ikea hacker

Baby changing table grows into light table.

2009-11-13T07:38:00.003-05:00

Boris recycles his daughter's old changing table into a lightbox. Love how it closes in a compact little thing.

"I made the Sniglar baby changing table into a light box. My wife, for a few years now, likes to practice sewing for our daughters. She buy a lot of books containing patterns she has to reproduce on white paper which she then uses to cut the fabric. It's not easy to reproduce those patterns onto the paper.

As our youngest daughter is now two and a half years old, we do not need any more our Sniglar changing table, and I decided to transform it into a light table for my wife. I first thought to keep the table structure as it, but finally, I prefered to use the two level of the table to make one foldable table. I first fixed together the two vat with a long piano hinge. Then I stuck aluminium foil into the vats to reflect the light and I fixed four neon tubes into it. A few meters of cable later, I then closed the vats with two white and opaque plexiglass panels and that's it."

Get into the hot seat

2009-11-12T07:15:00.004-05:00

This has got to be the first Mercedes Benz inspired hack. Nico Mertens adds seatheating to the Poang. Now, a hack you can really warm up to.

"I have pimped my Ikea Poang with heated seating and extended the headrest to suit my purposes. The idea was born when I had a discussion with my friends about leather sofas and I found out that most girls really do like leather sofas but they didn't like the feel of cold leather. Every damn Mercedes car has seatheating installed, why does nobody include seatheatings in leather chairs or sofas? My idea was born!

It took me about 3 days of research and planning. After those 3 days I started to order the necessary material which was quite hard to get.

Necessary items:
- Ikea Poäng + Ikea Poäng stool
- Another cushion for Ikea Stool to make straps and a bag for electrics
- Seatheating deluxe edition
- Powerful notebook adapter to deliver 12 to 13,5 Volts and up to 7 Ampere. (Please go for a good one. You don't wanna burn down the house. I had a bad experience with cheap stuff)
- Little box for electrics
- Shaped Wood to extend the upper end of Poäng for a higher head rest.
- Wood to build a side controller for the seatheating
- Sewing machine
- Leather needle
- Thread in colour of the leather
- Paint
- Sandpaper 80 and 200 (rough and fine stuff)

The good old head-cushion got some extra two straps made out of another leather seat cushion for a stool and some weights were put in the end of those straps. The part of the cushion with the zip will be needed later...

Reason is simple: I wanted to be able to adjust the head-cushion so everyone who sits on it is comfortable. For the same reason I asked a friend of mine to form up some wooden parts which I placed at the former end of the Poäng.

I added another few nicely shaped pieces of wood on the side. Those parts got drilled and screwed on the chair. Then the whole chair got treated with sandpaper and was repainted. Then I spoke to somebody who was able to sew me a bag out the rest of the seat cushion from the stool. It was added to the Poäng seat and that is where all the electrics go in.

It's nice to know that if you do move houses you can still place it in the middle of a room with no annoying cables. Also useful when you want to clean up or in summer when it's hot and a seatheating is possibly not necessary.

Everyone said I am freak but now since my girlfriend's grandma sat in my pimped Ikea Poäng she spread the word and many people want one... Meanwhile I was offered an astonishing 1000,00€ from a wine consultant for that chair."

Yarn! Was that a dining table?

2009-11-11T07:01:00.002-05:00

Misty takes the Ingo dining table yarns away from its original purpose.

"I needed a weaving loom that was long enough to weave a scarf on. I had never whipped up a loom and only weaved on those little student frame looms in the past. I saw my Ingo table and realized that it would work for an impromptu loom. The wooden spoon (hanging from some scrap yarn loops attached to the top) is the heddle that moves one set of the warp up. The Chopstick with the red ends has loops of yarn around the other set of warp strings."

See more of Misty's Ingo loom.

Lykta and Bubinga: What?

2009-11-10T07:41:00.000-05:00

Dave shares what he calls, his first artistic Ikea hack. They turned out pretty classy, don't you think?

