The "Billy Bob" Long Wall Desk

Materials: Way too many Billy bookcases. Or at least five.

Description: After moving last year from a big house shared amongst friends to a one-bedroom apartment, the five Billy bookcases I bought to fulfill an old IKEA catalog fantasy of looking at an entire wall of books were a bit much for the new space. (Side note: To properly fulfill this fantasy, you need *way* more books than you'd think. Like, way more than you have.) I wanted to use the dining room area as an office, but didn't want a "desk"; I kinda hate desks. I'm more a fan of the "plain flat work surface". So two of the five bookcases were reborn as the Billy Bob.

This hack was simple, but effective, and looked good in the space. It was also surprisingly stable and sturdy.

'Restlet' - a low cost IKEA Tablet or Smartphone Stand

Materials: Ikea Inreda DVD rack, cutting knife

Description: Do you want a simple, beautiful and also cheap tablet stand? Take the Ikea Inreda DVD rack, cut it in a suitable piece and enjoy! I have done it with the Nexus 7 and it works great in landscape mode for watching movies or news. Even for travelling, it is lightweight and small.

Watch out!

Materials: Ikea Bolmen

Description: It's a different kind of hack. I used a Ikea Bolmen stool to make a small video. I made about 150 photos of this stool in different positions. Afterwards some of them where adjusted in Photoshop. Then used iMovie to make the video.

Kitchen doors turns into wall decoration

Materials: FAKTUM NEXUS

Description: I needed some decoration for my bedroom wall.

Earlier I bought four kitchen doors from the As-Is section at local IKEA store. They were lying around waiting to be used for something. I also had some various things I wanted to have on this wall. So I doubted what I should do.

Then I had this idea to hang the doors on the wall and use them as a sort of display window.

I used:
4x FAKTUM NEXUS birch doors
1x BYGEL rail
3x FORMAT container (really really old) + FEJKA plants

Now I only need some inspiration for the fourth panel.

~ Bart, Hengelo, Netherlands

Hacker help: Chandelier Hack Ideas?

Photo: IKEA.com

Materials: KRISTALLER Chandelier, EKBY HÅLL shelf Bracket

Description: I've moved into an apartment with concrete ceilings and no light fixture holes. I have two hanging chandeliers (one Kristaller and one that is much like a Kristaller - second pic) that I absolutely love, but don't want to drill hooks into the concrete. Does anyone have any idea as to any Ikea hacks that would help me hang my beloved chandeliers again?

I was thinking of getting EKBY HÅLL shelf Brackets, attaching it to a wall, and hanging my chandeliers on them, but I'm not sure if the weight would be supported? Or maybe getting a huge, tall candle holder or tall vase and balancing the chandeliers on top of them, creating a floor lamp? Would that cause poor stability though? Any ideas?

I know how to convert my chandeliers into plug in ones, I just can't think of how to hang them.

~ Victoria, Canada

Sink base with functional drawers

Materials: ARURUM Base cabinet w/ 2+2 drawers, jigsaw, drill and screwdriver.

Description: When we moved from our house to a smaller space, we needed to maximize every bit of room. Here is a kitchen hack that allows for no wasted space under the kitchen sink.

To accomplish this hack, it was necessary to replace a few parts of the standard Ikea drawer assembly. Ikea uses metal sides and backs for their drawers with a melamine bottom. To make this modification I would have had to cut the metal drawer back. I didn'€™t care for this idea as there would have been sharp metal edges.

Having worked in the cabinetry industry for a number of years, I recognized the hardware as Blum Tandembox components. This is a neat system where the drawer sides are stainless steel and the bottom and back are melamine or wood.

Plant pot holder into lacy pendant lamp

Materials: ARYD candle holder, SKURAR Hanging Planter (all Ikea)

Description: Drill hole in candle and planter, thread the cords through hole and.. done!

~ Ilse Esveld, Netherlands

Wooden Computer Monitor Stand

Photo: IKEA.com

Materials: RAST Nightstand

Description: To make a handsome stand for your computer monitor, simply cut the top off of this little nightstand (i.e. cut the side pieces about 6" down from the top). Then, stain to your desired color. Total time for the whole process: 15 minutes. Total cost: $20.

