The Gear Project 2

Materials: RIBBA 25x25 photo frame, 3D-printer, imagination and lots of time.

Description: I don't know if you will call this a hack. It is built around the IKEA RIBBA frames. But there are lots more to it.

Over all it is a kinetic piece of art. I got the idea after I had created the "Gear Painting". If I could print gears... Then why not universal joints? After some testing there was no way back, I just had to do it. :)

I designed the project in SketchUp and printed out all the parts that was not metal and frames. Lot's of effort was put in to measuring distances and cutting holes in the frames.

All parts that spins sits on ball bearings for a smooth and quiet operation.

The LEDs are controlled with a small remote and the movement can be turned of with a Nexa remote socket breaker.

This is a very short description of the project. But I have a more detailed version here.

You can also download all the drawings and STL:s from Thingiverse here. 

I will add a small movie as soon as I have made one. :)

~ Erik Pettersson, Enköping, Sweden

Malm dressers become built in!

Materials: 2 Malm 4 drawer dressers, 1 Malm bedside table

Description: On the first wall I used the bottom halves of 2 4 drawer Malm dressers, topped by a 3' x 8' trim panel from a Adel medium brown kitchen. I used additional trim panel wood to create the shelves at the end.

$10 MALM facelift, huge impact

Materials: MALM four drawer unit, spray adhesive, inexpense engineer print, digital photo

Description: I wanted to customize my boring MALM dresser and after searching for inspiration I found only fabric, wallpaper and wood trims being applied to the dresser fronts. I decided, as a photographer/mom who loves her kids' faces/decorator obsessed with OVERSIZEness, that I should go with a photo.

I knew that you could get super cheap larger than life black and whites at your local copy shop (staples, office depot). Take in your digital file and ask for an engineer's print, aka blueprint. I prepared by cropping my image square, 32x32 (your Malm drawer width is 32 inches and the height is 8 inches) since I have the four drawer variety.

You can customize this according to which Malm you have. Once trimmed to four pieces, all 32x8, I applied them to the drawer fronts with 3M spray adhesive. It helps to remove the drawers, and stand them up so you can lie the paper flat. Once you have a sure fit, lift one half of the paper, spray the drawer front under it, and smooth it onto the sprayed drawer. It will stick right away, securing it in place while you repeat with the other half. I did not use Mod Podge as it would probably cause the print to bubble and smear.

The blueprints are said to be "not photo quality" so don't expect perfection for $3.19, but I don't think it looks bad at all! Also, when working with your picture, consider where the cuts will go so it is not distracting (cutting thru words or faces for example). Best of luck!!

See more of the Malm makeover.

~ Bridgette Davis

***

Let's welcome our new site sponsor, PANYL. 

Just as this post is about decorating the front panels of your IKEA furniture, let's rant a little about the limited surface finishes we have at IKEA - the beech, the birch, the whites, the reds, the browns and even more meh. Well, now, say hello to new possibilities with PANYL, the brainchild of Dan and Tristam. PANYL is a flexible self-adhesive vinyl film. Some thing like tape, but without the nasty residue or markings of any kind if you remove it.  Unlike tape, it is much  firmer and more rigid, yet malleable enough to be wrapped around gentle contours and edges. Which means, you and I can apply PANYL without any special tools or training.

The most wonderful thing is, PANYL currently stocks 34 patterns, in solid colors, woodgrains, and a handful of specialty finishes like brushed aluminum. Their finishes fit the Expedit, Bestå Tombo, Framstå and Ekby Järpen but there's definitely more in the pipeline. Take a look at some of their colourful goodies.

This sky blue finish is just so easy on the eyes, don't you think? You can also get creative with their finishes. The chevrons on the Expedit is simply amazing. I really want that for mine. 

Well, maybe it's time I update the look of my Expedit. How about you? Go take a look at PANYL.

