Kitchen Peninsula

Materials: Akurum base & wall cabinets, high gloss Abstrakt doors & panels

Description: IKEA HACK 1: Changing an underused bar area into a multi-functional peninsula: Now this place serves as a prep-area for cooking (we only have a little pantry-style kitchen), and a food serving station (breakfast/happy hour/ buffet style dining).

Billy Built In with Windowseat

Materials: 2 Billy book shelves, plywood (1side finished), trim, crown molding, miter saw, jig saw, table saw, drill, screws, upholstery foam, fabric, thread and sewing machine

Description: I knew Ikea could help us 'cheapen' our built-in plans. With my super smart and talented husband our end result looks like we paid big bucks to a professional!

Yup, another Expedit Bar

Materials: Two EXPEDIT 2x2 Bookcases, two sets of CAPITA legs, 1 LOTS mirror set, 1 INREDA stemware rack, 1 DIODER light set

Description: This hack was inspired by a lot of the other EXPEDIT bars on this site with a few individual tweaks. We had 40+ bottles of booze, a ton of glassware, and not very much space, so we decided to get two Expedits and place them at a right angle. (One day, when we have more space, we may be able to use them side by side.)

We removed some of the supports to create space for the glassware and tall bottles, and also to make a hidden nook where the two bookshelves meet to tuck in even more booze. (Keep the expensive stuff out of sight?)

Malm Captain's Bed for tiny NYC Apartment

Materials: MALM 6-Drawer Dresser, EKBY TONY/ EKBY BJARNUM, NISSE Folding Chair, 2x4s, Plywood Scraps, Shelving Board

Description: I have a tiny bedroom (about 6ft by 7ft) in a 3-bedroom apartment in New York City and was looking for a way to make the best use out of the space. As a student, I still wanted a desk space to do my work so that was a must. When I first moved into the space I was using the Tromso loft with the desk attachment underneath and that was about it. Being a tall person however (I'm about 6'1") I quickly found that a twin loft bed was just not going to work in the long term.

When I stumbled upon Ikeahackers and and saw some Malm hacks for storage beds it got me thinking about how I could make my own custom built for the space, and with the help of my father and uncle here is the result! I could not be more happy with the way it turned out!

EKBY Book Gallery Display Shelf

Materials: EKBY Tryggve and EKBY Valter

Description: For a recent photography exhibition I decided to showcase a book next to some framed work. While a RIBBA picture frame shelf would have sufficed, I wanted something a little more conducive to page turning while the book was stationary, so... I got hacking.

Color-Backed Decor Bowls

Materials: Hultet Bamboo Bowls

Description: I bought three Hultet decor bowls to hang on my wall but once I got home I realized they were really dull and boring.

To remedy this I painted just the back-side of each bowl and then hung them on the wall. It's very subtle but high impact!

Expedit 19" rack

Materials: Expedit, MDF 18mm

Description: I was planning to make a nice 19" rack with Expedit. But because the shelves are thin like paper, I had to reconfigure it.

What we've done: Making a sort of case with 18mm thick MDF, and put this in the Expedit.

Cool hacks for a Kool Kidz shop

Materials: Expedit, Lack, Vika Gruvan

Description: How to make a low budget shop look cool:

1.
- Glue old cartoons on the Expedit shelves
- turn wheels on

Nice and quiet Rusch hour

Materials: Rusch wall clock

Description: The Rusch wall clock is so cheap that it's practically begging for creative modifications.

In this case I spray-painted the body black and covered the face with a design I printed out and colored with gold ink. I replaced the hands with interesting shapes cut out of paper card stock and covered with gold gift wrap paper. The gold looks better in reality than on the pictures.

Building/repair tool on rooftops

Materials: BEKVÄM step stool

Description: Renovating an old house, I should remove paint, sanding the wooden panels, put primer paint and paint, sanding in between.

I am not a hero on the roof, standing on the small wooden slats on which the rooftiles are laying.

So I measured the degree of the roof and sliced away part of a BEKVÄM with same angle.