"I found a Centrera Lykta Lantern in the scratch and dent room on my inaugural trip to the Ikea that opened in Charlotte, NC earlier this year. It is a candle lantern with an aluminum base and glass globe. The glass globe on the scratch and dent Lykta had seen better days but I was most interested in the aluminum base which had a lot of possibilities.

I am a woodturner and always on the lookout for round fittings and pieces to incorporate into my turnings. I turned a bowl out of Bubinga wood to sit inside of the lip of the Lykta. The piece is 5" in diameter and 3.25" high."

The Billy fixed

2009-11-09T10:50:00.000-05:00

David tipped me on this smart solution of room corners by Kurzel. [via There, I Fixed It]. The criss-crossing shelves are a nice touch.

See more of Kurzel's Billy corner bookcase.

Vink CD rack

2009-11-05T11:40:00.002-05:00

I like how Jim hacks a rack for his Vink CD holders. It's a great space saver and adds some style to the $2.99 cheapo CD holder.

"This is a simple rack to hold a bunch of Vink CD holders. Each stand will hold 9 racks for a total of 180 CDs on each stand."

The stand is made from standard pine 2" x 10" stock, on top a 12" base.

The Vink CD holders are held in place by hooks.

See Jim's Vink CD holder rack instructions.

Office storage from kitchen and bath units

2009-11-04T07:43:00.001-05:00

This is great use of a space with a sloping ceiling. Jay turns it into a fabulous work station with ample book storage.

"I wanted a solid built-in office solution with heavy duty wall-mounted bookshelves above a long (12') counter top/desk/workspace with ample storage that would fit into an 18" deep nook under a sloped ceiling. Ikea doesn't really have anything purpose-made for this situation. Most of the bookshelves are either free-standing units or rather weak decorative wall shelves. So for the upper shelves I found that horizontal Akurum kitchen cabinets (30"x15"x12") were good for heavy books and inexpensive without the doors/hardware.

For the work surface/drawers, I found that none of the kitchen or office products were exactly the right depth/height. The solution: Godmorgon bathroom sink cabinets (without sinks; on 4 inch legs). Pricey, but well made with solid wood drawer interiors. Three units fit perfectly in 12' of space, but the units are conveniently (intentionally?) designed so that they can be assembed as a 23.5" wide two-drawer half-unit. So I did this with one of them leaving a sitting/desk space. I ripped 96" and 49" Numerar kitchen countertops (metal edges and matching wood grain surface) down to the right depth and combined they are the perfect length. Draw bolts and black automotive silicone adhesive made the seam practically disappear (it looks worse in the pictures than it really is). I finished off with minimal Grip drawer pulls instead instead of the large handles that were included."

Children's front facing book rack

2009-11-02T07:15:00.000-05:00

This is simple hack but I like it. Becca found a great way to display children's books or any books for that matter, facing front.

"We made this children's book rack by adding a bar on each shelf, so that the books can be displayed facing front. This is an inexpensive Billy bookshelf from Ikea ($40). And the bars are mouldings purchased from Lowes (about $5 total)."

One for the coop

2009-10-30T12:20:00.005-04:00

Susan, a mother and chicken owner from Northern Ireland, uses the Ikea Antonius range as a new bug-free chicken nest box and storage unit. The drawers were cut with a sharp knife to create the nest boxes. Chickens love their new home!

See more of Susan's chicken nest box instructions and more photos on Flickr.

Related hack:
- Ikea home for chicks

Built-in Besta entertainment center

2009-10-30T07:10:00.000-04:00

George is quite the hacker and has started his own blog documenting his personal Ikea hacks.

"I've done two kitchen remodels over the past few years where I hacked/modified Ikea cabinets, however I never documented the hacks. Anyway, I just posted an entertainment center build where I hacked a couple Ikea Besta products.

The point of the Besta hack is to raise the speakers, hide the components and cables. There is also a neat sliding shelf for the receiver.