~ Jules

Make Freden Sink Cabinet Sinkless

Materials: Freden sink cabinet, wood planks of choice

Description: I found a stack of Freden sink cabinets at Ikea for incredibly cheap, and I thought it would make a nice corner cabinet to put mail, keys, family photos, etc... on, as well storing a few things inside.

First, assemble the cabinet as per instructions. The cabinet comes with adjustable feet and stainless steel feet covers that I chose to keep aside for a later project.

Lack Table Face Lift

Materials: 2 Lack side tables, tools to assemble table, PL Premium Adhesive

Description: You fully make 1 of the tables as directed and then take the top from the other table and glue them to the bottom of the fully assembled table using PL Premium construction adhesive and voila new much more attractive expensive looking tables! I bunched mine together as a slim coffee table and the ottomans I already had on hand happened to fit in perfectly as a happy accident.

Customise your Lack with Gesso

Materials: Lack table

Description: I gessoed the table completely then applied torn bits of paper from magazines, ads, show tickets, bus tickets, letters, stamps, a few scraps of handmade papers I had lying around, junk mail, you name it, using a matt acrylic medium. After it was dry I applied a coat of satin varnish acrylic medium.

See more of the gessoed Lack table.

~ Susan Avishai, Toronto

Make your LACK table a monochrome unicum

Materials: LACK table, 4 rolls of black tape

Description: I had an old square LACK table for roundabout 5€. After a few removals the clean white soul of my table was very scuffed and shabby. So I decided to hack it. Due to deficiency of cash and time, I chose 4 rolls of cheap black tape. And the rest is history.

~ Jan Petter, Leipzig, Deutschland

Smile ... you're on KNAPPA camera!

IKEA is shaking things up, again. Hot on the announcement of its new line of integrated home entertainment, Uppleva, the big blue & yellow is revealing an unexpected item - a cardboard digital camera! Well, we've had a camera hacked before but the Knappa is an entirely different thing. The camera is released as part of its new PS line, due to hit stores late 2012.

Only LACK to hack

Materials: Lack

Description: Only LACK table.

The vertical panel comprises two parts. A lower U-shaped panel and the other is a 4 row of LACK tables. The top piece is glued and screwed with some metal plates. Both parts support its weight on the bottom and are subject to hooks on the wall to keep from falling forward.

The cabinet is composed of panels of the LACK table cut in 3/4 and LACK table legs. The pieces are just glued together. The cabinet doors are Lack shelves.

LEKSVIK floating TV stand

Materials: LEKSVIK coffee table, 1 x 12 x 10 #2 Whitewood Pine Board (lowes), Simpson Strong-Tie Angle (x3), white trim semi gloss paint, Stripper Gel, Wood strength glue, white decorative cable cover, Cordless drill and drill bits, Stud Finder, Circular Saw.

Description: I was inspired by this hack.

To make it easier to hack, I tried to reuse the IKEA assembly mechanism (bolts and screws) that the table had, to make this easy with just a few cuts.

First, disassemble the table keeping in mind what part of the table you're gonna use. (see picture with doodle). I wanted to have enough space in the shelves to fit DVD's, games and my kids Wii console. Cut the shelves to your desired length.

GRONO & LERBERG LED Lights

Materials: Grono Lamp and Lerberg DVD rack

Description: Remote controlled multi-colour self adhesive LED lighting strip was used for these hacks. For the Grono the LED strip was mounted on a section of square plastic drainpipe (you can see the remote control sensor in the picture).

Tying in Lersta

Materials: Ikea-Lersta Reading/floor lamp, lamp shade, spray paint, Rayon Crepe Cord

Description: We moved a year ago into our new house. This was the perfect opportunity to create a new style for our living room.

Coming form Germany and moving to the UK, I wanted to have a Mixture of British and German elements.

I opted for red wall paint,red velvet curtains, red footstools.....you get the picture.

After all the redecorating, my old floor-lamp in my reading-corner did not fit in any more.

Curtain panel bluff and room divider

After with Panel Curtain Room Divider!