After that I fastened two slats under the feet of the BEKVÄM stool with screws.
These two slats I use also when working on the roof: six screws from the slats on the roof.

So I move my building tool on the roof taking out these screws, put the tool higher or lower and then fasten it again with these screws again.

Result: a tool with which it is good working! you can sit on it, hang on it, put paint cans, other things.

It gives me great confidence standing on my roof, working on my house.

~ Bert Lijnema, Netherlands

Sunburst Tajma Clock

Materials: Tajma clock & Clothes Pins,Glue gun

Description: This was the very first item I bought for my daughter on her first year in University away from home as she wanted a wall clock. Red being her favorite color, I gave her Ikea's TAJMA wall clock. After three years, my daughter brought it home and not wanting to discard this item for sentimental reasons I thought of recycling the clock.

Brada Laptop Cooler

Materials: Brada Laptop support, 2 PC Cooling fans, screwdriver, drill, hole-punching bit.

Description: I love Brada laptop support. It's very cheap -9,95TL in Turkey- and comfortable. But in summer times my laptop need cooling. Well I decided to modify my black Brada laptop support. I drilled two large holes for cooling fans and four more holes for the fan installation. I decided to use 7" fans. Maybe you can use larger. After 5 minutes of working my modified Brada is ready to use. :)

Cheap, easy and comfortable...

See more of the Brada laptop cooler.

~ Hakan Cezayirli, Turkey

Leksvik to Lets Fix for Bigger TV

Photo: IKEA.com

Materials: Leksvik bookcase, 1X12's, 1X6's, 1/10

Description: We first rearranged some shelves on a Leksvik bookcase to hold our 27 in TV. Then we bought a larger TV.

We retained the sides, doors, and used some of the existing shelves in a wider, lower TV cabinet.

Used a Kreg Jig for nearly all the connections.

I did this in the garage of a temp home in Austin. Tools were 7.5 " circular saw, clamps, Black and Decker workmate bench, kreg jig, power drill, and power saber saw.

The sides of the bookcase were cut down about 12 inches off the top and then the original top was used to trace same design on the new tops.

The 1X12's and were used for the new bottom and middle shelf. The 1X10 for the top shelf. The original shelves were used as needed for shelves and vertical sides.

~ L. DeFrance, Woodstock, IL and Austin, TX

2x2 + 2x4 + 4x4 = My re-structured Expedit

Materials: 3 Expedits (a 2x2, a 2x4 and a 4x4), wood drill with stopper, some extra 6mm-dowels, Japanese saw, wood glue, 4 metal brackets, 2 perforated metal plates, 2 clamps

Description: I always liked the "thick-outer-thin-inner-shelves"-structure of the Expedit but wasn't too fond of the regularity of it ... and neither the fact that everybody immediately recognized the Expedit as such.

I found inspring hacks here like the "Expedit reshuffled" and the "Expedit to the ceiling" and I thought, I'd like some combination plus some modifications the best. So I bought 3 Expedit shelves, a 2x4, a 4x4 and a small 2x2.

I used the smallest just to get 4 extra case boards: 2 as delivered and 2 extra by sawing up the long middle case board into another 2, using a Japanese saw and two clamps. I used one of the delivered case boards to guide the saw a bit and get smooth edges and the same length of my cut pieces.

Antonius plant stand

Materials: Antonius laundry bag stand

Description: I was contemplating to get another Socker plant stand when it occurred to me that the Antonius laundry bag stand is better looking, more stable (its screw feet can be adjusted to the floor), and only one third of the price (5€ for the Antonius, 15€ for the Socker).

VIKA ALEX in the PAX

Materials: VIKA ALEX, saw, and drill or glue

Description: I was looking for a chest of drawers to put in my PAX. It should be about half of the body in width, with the appropriate height and nice looking. So I came across the Vika Alex chest of drawers, with the perfect width and the same depth as the PAX! It was only a bit too tall. No problem, I have a saw! :)

Standing desk with Utby legs

Materials: Vika Amon top, Utby base, Ekby Jarpen shelf, Capita legs

Description: I too have joined the standing desk movement and my back has never felt better.