~ Joe, Vancouver

A Lack booth worthy to be displayed

Materials: Lack tables

Description: This in not my own hack, but probably funny enough to be posted on Ikeahackers.

I always thought, fair stands are extremely expensive and all and every time is made only made for the one customer.

Ikea (scraps) headboard

Materials: extra wood in the " As Is " pile

Description: Went to Ikea one day and right before I went to the check out line I went to the " As Is " section to look for anything and saw on a cart, piled up all together, and completely random things, was scrap materials for $10. Now this is about $500 worth of materials so I thought it is a great deal.

When home and over the course of about two weeks started to cut up the ends of the MALM pieces and soon came up with the idea to create a headboard that would show the different colors and sizes.

Billsta Bar Table into Standing Work Station

Materials: Billsta Bar Table, Ekby Alex Shelf, Besta Legs

Description: I added the Signum cable management unit and Summera computer holder to make the Billsta bar table into a slick, standing work station. It's on the high end of hacks for about $300, but it fits into our new office's decor and looks very professional.

~ Marc Marton, Roswell, GA

Expedit bookshelves to fabulous TV Stand!

Materials: 2 Expedit Shelving Unit 5x1

Description: I had two brown 5x1 Expedit Shelving units. I painted them white. Took out 2 shelves from each unit. I turned them horizontal and laid them flat on top of each other. I went to Home Depot and had a piece of MDF cut to size, which I stenciled and drilled holes in (for hiding av cables). I attached this to the back and voila! For added classiness... I installed IKEA under-cabinet lights on some of the shelves.

~ Sarah Quickel, washington DC

How to: Add electric sockets to Lillangen cabinet

Materials: Lillangen

Description: First assembly the chassis of the cabinet. After chassis is ready, do a "mold" for your electric sockets with paper and scissors. When you have your mold ready, use marker to make the outline for the sockets hole.

VIKA ports from the noise storm

Materials: VIKA AMON Desktops, aluminum angle iron, good cider

Description: Open offices are awesome. Open offices are loud. Loud is often fun, but sometimes bad.

My company, Sharethrough, loves us an open office. We love the collaboration, the misused office supplies flying from desk to desk, and we love working together to make cool things.

But sometimes you need some quiet. We usually don't want or need quiet or isolation enough to move our desk into some corner, we just need a space to bang through some work in a quiet environment where we can spend an hour or a day away from the open office cacophony.

Enter the Quiet Desk. One of our founders suggested making some desks that were like study hall in college, with some visual division and quiet from the rest of the office. Not wanting to do a lot of shop-building, I decided to build as much of it as possible from off-the-shelf Ikea parts.

My Space Age TV Table

Materials: Lack TV table, birch effect

Photo: Logue Studio

Description: I searched and searched for a TV table I could live with, and finally came across this cool Jetson-esque one at Logue Studio.

Two things I didn't like about it: the $1498 base price and the legs.

Next stop: Ikea. Walked out with the $49.99 Lack TV unit table, in the birch-effect color. Went to Home Depot to get a board to fit into the Lack's front opening, walked out with a piece of 1" x 8" x 6' pine (nominal size) that cost around $18.

Hang 'em up!

Materials: Ekby Tryggve shelves, metal chains, four sturdy hooks, four small hooks for each shelf

Description: I've just moved into a new place and I like raw materials - wood, metal etc. One of many DIY projects was to create a hanging shelf. I used three Ekby Tryggve shelves, chains, and hooks.

Accessorize, glamorize your IKEA with Parts of Sweden (FREE Shipping worldwide)

Pawfect legs!

Today, I am really happy to announce a collaboration with Parts of Sweden. They are a company founded by a group of Swedish IKEA enthusiasts and aims to offer unusual solutions and accessories especially adapted to Ikea furniture. Think of them as a companion to your local IKEA, an extension of your IKEA furniture options.

Okay, enough corporate talk. Onto the goodies ...

What I especially love are the Parts of Sweden products that make me think "Why doesn't IKEA make this?" such as the Divide X and Divide 4 for EXPEDIT. Talking about the EXPEDIT, they even have a stool that fits right into the cubby hole when not in use. Genius!

Also loving this Billy bar, which I think can double up as an occasional desk. Lift the drop leaf table up and  your poison disappears from view. 