Before

Materials: IRJA Curtain rod set, Riktig curtain loops/hooks, Betydlig ceiling brackets, KAJSA curtain panels,Drill, screwdriver, hammer, hacksaw, mounting screws

Description: I wanted the look of the curtain panels but didn't want to double the cost by using the recommended rails and sliders.

Coffee Table Coaster Frame

Materials: Vittsjo, Poster Board, Beer Coasters, Mod Podge, Hot Glue

Description: This simple hack can turn your coffee table into a frame for an awesome collage. By using the fairly inexpensive Vittsjo coffee table ($50), some poster board, hot glue, and a little elbow grease, you can have yourself a great conversation piece. For this hack I used cardboard beer coasters that you get at any bar/restaurant. Here's how I did it:

EXPEDIT Bed Frame

Materials: (2) EXPEDIT 5X1 Shelving unit's, FIXA floor protectors, (2) sheets MDF, (1) 4X4 post, wood screws, power drill

Description: While spending some time in the US, I wanted to show my brother the potential of IKEA furniture. A few days later, I surprised him with a modern, functional upgrade to his bed.I wanted to provide adequate storage in a room with minimal space. My idea was to take advantage of the DRONA boxes in conjunction with the EXPEDIT shelves.

"Ideale" bike rack: Stolmen becomes art!

Materials: Stolmen pole with end fitting

Description: Wanted to get a bike rack for my Keirin track bike but solutions available are rather expensive. Thus, decided to get creative some spare bike parts and build an awesome bike rack.

Expedit shelves + countertop = optimized work station for long but narrow room

Materials: Expedit shelving units (2 times 2x2, 1 time 2x4), customized countertop, Expedit inserts for 2 drawers, Skubb boxes

Description: We have a long (~4 m) but very narrow (~1.65 m) room in our flat, which has to satisfy a lot of different functions. The first part of the room was already equipped with our cloakroom, but a workspace was missing (including 2 huge printers/scanner) and most important a lot of storage space for household stuff such as flat iron, bottles, tools, towels etc.

First we tried to cope with an old Vika Amon desk (60x120 cm)and an even older Billy (60x202 cm), but that didn't work fine as we were always annoyed at the legs of the desk which got in the way when we wanted to grab something from the lower part of the shelf. Furthermore, there was a lot of unused space.

Turn a trivet into a stylish wine glass rack

Materials: LAMPLIG Trivet, NUMERAR Countertop

Description: Nice large wine glasses but no space to store them? Ikea's Lamplig trivet comes to the rescue. After cutting the trivet in half you can place them into anything. I had a Numerar countertop leftover, it looks pretty sleek. Stores 22 62cl wine glasses.

Armchair 30 minute makeover

Materials: very old IKEA chairs, nonage on them, spray paint and 8 covered buttons

Description: Found these chairs at my local thrift shop.

Removed the pine colored legs and spray painted them Oil-rubbed bronze.

Covered 8 buttons with a sunburst material.

Drilled holes through the back.

Hacker help: Any idea how to stop a clock from clicking?

Materials: Rusch wall clock

Description: I'm looking for your help. We bought some Rusch wall clock, they're cheap and quite sharp. And, more over, when you don't like 'em, you can easily hack'em.

But.

There is a but.

They're too noisy.
I can hear the one in the bathroom from the bed, and it's like 5meters. Not ensuite. And I have a PC in my bedroom, on most of the nights.

But it tics and tics and tacs.

Any ideas?

~ jo

Ball of light

Materials: Stranne Standard Light

Description: Paint the stems in black satin. Stick small woollen balls to the light ends with liquid white glue. Easy, cheap and you cannot see the yellow plastic rods.

~ Cvprince cyril, France Rouen

Hacker help: SUNDVIK upgrade?

Materials: Sundvik crib and ?