My first attempt was to construct my own desk, inspired by several I had seen online. I made a frame out of pipe segments. It was thin, but strong, and looked really cool... except for the top.

I failed to realize that all those desks I had seen online were made by people who just happened to have that antique farm door laying around, or the perfectly sized varnished piece of vintage driftwood just sitting in the garage without purpose. I had no such thing, so I just slapped down a sheet of plywood.

I made two miscalculations-- one, I decided I need storage so I added some blocks to the top and then a second sheet of plywood to make some cubby hole action. Second, I had to add feet to the whole thing so it wouldn't gouge up my hardwood floors. The shelf and feet added a good 6 inches to my initial design. Didn't seem like a lot, but after working at the desk for awhile I started having back and should problems. It was just too high.

I turned to Ikea Hackers for ideas on what to replace my failed construction with. I found most of the desks fell into three common categories:

1. Desks that were a bunch of things stacked on each on other. While functional, I just think it looks a little too clunky junky.

2. Great hacks using Expedit as a platform. While these all seem super functional have nice lines, they are also very HEAVY looking. My personal taste leans toward furniture that is as open as possible. I like rooms to feel spacious, even if they aren't. Blocky furniture seems to just make a room feel smaller. Having an Expedit at waist level under my workstation didn't feel right to me.

And...

3. Desks using Vika tabletops. These felt like the best solution for me since the Vika comes in a lot of sizes and finishes. The problem is, the base. Most of the legs intended for these tops don't extend as high as I would need them. The various solutions to this issue I've seen around seemed like they might be a little too unstable or have the same issue as #2 above.

My ultimate solution was not a hack, so much as combining the right pieces together. I discovered that the taller Utby bar table was just right for my arms-- but I didn't like the heavy, darker top design for the base.

I used a birch effect Vika on the Utby base instead. The Utby base is metallic and open, but makes use of a crossbar to actually make it as solid at home as it is on the showroom floor (which NEVER happens).

While perfect for my arms, it was not high enough for my eye to monitor line. I almost got a simple monitor shelf, but realized that there was Ekby Jarpen-- same birch effect and same width as the Vika. With a set of capita legs it made for a perfect sized shelf that created storage space below, and a shelf for my monitor and hard drives above.

The end result was exactly what I wanted-- simple, the right height, stable and not overly clunky/blocky.

With sales tax, and a simple Franklin stool for the end of the day when I get tired, the whole endeavor was just over $200.

~ Seth, Los Angeles

LACKed a 3 tier display

Materials: 5 Lack side tables, 2 sets Capita legs, 1 Ekby Jarpen shelf

Description: Working for a small business means we don't have a lot of money to spend on fixtures, especially since most fixtures for retail are way over-priced. We needed a 3-tier display and in retail fixture catalogs nothing was less than $300. We've been using Ikea as a less-expensive alternative for our fixtures and having become a fan of Ikea Hackers I decided to see if I could create something myself.

I purchased 5 LACK Side tables ($9.99 ea) in black-brown. I put together 4 of them as normal for the base. The fifth one I added the Capita Legs in the 8in size ($14 for 4). I just drilled them into the bottom of the LACK table in place of the regular legs. For the top tier I used an EKBY JARPEN ($14.99) shelf that had been cut down to about 1ft square. Add some paint to the unfinished sides of the EKBY JARPEN shelf, then attach the second set of Capita legs to this.

What makes it great for business is that it's really versatile and allows for quick changes. All told I only ended up spending $92.94 and got a great looking display out of it.

~ Joe Robles, Austin, TX

DIY bubble chandelier from JARA lampshade!

Materials: Lampshade, scissors, sisal rope, acrylic balls, gold leaf, grey paint.

Description: At first I painted the lampshade with my favorite grey paint.
Then I coat the inside of the lampshade with gold leaf. I left it a little bit messy and shabby looking.

