Unnu inspired media bench using IKEA TV stand

Just bought my first apartment and have begun the process of furnishing it. When it came to the TV area I wanted this one. It wasn’t only the look that caught my attention. The doors are covered in speaker fabric, and this way I would be able to hide my old, ugly stereo system in it. It would let IR signals in and sound out. Only problem was that it costs about $1000 here in Norway.

So I turned to Ikea. Here’s a list of the items i needed to create my own version:

  • BESTÅ Shelf unit (120cm)
  • BESTÅ Shelf unit (60cm)
  • 3x BESTÅ VARA door

I also picked up speaker fabric and a stapler from the local hardware store for about $25.

The key with creating the bench the way I wanted was to trim the size of the doors and move the placement of the vertical bench plates. This way the doors would be placed within the bench instead of in front. This might not seem like a big deal, but in my opinion the bench gets a completely different look by doing this.

So I did my measuring and sawed off about 3 cm from the top and bottom of the doors. I then sawed out a rectangular from the two doors I was going to cover with fabric. Using a normal stapler to cover them is not recommended. I wasted about 300 staples in the process just because these were clearly meant for paper, not wood. But whatever, I was just focused on the end result.

Total hours spent: 10
Total amount spent: 1300 kroner ($220)

Check out the pictures and don’t hesitate to leave a message if this inspires you!

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~ Henrik, Oslo, Norway

Updated on July 7, 2013 with additional photos.