Hop over for a looksee.

iMac computer desk

2009-10-29T07:05:00.007-04:00

Gérard from The Netherlands has a sleek solution for his iMac.

"My Apple iMac obstructed our dinner table for a year. My wife did not make much of it. To please her I did a little Ikea hacking. I bought a Ludvig Laptop shelf/charging station. And a Ludvig Router/modem wall cabinet. I used the wall cabinet as computer stand and the laptop shelf for my keyboard and mouse. Both Ludvigs have nice compartments for various stuff (Hard drives, headset, DVD’s etc.) The set is complemented with a Vitamin stool. When not in use the shelf is put to rest and the computer is not in the way. I think it is a nice hack and my wife is pleased. Mission accomplished."

Halloween costume - Toxic barrel of waste

2009-10-29T02:13:00.000-04:00

Just a few more days before Halloween and if you're desperate for a costume, this is a quick and easy one from Rebecca.

"My oldest son's Halloween costume this year is an Ikea hack. He's going as a barrel of toxic waste. We made this from an Ikea Dimpa hamper. We cut head and arm holes, and painted it up."

Low budget network cabinet

2009-10-28T07:56:00.011-04:00

Oliver builds a network thingamajig inside a PS cabinet.

He says, "We built a network cabinet based on Ikea PS Cabinet "Doppeltür PS Schrank" from Germany. View the original article in German."

Better yet, read the google translation. "Does not this look brilliant? Made class!" Cracks me up.

Halloween goes East

2009-10-27T07:38:00.001-04:00

The day for ghouls and goblins will soon be upon us. Tien and friends decide to go Japanese this year. Why not? Witches and vampires are so last season.

"My friends and I are going for a Japanese theme this year. For one of my friends, I wanted to make a sexy kimono (was inspired by Emiri Miyasaka's kimono, right).

The cheapest place for colorful fabrics by far is Ikea (at least in my city). So, I purchased the fabric, took about 6 hours of planning and sewing (didn't really have a pattern... just kind of made it up as I went).

Turned out rather nice. It wasn't expensive - cost me about 180 kr (roughly $25, but it's probably even cheaper in the US). Below is my makeshift pattern. I based it off of this. Here are the measurements I used and how I did it. I kind of eyeballed the measurements, so it's not exactly as that, but I tried my best to remember the measurements for the instructions.

Obviously, one can go longer and multiple layer it, but I have to make 4 costumes for my friends and simplest is best. Hope someone tries this (but not in my city :D). It's going to be an awesome Halloween."

Movable laptop desk

2009-10-26T09:36:00.001-04:00

Linda hacks together a mobile laptop desk. She didn't provide the names but I think the base is a Besta height extension unit. The shelf is supported by Capita legs.

Linda says, "I have a laptop computer with a battery out of order, a subwoofer and external hard disk. I wanted a piece of furniture that could hold all of them. I created it after two hours in Ikea Cronenbourg at Strasbourg in Alsace."

Ecomodder Ikea LED hack

2009-10-23T12:36:00.000-04:00

A hack that Mother Earth will approve. This Ecomodder is from Marcus.

"I'm a furniture designer and a ruthless hacker of all things found, discarded and misused. I have a thread going on Ecomodder.com where I am building a Kamm back aerodynamic mod for my Previa van. I'm getting 43% above The EPA mileage rating for my van with a record of 36mpg highway with normal driving techniques. My Ikea hack involves Dioder lighting strips and aluminium rails from the as-is section. The dioder lights are 12V and make perfectly cool turn signals. The aluminium strips make a great lightweight frame for the coroplast.

The Kamm back reduces the aerodynamic drag on my van. At highway speeds over half of an average car's fuel is consumed to overcome aerodynamic drag.

Much of the drag on a car can be reduced drastically. This drag is expressed as a coefficient. In my case the Previa has a stock coefficient of drag or Cd of .35. If I cut that in half, to .17, I should cut my fuel consumption by over 27% The Kamm back I made theoretically reduces my highway drag by about 15% which should translate into a fuel savings of 7.5%. That's 7.5% less Co2 and everything else. I'm also working on a belly pan using the ikea aluminum slats which smoothes out the airflow under belly of the car, good for another 6%.