Ancient lamp hack

Materials: Januari, Ancient beam

Description: I've been browsing through IKEA HACKERS a lot lately, because I moved into a new apartment. One idea caught my eye and I decided to try this for my own apartment.

I found a ancient oak beam from the house which was build at the spot where my parent's house is located right now. It was build in the 17th century. The small piece of that oak beam was laying around at our attic.

A long one for cat lovers

I know not everyone likes cat hacks, so if you fall into that category, please feel free to sit this one out. This post lists 4 hacks 
- DIY cat shelves from Bjarnum shelves
- A cat tree from Expedit shelves
- A kitty litter from a Corras bedside table 
- A hallway cat litter & food hideaway
- A Birkeland cat litter 
~ Hiding a litter box in the hallway

Meow!
~ Jules

DIY Cat Shelves

Materials: Ekby Jarpen shelves and Ekby Bjarnum brackets, Flor carpeting and glue

Description: We were pretty much either unimpressed with a lot of the cat trees out there or AMAZED at the cost of the ones we were impressed with. So we decided to make our own. Here are the steps:

1. Mapped out a practical layout deciding which shelves would be loungers and which would just be steps.

2. Cut the Ekby shelves to size.

Ironing time and light in tuna sauce

Materials: that light, that clock, a iron, a Campisi tuna fish can

Description: Mom gave me a iron even though she knew I would never iron: I added that Ikea light on top of it, perfect for boring books.

Campisi is a marvelous fishermen shop down to Sicily, their products rule: I had that as a base for a broken clock.

Both of them have been there for ages, Ada told me about Ikea hackers. Make love and hack.

~ enrico russo, naples

Window Shelf for Dog

Materials: Fabian Shelf, Irma throw, Irma cushion, a generic wood board, shelf bracket, paint

Description: 1) I first cut the Irma cushion open and glued the filling onto the shelf, then wrapped the case around the shelf, pulled tightly and glued together underneath

2) Next I assembled the shelf.

3) I measured and cut the board the line the shelf, leaving one side open for my dog to jump onto the shelf.

Cool speaker friendly Besta doors hack

Materials: Besta cabinets, wood framed doors with Home Depot Metal Screens

Description: Ok, so my wife and I bought 2 Besta cabinets and glass panels to hang our TV and store our sound components. We were gathering all the various pieces in the warehouse and of course the doors we wanted were not in. So we brought it all home anyway and proceeded to assemble.

As I was hacking up the cabinet backs to run speaker wire (many posts already about that) she asked if we could put speakers in the cabinets so we didn't have to look at them. Well, we could but once we went all the way back to Ikea to get doors, once the doors were closed, it would block the sound. So here is what we did.

EXPEDIT Half Shelf from Wine Rack

Photo: IKEA

Materials: EXPEDIT Bookcase, HUTTEN 9-bottle wine rack

Description: I have a 4x4 Expedit bookshelf which I also use for the storage of my cups and plates. Originally, each of the cups/dinner plates/glasses etc. had their own pod but I realised it was an inefficient way to store them.

I decided I needed shelves.

I didn't want something that would permanently screw into my bookshelf, in case I changed my mind later or moved house and had room for my cups and plates elsewhere.

I discovered that the HUTTEN 9-bottle wine rack is the perfect width (33cm) to fit inside on of the pods of the EXPEDIT bookshelf.

Creative IKEA desk

Materials: Stolmen, Capita, Vika Amon

Description: Use two Stolmen chests, with Capita legs, and four Capita bracket and one Vika Amon.

~ Pasquier Nicholas, Nantes - France

Lillangen end unit as coffee table with storage

Materials: Lillangen end unit

Description: 4 Lillangen unit combined together

~ Pasquier Nicholas, Nantes - France

Built-in kitchen Ledberg

Materials: Ledberg (2 units)

Description: I wanted to put LED lighting under my kitchen cabinets on the cheap, so I bought 2 Ledberg units. But once home I encountered 2 problems:

- I wanted the switch on the bottom of the cabinet, and I also wanted to use the power socket inside the cabinet. But the Ledberg switch and power converter are fused on the wire, so I would have to make a hole in the cabinet at least as large as the power switch.

