I'm holding the project I ran into the store and at a cost of about €60 I manage to buy Gorm shelves and uprights.

The frenzy runs through my blood and in three days, weather permitting after work, I transform the structures assembled together ...... and ualà!...... just what I imagined and so I wanted a bunk bed GORM sturdy and secure!

My children are happy with their new bed and I felt very happy but .... suggest the production of shelves 62cm, perhaps with factory waste and an instruction manual, ad hoc, bunk beds 60 x 120 cm can not be found!

As a child I played with Meccano 31 years now I'm not ashamed to play with GORM. Hello everyone and good life!

P.S. For those who want to achieve:

What you need:
-8 Pairs of uprights 174cm
-2 Pairs of uprights 110cm
-4 Shelves 77x51
-2 Shelves 77x31
-4 Pairs of caps.

Getting Started:
be sized from 77cm to 62cm shelves then the rest with a few tweaks and a jigsaw if it comes from ......... complete with adjustable sides!

Finished size:
Internal bed 62 x 133cm
external dimensions 66 x 135cm
Height 174 cm

~ Daniele, Italy, Rome

IKEA's latest doggy furniture

2011-04-16T08:12:00.000-07:00

Description: A funny one to get you woofing for the weekend. Posted from Australia on 30th March, but perhaps it was already 1st April there.

See the vid on youtube.

~ Daniel, Germany

Coffee Table Train Set

2011-04-16T03:35:00.000-07:00

Materials: Liatorp Coffee Table

Description: The hack includes the Liatorp coffee table with glass top and pull out drawer that was modified to include an N scale model train set.

I didn't like the white so I painted about 95% of it black. Four coats of satin black furniture paint to be exact. I left the shelf that the drawer slides on unpainted for two reasons. One, the paint would just rub off as the drawer glides back and forth over the shelf. Two, simply to provide a highlight color to offset all the black. The last thing cosmetically, was I purchased two new pull knobs for the drawer as the stock ones did not match the black.

The drawer from the factory includes a cross in the middle of the drawer making four available compartments, and two particle board pieces that make up the drawer bottom. Now obviously this won't work if you plan to utilize the entire space in the drawer. Leaving out the cross was easy but by doing so, the bottom particle board pieces are rendered useless. So I need a floor for the drawer. I took the necessary measurements and made my way over to TAP plastics, had a custom floor made, and I was good to go.

After assembly, the only thing left to do is design the train layout. I used a program called AnyRail available at anyrail.com. Once the layout is set, it's just a matter of purchasing the engines, cars and scenery that you like to complete the look. Since this was my first attempt, I spent a little more than I probably would have liked but I think it was worth it. It's definitely a conversation piece and fun to look at.

To see a video of the trains in action, check out this youtube video.

~ Jaxan, Sacramento, CA

A woody radiator cover

2011-04-15T12:18:00.000-07:00

Materials: MOLGER storage stool, Shelf from As-Is section

Description: We are new to IKEA hacking.

Our curious little 1 year old was sure to burn herself on our dangerously hot radiators in our rental apartment. It is apparently NOT the landlord's job to make these safe. Thus, we set out to buy radiator covers, but I REFUSED to fork out hundreds of dollars (a piece) for two custom-made radiator covers for a RENTAL that we probably were going to leave at the end of our current lease. So this is what came of my stubborn frugality.

WE had a MOLGER stool, and I liked the look. I disassembled the stool. The slatted pieces that made the four sides of the stool were used as the front of the cover and allow for airflow. I then bought a couple pieces of wood to make the sides. I had to measure for the height that I wanted. This radiator cover doubles as a side table next to our couch. I checked the as-is section for a nice looking shelf for the top.

I put the slatted front together first. There are two shapes that come out of the MOLGER stool, one has two legs (U-shape) and one is just a square piece with slats. The piece without legs can be snugly fit in-between the legs to create one long slatted piece. I used tacks to secure the two pieces together. I needed to use a whole Molger M stool and a board from the hardware store in the middle to get the width we needed. Then we just hammered it together with skinny nails. Hammered the sides and top onto that. Hindsight, we should have put a layer of wood glue in-between pieces before nailing. It was an easy hack since a radiator cover is just a three-sided box with some sort of airflow. IT WORKS AMAZINGLY and is actually attractive. Probably someone with more patience or skill would use something more sophisticated than nails, but we are cheap and impatient.

Check the pictures for more details. You will notice the little plastic circles - these are the "bottoms" of what were the legs of the MOLGER stool. They come assembled with these little plastic skid stoppers. We just left 'em on.

~ Jojo, NYC

Cake Stands and Candy Dishes

2011-04-15T09:09:00.000-07:00

Materials: OPPEN plate/bowl, NEGLINGE candlestick, E6000 epoxy

Description: Cake stands are always so expensive at retail stores like Target and the like, when they are basically just elevated plates. Why not elevate your own?

1: Remove the labels from everything and wash carefully.

2: Mark the exact center of a glass OPPEN plate or bowl, on the top face, with a black marker.

3: Apply E6000 evenly to the top face of the NEGLINGE candlestick. Don't worry if there's too much, you can get the excess off with a razor blade later.