The LED lights consume less energy than incandescent turn signals which in turn uses less fuel because a car's engine generates electricity using the alternator and that takes fuel.

Since I've been doing this over a year ago, I've saved over 85 gallons of gasoline and emitted 750lbs less Co2 than a stock Previa. I'm using 46% less gas than the EPA rating on my vehicle and thus emitting 46% less pollution. Part of that is thanks to Ikea hacks.

I also reduce my footprint by riding my electric motorcycle when I don't need the Van which reduces my emissions by 99.9% although I can't say Ikea hacks help there."

See more of it over at Ecomodder.

Pyrography your kitchen utensil

2009-10-23T07:29:00.000-04:00

Victoria goes arty with the $0.49 Kitchen Utensil Set. Reminds me of henna.

But unlike henna which is drawn on, the designs are "burnt" onto the wood. Victoria explains that Pyrography is a little used process in the design industry ... and can be used to create interesting effects on the ready made."

See more of Victoria's Pyrography technique.

Lack Drafting Table

2009-10-22T07:24:00.000-04:00

Nate turns his Lack table into a drafting table.

My Lack table started to show some wear, so I replaced it with a different bedside table. I turned the old Lack table into a drafting table for my design work. The extra legs made great pencil holders that match the finish. The entire project requires 2 hinges, 8 screws, a bit of super glue, and an elementary understanding of Trig."

Patrull Lathe splashguard

2009-10-21T07:11:00.000-04:00

Alan finds an easy solution for his lathe splashback.

"I've been meaning to make a splashback for my little Taig / Peatol lathe for a while, I was thinking of using some aluminium sheet and folding something up, but hadn't got around to it. Browsing in Ikea, I saw their Patrull stove / hob guard. It looked about the right size and 1mm Stainless Steel, with safe edges and folded over so it's very rigid too. It had a central part so it can expand outwards too. Best of all it's only £10.00 or with an Ikea Family card a smidge over £7.00. Can't buy the materials for that, and you get a free cup of tea and a handful of wooden coffee stirrers too!

I folded it up and it's absolutely spot on, it grips to the base of my lathe as if it's made for it. Holes are in the right place, plus I have a chunk of stainless steel from the central part spare too. Comes with dome nuts and extra brackets which I can adapt and make it into a really sturdy job! It'd work just as well for other small desktop lathes, unimats, micro mills etc too.

It's magnetic, so I can fit my little magnetic tin storage boxes to it too (Also from Ikea - they normally fix onto their steel white boards). Ikea is a good place to look for items which have other uses around the home and workshop. Great for putting those little allen keys and chuck keys in so you don't lose them the instant you put them down.

For under a tenner - what a steal, a stainless steel you could say. Great idea for thinking outside the flat pack. Also picked up some Dralla chopping boards - £1.79 for two, great for protecting the bench top when working on any small projects and dirt cheap too, made from Polyethylene with a textured non slip finish, oh and a little Birch cutlery tray, solid wood, finger jointed corners, pre-finished and £6.99!"

Easy soap stand

2009-10-20T07:40:00.001-04:00

Lydia comes up with an elegant soap stand for her tub.

"I wanted to pass along something I just completed - while I'm using it as tub decor, you can easily take the idea to make cake stands out of any plate and candlestick with a wide enough top. I started with the shorter Skimmer candlestick and a Smarta pie plate from Ikea. I painted both purple and glued together with Gorilla Glue. Added some lavender soaps and bath accessories and voila!"

See more of Lydia's soap stand.

The lowdown on the Expedit TV unit

2009-10-19T07:16:00.000-04:00

Tess (and Patrick) share the latest project they undertook to convert a boxy Expedit TV unit into a low slung one.

