A warmer and single sink GODMORGON

Materials: GODMORGON

Description:My idea was to make a simple, chic, not too modern cabinet for the main bathroom. I chose the IKEA GODMORGON cabinet with two drawers for its size and simplicity. The thing is, IKEA does not offer more than one option for the counter (2 built-in sinks in a glossy white counter) and it is far from what I wanted.

My first goal was to built a wood counter massive as a fireplace tablet. Because I didn't want to use legs for the installation of the GODMORGON, I couldn't obviously use a huge beam of wood because it would have been too heavy and too expensive for its use anyway. Plus, I had to think about the weight of the sink over the weight of the counter over the weight of the cabinet that was only fixed in the wall... I had to find a way to lighten the weight on the GODMORGON so it didn't tear off the wall after few months! So, for the counter, to strengthen the structure, I built a base in plywood and chose a very lightweight wood to cover it (see the detailed pictures of the inside on my blog). When I installed my counter, I fixed it in the reinforced wall independently from the GODMORGON cabinet. So that way, the weight is not all on the cabinet.

The second challenge was to find a way to put the sink in the center of it. I thought two sinks takes too much place and there is no more space left to spread all the things a girl need to get ready (and less for her man who needs to shave at the same time!). So that part is a tricky one because there is a division panel in the cabinet that cannot be remove. The plumbing must get around it and one row of each drawers needs to be removed so they can still close fluidly.

That IKEA hack was not an easy one because it was not made for a single centered sink on a heavy countertop but it was worth the trouble. Two years later it's still fix on the wall that didn't tear off and makes my proud each time I make a guided tour of my home! (see the entire bathroom here)

~ Annie, Montreal

Nail polish rack

Materials: RIBBA frame, wood edge protector, cardboard, adhesive paper

Description: Both the two nail polish racks are made with a white RIBBA frame (9¾ x 9¾ inches and 1¾ inches depth, i.e. 25x25 cm and 4.5 cm depth). Shelters and protections to secure the nail polish bottles are all made by cutting a wood edge protector. They are stitched on the internal box of the RIBBA frame by using a staple gun. The purple background is made covering a 9x9 inches (23x23 cm) cardboard with purple adhesive paper.

~ PDM

The Billy-Olsbo-Effektiv Nightstand Hack

Materials: IKEA: Billy extension unit, Billy Olsbo doors for the extension unit, Effektiv doors for the top // DIY store: angle brackets and screws, frosted glass adhesive foil

Description: Creating a nightstand that matches the low depth but still giving enough space inside.

We were in need of some new nightstands for our renovated bedroom. We went for a high Malm bed but the regular Malm nightstands didn'€™t matched our requirements we had, as they were all too huge.

Queen size bed with twin trundle

Materials: Odda pull-out bed, Sultan Luröy slatted bed base, Sultan Florvåg twin mattress, Sultan Fåvang queen mattress

Description: The problem: We wanted to have a bigger bed for our tween boy, yet still have a trundle to pull out for sleep-overs.

When we couldn't find that anywhere, we decided to build a bed ourselves using some IKEA products.

We used an Odda pull out bed for the trundle. And we used Sultan Luröy slatted bed base to build the queen sized bed around.

Revamp a Media stand

Materials: 1 used Ikea media stand (exact name of stand unknown) Paint Bead Board Rubber Mallet PureBond Hardwood Plywood Table Saw Scroll Saw Router Disc Grinder Stain Drill Fostner Bit Wood Glue / Silicone brush Air Compressor and Nail Gun

Description: My husband and I found an Ikea media stand on the side of the road last year. Originally we were going to sell it until we decided to modify it or "hack it" you might say. We removed the particle board from the backs of the media stand and added bead board.

From Basic to Mid-Century Modern

Materials: Jokkmokk Table, wood stain, hairpin legs

Description: I transformed a basic Jokkmokk table by removing the legs and trim, sanding and re-staining the tabletop, and adding sleek, mid-century modern style legs.

The project took less than an hour to complete and the results are huge! A basic table was transformed from a near Goodwill donation to a piece I will treasure for years to come.

Create your own MALM Occasional Table without MALM

Materials: Rationell boards, EKBY Shelves

Description: I like to do a lot of my work on my super comfy queen size bed, on top of the fact that due to lack of space I don't have a work desk in my room.

So when I saw the MALM Occasional Table at a friend's place last year, I immediately sent a silent prayer of blessing to the creative minds at IKEA. They understood me.

But then, with a price tag of $150 in Singapore, I had some hesitations, naturally. Plus, it looks pretty simple, so I have been toying with the idea of building my own for some time now. Here's a short step by step:

FrånkenLämp

Materials: STRANNE, and TIVED

Description: The process is rather involved and requires a high degree of comfort in messing about with electrical things.

See the full description at the following links: Part 1 and 2.

~ Andrew

How-to: Change Pax sliding door to hinge door

Materials: 75 cm PAX WARDROBE frame in white + 1 hinge door 50cm. with mirror / PAX VIKEDAL + 1 hinge door 50cm. plain white/ PAX BALLSTAD + 2 sets of 4 hinges with door dampers / KOMPL + Rubber hammer, electric saw, aluminum edge

Description: I can finally say that after 2 years of brainstorming with myself, reading forums all over the world, asking and not getting answers I figured out how to put a hinge door on a PAX 75 cm. wardrobe frame. All done at home with standard tools that any house have and one visit to the local hardware shop.