4: Align the plate/bowl with the center of the candlestick and press down firmly. Allow the epoxy to set for 24 hours before moving.

While this is drying, prepare your favorite cake or candy to fill the bowl. You can also stack them and make tiered cupcake stands, or jewelry holders.

~ AJ W., Lansing, MI

Eames-inspired storage unit

2011-04-15T07:46:00.000-07:00

Materials: 2x APA, 1x HYLLIS, screws, scrap 1/4" MDF w/birch veneer

Description: The Ikea APA toy boxes are inexpensive and reasonably attractive (with their white laminate side-panels), but I have never found them to be particularly useful for storage as intended. Inspired by a project in the book "ReadyMade: How to Make [Almost] Everything: A Do-It-Yourself Primer" and the classic Eames storage unit, I built this simple shelving unit out of two APA boxes ($14.99 each) and the vertical brackets from a HYLLIS shelving unit (also $14.99). The sliding door panels are fashioned out of some scrap 1/4" birch veneer sheets, salvaged from the back of an old BILLY bookcase. The doors slide back-and-forth in the pre-cut slots on the APA. The back panel is also scrap 1/4" birch veneer from a BILLY bookcase. Any 1/4" MDF would work for the doors and the back panel, and could easily be painted to taste if you don't have veneer.

Click to read more>>

RIBBA Dataport

2011-04-15T04:30:00.000-07:00

Materials: RIBBA, Pine boards, black paper

Description: Take a slightly thicker frame type RIBBA, a few bars and construct a box:
The add a back to the frame with black paper and screw on the electronics.
Then, the front passepartout with it and end up with a cardboard tube from wrapping paper serves as a cable channel.

See more of the Ribba Dataport.

~ Andreas K., Germany

The gallery wall-to-be

2011-04-14T19:53:00.000-07:00

Helloooo! How’s your week going?

We were on Spring Break around here last week and I was an absolute slug. Really – when hubby is home all day I’m just completely worthless. All I want to do is sit around, eat A LOT and watch ridiculous amounts of reality TV.

It’s AWESOMENESS.

But by about Saturday at 5 p.m. last weekend, I my slothdom had run it’s course and I had to do something. And do something I did – I started one or fifty projects in the playroom turned game room. But this week has been so crazy, none of it has been touched in five days.

The first little project I tackled is going to be a big one and I can’t WAIT to show you:

It involves a closet, an electrician, paint and me learning how to build stuff – we’ll see how that last part goes. Could get interesting.

But if it all comes together = AWESOME! Ack, I’m so excited about this one.

Next up is the pile of mdf sitting in the garage, waiting to be installed in the room:

I really hope to get that project done this weekend – it’s going to make a huge difference in there!

But the most dramatic change involves taking all of these off the wall:

No, not ladders. :)

The shelves that have been up for about five years:

I love them, I do! I’m just ready for a change – a change that came to mind as I was going through our boxes and boxes (and. boxes.) of photos recently.

We have so many special family photos and I must display them. They are fantastic – I just had to show you a few of my favorites.

I adore pictures of my husband as a child. ADORE. I wish I could travel back in time when I see these:

And it absolutely kills me how much he looks like our son. I need to get a similar shirt for the Bub and take a picture just like this. They could be twins.

Here’s hubs with my late brother-in-law:

Oh my, couldn’t you just squish them? :)

I love this one of my in-laws:

I love imagining the setting, who was there, what they were celebrating – all of it.

The older pictures of my grandparents are some of my favorites – just look how beautiful my Grandmother is in this picture:

Do you see her wedding gown? Stunning. And my Grandpa looks so handsome! I miss them both so.

Looks like my other Grandpa was an aspiring actor at a young age:

This photo is actually quite large – at least 30 people were in this Ladies Aid Society play. :) I love everything about it – the costumes, the fake beards and mustaches, the mischievous glint in my Grandpa’s eyes:

And he got his beautiful eyes from his Dad (the groom):

I don’t remember my Great-Grandfather, but his lovely wife (to the right) is my namesake. She was a really fantastic, strong Hungarian woman. And she made some mean kifli. Ohh, I must learn how to make them.

One of my absolute favorite pics isn’t one of the oldest. It’s from my childhood, so probably only 20 25 30 years ago:

OK, it’s pretty old. ;)

We went camping all the time when I was young, and that picture was taken at Brown County State Park (Indiana) in the fall. That’s my Dad pushing me, and my favorite part of this picture is the absolute JOY on my face.

This is the reason photos fill the walls in our home. :)

I’ve started building up my stash of frames again – and my go to spot is always Goodwill. I found these large, chunky frames today:

I can’t wait to start framing everything and filling up this wall:

It’s gonna be fantastic. I hope. Crossing fingers. It’s pretty awesome in my head.

There’s lots of stuff going on under that TV too, and I’ll show you that SOON. :)

So that’s the madness going on in my noggin and in our playroom this week. I need to focus and get at least one part of this totally last minute, by-accident mini redo DONE.

So, is there an old family photo you treasure? How far do yours go back? I’m guessing some of mine are last 100 years old, and they’re all originals. Anyone know the best way to store old photos? I plan on scanning them all, but I’d like to keep the originals stored safely away.