[Free shipping details after the jump]

Condo ISLAND

Materials: Expedit Bookcase, Vika Hyttan Stainless Steel countertop, Vika Byske Legs

Description: I took (1) one of the Expedit Shelving Units with 8 sections. Lay it horizontally and put felt pads on the bottom corners (I may add casters in the future).

Haunted Stråla Woods

Materials: Ikea Stråla, black spray paint, scissors, X-ACTO knife, yellow tissue paper, painters tape

Description: I had the idea to repurpose an old white Ikea Stråla Christmas light that I had in the attic.

So I came up with the idea to turn it into haunted woods. I first wanted to cut a ton of eyes into the trees and back them with yellow transparent paper to make the eyes glow but it was so hard to cut out tiny eyes in this really thick paper that I quickly realized ghosts would be a much better option.

GEMBA - Golf shoE Magnetic Ball mArker

Materials: Clip RIKTIG

Description: The idea is to create something that can bind to the laces of shoes without taking up too much space to hold a steel ball marker. The convenience lies in the fact of it being very close to where you need to mark the ball (and already on the foot) ... and not have to look in your pocket, leaving space for other objects.

You can also use it for drying the glove to cart.

Check out the video.

I hope will be useful.

~ alexpentium, italy

Making a drying rack

Photo: IKEA.com

Materials: Baby bed Sniglar

Description: For drying our printed candy we needed a drying rack. Of course it is much cheaper and easier to have Ikea make it.

Unfortunately they don't have such an item in their collection, but if you ignore the Ikea instruction manual and simply try to build the rack in a way you think a rack should be built, this is what you get.

Camera LUNS

Materials: LUNS Writing/magnetic board, two 7" wireless camera monitors

Description: While looking for a message board at IKEA, I came across the LUNS board and liked that it served as a key rack as well. When I brought it home and opened the packaging I saw that it only came with two hooks. This would be a problem because our big family has many sets of keys. So instead of the two key hooks that came with the board, I used five brass cup hooks I had lying around.

Don't worry-- there's more to this hack.

A few days after I put up the LUNS magnetic board up in my kitchen, I bought a wireless Uniden surveillance system for the house and had two camera monitors set up on the counter close by. They started getting in the way so I was thinking about hanging them on the wall when I realised they might fit inside the mail compartment on the bottom of the message board. I unplugged one of the monitors, set it inside, and voila: it was a perfect fit!

I placed both monitors inside and added some scrap cardboard to the back so it was a tight fit. The power cables looked messy so I later decided to run the wires behind the wall to the power outlet underneath. I had to drill a small hole through the board to run the wires through but I didn't have to make any other modifications.

~ Jehangir, Texas

Rad RETUR Bathroom Cabinet

Materials: nine 6" wide RETUR recycling bins, 1 Wall Pops! Stripe (a 6.5" x 12' adhesive decal), plastic paint scraper or squeegee, off-white duct tape, x-acto knife, cutting mat

Description: My small bathroom lacks both a linen closet and an under-the-sink cabinet. I was unable to drill shelves into the wall due to wiring, and I hate the look of over-the-toilet shelving units, so I created this cabinet to store my partner's and my toiletries. It accommodates all of our stuff and adds some visual interest to an all-white bathroom.

We have the unit sitting on our toilet tank because of the wiring issue, but I think it's is sturdy enough to be hung on the wall, and attractive enough to be used anywhere you need storage!

Gorm for a beach house

Materials: GORM

Description: After putting a "champagne gate", we decided to brighten up our "beach house" with the help of Gorm again.

We made a bench (photo above)

We replaced the doors of an old cupboard.

RAST goes global

Materials: Rast + decoupage+ new brass fittings

Description: I have been very inspired by the other Rast hacks posted here, especially the ones with brass hardware attached to look like a travel chest. Being a map nerd, I decided to combine the two.

1) Stain the frame with dark oak wood stain. I applied around 3 thin coats

2) Cut maps to size, stick down with PVA glue + coat with clear matte varnish

3) Whilst this is drying (takes forever!), age brass-effect corners using a solution of vinegar, lemon juice & salt. Take out to dry once tarnished.

4) Construct drawers, add antique brass handles & affix brass corners. Voila!