- The cabinets I wanted to add the lights to are 120 cm wide, but each Ledberg is 75 cm.

Malm storage bed

Materials: Malm, Borken

Description: I was Googling something (don't remember what) the other day and came across IKEA Hackers! It's wonderful to see how creative people can be, and I've got a lot of new ideas for my own home.

I would like to contribute with some of my own hack's. Usually, the ideas are mine, but the handiwork is mostly done by my boyfriend, Björn, so in these cases.

There's a leg in my wall

Materials: Vika Amon screw-able table leg

Description: My son wouldn't sleep in his bed. Nothing helped. Every night he would crawl into our bed, and as charming as that may be, I would often find myself cramped in his toddler bed back aching and head busy with finding a solution to these ongoing sleeping arrangement... Well one night an idea came up! Instead of shouting Eureka, I screamed Ikea....

Spider lamp from FORSÅ

Materials: 8 FORSÅ table lamp, 1 BLANDA BLANK Serving bowl d = 20 cm, 1 BLANDA BLANK Serving Bowl, d = 8 cm

Description: This is not a usual home made Ikea hack. As a designer I wanted the product look professional, so I turned to locksmiths to put the parts together and have them painted.

I bought 8 Ikea FORSÅ table lamp, and only used the arms and the heads. A custom-made cylinder is holding them and a Blanda Blank Serving Bowl (20 cm, painted black) is hiding the wires. A black hollow shaft is connecting the lamp to the ceiling, the cover at the end is also a Blanda Blank, but the smallest one.

See more of the Forsa Spiderlamp.

~ Petra Nikoletti, Budapest, Hungary

Stokke KinderZeat solution

Materials: BEKVAM Step stool, SNILLE (seat only), NEDDA chair pad, countersink drillbit, glue, 4x crosshead screws

Description: On a trip to the UK, my little boy had the use of a chair not too dissimilar to Stokke Tripp Trapp which costs well over $300 here in Australia.

He loved being able to use the step to climb in and out of a 'Big Boy' dining chair and sit at the table with Mummy and Daddy so here's what I came up with...

Step1:
Assemble the BEKVAM Step stool ($14.99) as normal

Step2:
Glue (normal PVA wood glue in this instance) the NEDDA chair pad ($0.99) to the top of the stool, trimming the excess off with a pair of scissors.

Step3:
Mark 4 holes in a square formation on the flattest part of the SNILLE ($7) seat and drill a pilot hole through each - get a countersink bit and make recesses on the holes.

Step4:
Line up the seat on the top of the NEDDA covered step and drive 4 countersunk screws through the seat and straight into the wood - make sure these screws are long enough to hold the seat but short enough to not poke through the other side.

Hey presto, a Stokke Tripp Trapp inspired, Kiddy-Climb-In dining chair for less than $25 AUD and about half an hour to put it together.

~ Duncan, Australia

Retrofitting a PAX into a closet

Materials: PAX wardrobe , LYNGDAL doors, wood trim, mitre saw, table saw, chop saw, nails, screws

Description: After looking at PAX wardrobes and also at several nice hacks here, we decided to remove our 1950s built in closet and replace it with a set of PAX wardrobes.

Our closet measured 58" across, so two 29 1/2" wardrobe pieces would be close. We decided to maximize the closet so we chose the taller wardrobes. To make these fit, we had to enlarge the opening of the original closet by cutting up several inches, and also taking the plaster off the left side of the closet. We reframed the top of the space to fit the wardrobes.

Lack moodboard

Materials: 2x Lack shelves, chalkboard paint, nails, Duct tape, glue

Description: After moving to another place we had 2 Lack shelves which we didn't use. Throw away was not an option..

(Instead of the Lack shelves you can use any other boards)

Here's how to make one yourself: Paint your Lack shelves with chalkboard paint and glue them together. Organise your life with pictures, notes and write special messages..

~ Fraser