Description: This is an help request more than an hack. I bought the new Sundvik crib for my baby girl due in June. After I got it, many friends pointed out that it hasn't got the possibility to lower the side to make the bed every morning. Any suggestion on how to modify it so the side slides easily in a lower position or opens in any other way? Thanks hackers!

~ Claudia, Italy

Hey Claudia
This was done on the Sniglar but you may get some ideas for the Sundvik.  See more. 


~ Jules

Clock from a railroad station

Materials: Bravur clock

Description: First unscrew all parts, burn off the paint from the outer ring of the clock, sandpaper some paint off from the face of the clock. Wet all parts of the clock (not the clock mechanism) spread salt and dirt on the clock and put them in a garbage bag. Let them be from two days to two weeks in a warm place(check once in a while). Take out and screw all parts together and there you have it, an old rusted railroad station clock.

~ pia, Finland

LACK Lightbox

Materials: LACK

Description: Not my hack, but I thought it worth sharing none the less.

For all you budding photographers, or designers, or even the kids if they want to trace a picture, I think this is a good use of the easily and readily available LACK table.

Rusch, modernized

Materials: Rusch clock, wooden dowels, paint, glue

Description: I wanted to create a large, modern-looking wall clock on the cheap. Enter the Rusch clock, which is only $2.

I got some thin wooden dowels (24" in length, 6 dowels total) at Michael's. Cut each dowel in half to get 12 12-inch dowels, and glued them to the back side of the clock using hot glue.

Shoji screen from Molger Bench

Materials: MOLGER BENCH, screws and other fasteners

Description: The wonderful 4x8 foot shower in my new house has 12 linear feet of window with a low sill that looks directly into an adjent park. If I had just frosted the glass, I'd be still have rather provocative shadows on the shades when I bathed.

In needed something more opaque, but that would still admit light. Something with an Asian sensibility.

Greenhouse à la Elk

Materials: SAMLA boxes and lids, drill, hole saw

Description: Basis of this idea was the simple fact, that I needed a bigger mini-greenhouse (windowsill greenhouse) for my growing chili plants, as the former nursery station became too small. But I didn't find any to buy, so I hacked one (OK, I hacked two as you can see).

For one greenhouse I bought
- 1 SAMLA box, 11 liters, black
- 1 SAMLA box, 22 liters, white
- 2 matching lids (which are identical in size)

BLANDA ceiling lamp

Materials: BLANDA BLANK 36 cm serving bowl, masking tape, hand drill, spray paint, magnets, tons of patience

Description: For the past six years I've just had a bare bulb in the ceiling of my bedroom, so when I repainted it this winter I decided I wanted to cover it up once and for all.

None of the lamp shades I could find in shops were quite what I wanted though, so I decided to make my own from a BLANDA bowl.

Cabinet for shoes and others

Materials: Lennart drawer unit (pic, right) - two pieces, $40.
Countertop and a thin cabinet door from the Ikea department of discount, approximately $9, screws, screwdriver

Description:
A thin door, sawing it in two parts - this will be the sidewall.
From the countertop - make the top of the drawer.


After sawing wood pieces, they are treated with sandpaper.
Finish painted with white acrylic paint with a brush.
Eco-friendly :)

IVAR "Good Old Days" Bookcase

Materials: IVAR, decorative moulding, mdf, paint

Description: A boring corner next to our two-wing bedroom door had to be pimped. Ivar fitted perfectly in there, but it needed some old fashioned look to go with the 19th century door. The Ivar skeletal structure is 30cm deep and 226cm high. We placed a mdf panel on the sides and on the top. After that we painted it in the same colour like our wall.

~ Leila&Mario, Vienna, Austria

Laptop Stand, now even cheaper

Materials: EKBY VALTERx2, LYCKAx1, RULLx2

Description: This is an idea from this laptop stand hack. I just find a cheaper way to finish a laptop stand. Just need a screw driver and 4 screws to finish it. It looks cool, too. The total cost is NT$242 (US$8). Very cheap.

~ Hsiping Shih, Taipei, Taiwan