I actually have another one waiting in the wings but made a crucial error at stage 2 involving me gluing the maps on upside down... Be sure to have the ridge at the bottom when you paper over the fronts or you will be very disappointed!

~ Lauren, London

BRANÄS/GARNITYR Nightstand

Materials: BRANÄS, GARNITYR, L-profiled Aluminum bars, L-shaped brackets, screws, white paint, epoxy glue

Description: Me and my Gf wanted a nice nightstand, quite small and nicer that the ones offered by ikea...we were already leaving the shop when at the very end we noticed a BRANÄS box...and then the idea began.

We started by assembling BRANÄS, the holes to carry are supposed to stay on the sides.

The bottom is then glued (by the metallic parts) to give some stiffness and the L-shaped brackets screwed like in the picture.

Expedit sideways cat tree

Materials: Any furniture Expedit series, two or three little selves, polyethylene foam (or manila rope), two scratching boards

Description: The aim is to create a space in which the cat can climb to the top of the main shelf, finding footholds in their path, they can also serve to drop to the floor when he wants.

The shelves must be small, cannot occupy the entire width of the Expedit. You can cut a shelf EKBI Laiva, although I reuse a piece of Pax wardrobe by cutting the right size.

Hang lamp

Materials: Two 4 armed lamps, piece of wood, cable and chain.

Description: I had two of the four armed Ikea lamps lying around for years. Was about to throw them in the trash, when I held them together and this idea came to me.

I cut out a piece of MDF and drilled holes for the cables to go out and through. Attached a hook for the chain and spray painted the inner part only.

~ H.Kooistra, The Netherlands

BBQ grill table

Materials: Baby changing table TASSA, wooden board, wooden slats, ply wood, screws, teak wood glaze, clear paint

Description: When we bought our new grill, we didn'€™t like the offered stands. So we decided to build one.

I found the baby changing table TASSA (no longer sold at IKEA) on eBay and decided that it would be the perfect basis for our grill table.

Expedit Single Bed

Materials: 2 EXPEDIT shelf units 5x1, 1x Sultan Lade 90cm, 3 purple SKUBB boxes, non-slip under carpet material
Description: I saw quite a few double bed hacks using Expedit units here, but no single bed (90cm wide), so I thought I should submit my hack for this.

To start with, put the two units on the floor next to each other, making them 90cm wide - leaving an approx. 12cm gap in the middle. Cut some non-slip under-carpet material and place it onto the units so the slatted base won't slip around too much.

How to: Cut an Expedit down to 3X2

Materials: Expedit

Description: I needed an Expedit with 2 rows of 3 squares, but unfortunately it doesn't exist! I read somewhere that it is possible to find it from different shops, but none of them is available in Italy, from where I am writing! So I decided to try to create it.

Step 1: Look at the component and don't get discouraged!!

Lack Capita multi level media stand

Materials: Lack TV stand + capita legs and Lack side table

Description: I wanted a simple low stand for my AV equipment to go under the projection screen. The Ikea Lack stand was a perfect starting point due to its deep 24" top surface (my AV receiver is more than 19" deep not counting banana plugs). However, I also wanted a 2nd shelf to elevate my center channel speaker and give an additional spot for my bluray player.

I did some checking and found that the Lack Side table (the one for only $9.99) had the same depth and thickness, so it would make a perfect raised shelf. I thought about just doing it with the original Lack legs and cutting them to length, but I prefer the look of the stainless Capita legs and they also provide adjustment to level things if needed. In addition, they have a smaller footprint, which allowed my wider than average blueray player to fit in between.

So very simple, just assemble the main Lack sections, predrill for the Capital legs. I found the closer to the edge, the more solid wood was available. The Lack is hollow as you move inward. I used 6" legs for the bottom and 4" legs for the raised center shelf. For now the center channel shelf is just free standing, not attached permanently. I will probably go back and fix the legs with screws.

~ Bill

Organizing the Foyer

Materials: Billy Bookshelves, Benno CD Organizers, Bjarnum Hooks and Bjursta Bench.

Description: We live in Europe and our front hall is TINY. But we are 2 adults and 2 small children, and I needed a place for everything. All of the traditional wardrobes were too deep, so I turned to Billy. I made the doors myself with pine from the hardware store, stained and varnished them too.