"My husband Patrick thought we'd share the latest project we undertook a few weeks ago! We bought the Expedit TV Storage Unit in 2007. It did a great job not only holding our TV and book/DVD collection, but hiding an ugly fireplace in our living room. When we moved last year, the tall, boxy TV unit still served it's purpose for our storage needs, but in our new living room, rendered the far corner of the room 'dead space'. We decided a long-and-low TV/bookcase storage unit that stretched the length of the room would be ideal. After searching around for freestanding and built-in options costing $$$$s, the answer was staring us in the face all the time - why not take apart our TV unit and put it back together as two separate bookcases? All we needed to buy was material for the end pieces, and some wooden planks plus MDF board cut-to-size and painted did the job. Granted there was a lot of extra holes drilled and long screws holding it together (and a lot of dowls!) and the top surface does have a few superfluous screw holes exposed. But for under $100 we now have a 'custom built' TV and storage unit that fits perfectly in our living room."

Antonius cable manager

2009-10-16T07:28:00.013-04:00

Tom found an alternative to the Signum cable manager. His uses the Antonius clothes hanger. If you don't have a lot of cables, this could be ideal.

"I recently found a nifty solution for the crippling problem of cable management. It might not be suitable for super computers but it does work for my desk. It was built by screwing Ikea Antonius coat hangers to the underside of the desk using long enough wood screws. To give it a bit of stability, I used a hollow tube (like piping cut to length) for the hangers to sit on."

Gorm pedalboard for guitarists

2009-10-15T07:07:00.001-04:00

Christopher gives the Gorm rockstar appeal.

"Guitarists use lots of gadgets sometimes. One of their favorite gadgets are effects pedals. They come in all shapes and sizes and colors, and they usually are stomped on to activate. Well, I was at Ikea one day a few years ago and noticed that the Gorm shelf would make a really nice cheap pedalboard. This is my most recent.

A lot of guitarists have caught on. There's a thread on a musicians forum dedicated to Gorm pedalboards! (One of them below, via Harmony Central) Some people even paint them but the same basic pattern follows. Cheap Gorm shelf, Velcro, and voila! Pedalboard. Cheap, sturdy, awesome."

Hutten wine storage in Expedit unit

2009-10-14T07:02:00.000-04:00

Brad adds a wine nook in his Expedit. Enough to stash away a few bottles of red and wine as well as glasses.

"I love my Expedit unit. It has become a handy storage and decorative center piece in my home. I hacked a Hutten wine bottle storage to fit into the 2-by-4 Expedit. The Hutten is the perfect width as-is to fit into a bay in the Expedit. It is about an inch and half too tall, though. I measured the Expedit and trimmed the upright posts to the correct height. I then drilled new holes in the vertical bits to move them all down roughly the same distance that I trimmed from the posts. The fit is perfect, and very convenient. I initially intended to stain the Hutten to match the dark brown tone of the Expedit, but once I had it in there, I decided that I like the contrast of the dark and light wood tones. I also added an Ikea wine glass rack into the neighboring bay."

Stolmen vertical pot rack

2009-10-13T10:44:00.000-04:00

This is a terrific idea from Andrew. A pot rack in the corner of the kitchen, standing almost sculpture like.

"I thought people here would be interested in the pot rack I devised for our recent kitchen renovation. While we added plenty of storage to the space, I prefer pots to be easily accessible, but we did not want to have them hanging from the ceiling in the center of the space. Fortunately, we had a small corner of unused space between a cabinet and entryway that was sized just right for a column of pots. Our system uses one pole from the Stolmen shelving system ($30), a handful of double-sided brackets (6 for $15), and Grundtal hooks of two sizes (5 for $3). It is extremely sturdy, can easily hold hundreds of pounds of pots, and is held in place with pressure alone, obviating the need for screws and making it easy to disassemble and move to another location. (The Stolmen system is meant to be screwed in place on both ends, but once I had it up, it was clearly solid enough to stay put without them). I hope this is helpful."