You will need Billy bookshelves, the size and quantity depend on your needs.

I used used the Benno CD organizer to store all the little things that clutter my life: sunscreen, sunglasses, mittens, hats, cloth shopping bags, shoe polish etc. Since I have a lot of clutter I used 2, but created 1 door.

Babytoy lamp

Materials: A re-painted lamp skeleton meets a baby toy "Mula".

Description: A finding from the coarse trash - the lamp skeleton was painted into yellow. Together with a outgrown baby toy from Ikea and a matching lamp cable in red...


~ Pierre Ohlson, Stockhom-Avesta

Unique Chandeliers

Materials: 35 little Ikea Chandeliers + LEDING lamp

Description:
Who: Me and My Wife.
What: Made a big Chandelier from 35 little ones from IKEA.
When: 3 years ago.
Where: Lisbon, Portugal.

We unmounted 35 chandeliers crystal's from Ikea and mounted them in one Inox new structure we made ourselves.

From 35 Ikea pieces we created a unique chandelier.

The Light spots come from another Ikea Lamp named named LEDING. We bought from the As-is at IKEA.

We unmounted the light spots from LEDING structure and attached them to the new Inox structure then with many patience we mount all glass on the structure.

The result was a unique chandelier which was much cheaper than any one of the same size.

The Dog Suite

Materials: Kura bed with mattress and slatted bed base, Dioder multipurpose lighting, Expedit shelf, wire cubes, zip ties, paint

Description: I wanted a bigger cage for my dog that I could turn into her own room. I wanted a cage big enough to provide enough space for her bed, toys, food/water, etc. The Kura bed allowed me to create a cage with a guest bed on top for when our nieces and nephews visit.

1. Assemble Kura bed so that the bed is on top
2. Paint the wood the color of your choice
3. Using Dioder multipurpose lighting, screw the light under every other slate under the bed

Expedit TV furniture

Materials: Expedit, Besta, Vika Amon

Description: I had an Expedit 5x1 and wanted to make a TV furniture. Problem was the width for the surround set and the DVD player. The solution was to resize some wood and make also more space for the Surround speaker, Xbox360, iTV and tweeters.

Ikea Kura Bed....better as a Surf Shack

Materials: I kea Kura bed, vinyl lettering/design & Maxtrix Bed curatins

Description: So I love the Ikea Kura bed.....now! We were moving our 2 1/2 year old to a big boy bed & we wanted something fun & functional! Who doesn't? We didn't want to spend $1000 on a bed, so after seeing a few inspirational posts on here I got to work.

I contacted Good Golly Graphics on Etsy to come up with a custom design ($50) and measured the Maxtrix loft bed curtains and got those online from ekidsrooms.com ($99) and put that together with the Ikea Kura bed for ($200) and you've got yourself a fun little bed that any kid would love and we saved tons.

Our son transitioned well & loves his new bed. Ikea does advise that under 6 years old not sleep up top however we made the call to override that knowing our child & that it wouldn't be a problem. I think my research and creativity paid off & hope I can inspire others to save & think outside the "$1000 box" :-)

~ Denise Smith, Lutz, Fl

Country Kitchen Island Unit for a Small Urban Kitchen

Materials: 2 x bedside unit (we think it was LACK but the nearest they now sell is called KONSMO), 1 x Large chopping board, also originally from IKEA (no longer stocked), a handful of screws, a saw, and 1 pot of paint.

Description: When we moved into our current house, the kitchen was small, awkwardly laid out, and severely lacking in surface space and storage. One particular bit of the kitchen was causing us issue, the small gap between the cellar door and the door to the living room. Putting anything there would result in us not being able to use the cellar. Not putting something there left us w ith not enough surface space.

What we needed was a kitchen unit that could be moved out of the way if greater access was needed to the basement. Sadly IKEA did not stock a suitably sized island unit. However, what we did have was a now redundant cut price bedside table that we had been using as a tv-stand back in our old flat. On testing, we discovered to our delight that the chopping board, which on its own took up the entire surface area of the kitchen, was in fact the perfect size to perch on top. However, one unit on its own was too low. So we skipped off to IKEA and purchased a second unit of the same size.