As you know PAX 75 cm. wardrobe frames are intended only for sliding doors and there are no hinge doors available for them. I needed a hinged door frame because 1: I had no space for anything but PAX 75 cm. frame 2: sliding doors are much more expensive, and 3: sliding doors come only in pairs and I wanted to put a door only to 1 frame of 75 cm.

It was much easier than I thought. Now I am furious that I did not try that hack earlier.

Ikea Malm Closet drawers

Materials: Ikea Malm 3 drawer Chest White

Description: My new home had a closet 36" wide with nothing in it. I needed shelves and drawers so the 32" wide Ikea Malm chest of drawers was the perfect thing to start with. I found one on Craigslist that was stained, beat up, and cheap...

I had to disassemble and reassemble the dresser into my closet. I braced it to the wall. I put one 2x4 behind it, and used scraps of 2x4 cut into precise sizes to brace it into the wall with screws.

I bought MDF board (which I later primed and painted) to cover the top. This was the base of my closet.

I used crown molding to hide the braces, and give it a built-in feel.

Cuddle elephant to costume

Materials: Ikea elephant Kapplar http://www.ikea.com/be/nl/catalog/products/80223313/

Description: My 4-year-old asked for an elephant costume for carnival. Since I prefer to make her costumes myself, but did not have the time to shape an entire animal out of fabric, I was looking for a shortcut.

Cleaning up my daughters toys, I discovered Ikea's cuddle elephant Kapplar could contain a toddler, with some clever adjustments.

Billy, the bedside table and shoes keeper

Materials: BILLY wall shelf and BILLY OSBO doors, self-adhesive foil, wooden slats, screws, glue, saw

Description: When we moved into our new apartment, we needed some place to keep our shoes in our bedroom, and also bedside tables that matched our MALM low bed. But it is always so much trickier with sloping walls...

After some complex trigonometry operations :P, I found out that the BILLY wall shelves were the right height for our bed when placed against the sloping walls. So, I did the following:

Pharmacy Cabinet from HEMNES Cabinet

Materials: HEMNES Glass-door cabinet

Description: My husband and I were looking for a tall cabinet that fits between the toilet and the wall (39 inches) for our master bath remodel. We were so excited when I found that the HEMNES Glass-door cabinet fits perfectly! But, we wanted to change the sides to glass because we really like the look of the pharmacy cabinet. As always, I searched IKEA Hackers to see if someone shows how to do that and sure enough found this one! Since we wanted more drawers, we used the one with 4 drawers.

Ledberg wall lamp for stairway

Materials: Ledberg, aluminum profile, black mdf

Description: Because we had a wall power supply for lamps located too low above our stairs and I wanted a lamp, that wouldn't blind us walking down the stairs, I made a lamp from five Ledberg strips contained in an aluminum profile, facing the wall and held at a distance by a small box made of black mdf. The transformer sits in the box.

Rönas/Ledberg pendant lamp

Materials: Rönas, Ledberg

Description: I could not find a satisfying solution to light my dining room, so I made a customized Lamp myself. There was an inspiring hack with the Rönas candleholder on here before.

But instead of wiring it to the ceiling with Sända tracks I made free hanging tracks from aluminum profiles and did the wiring inside them. It is all routed parallel with 0,75 mm² in rather complicated black MDF profiles an an oiled strip to cover it all up.

A hack of Trones

Materials: 3 sets of Trones-Shoe-Boxes, 2 Lack 30cm shelves, 1 Lack 110cm shelf, about 2,5m wooden latches

Description: The Trones Boxes are quite cheap but alone they aren't exactly good looking. So I put a shelf on top of them, makes them looking like a custom-made designer-chest.

Two and a half Lack bedside tables

Materials: 5 white Lack-shelves 30*26cm

Description: The walls in my bedroom are so bad, single shelves wouldn't stick to them. So I put two and a half together to shelves with two levels. Now each is put to the wall on four points and the upper and lower ones are reinforcing each other. And I even have more space on the shelves.

Its done really easy: buy five Lack-shelves (three if you only want one table). Have one cut in half and glue together two complete and one half shelf in a u-shape. Drill wholes in the right positions into your wall and attach the shelves. Ready.

~ Alex

Apple style monitor shelf

Materials: 1 x Ekby Hemnes Shelf, 4x Besta Legs

Description: My new flat has a small built in desk but the window handle is right in the way of where my monitor goes so it wouldn't go as far back as I needed.

To lift it up and also provide some extra space I used a white Ekby Hemnes shelf and 4 Besta legs. The white shelf and aluminium legs match all of my Apple stuff.

The Besta legs have an 8mm threaded rod in the middle.

Bringing 90s Ikea Shelving into the 21st Century

Materials: Besta

Description:
1. Remove the door and hardware.
2. Sand and prime all surfaces.

LP RUSCH CLOCK

Photo: IKEA.com

Materials: RUSCH wall clock, old vinyl record, glue gun, marker pen.

Description: This is maybe the simplest hack yet,

I bought RUSCH wall clock ($1.99) a while ago and planned to hack it later. Then later I bought some old vinyl record from a flea market for just ($1.00) a piece.

First I started by removing the needles from the clock mechanism.

After that, I stuck the clock mechanism behind the record's aperture using hot glue.

Get the Best-a from some Billys

Materials: n°1 Billy bookcase cm 40x28x202, n°1 Billy height extension unit cm 40x28x35, n°2 Billy bookcase 40x28x106, n°1 Billy shelf cm 120x28x35, n°1 Besta cm 120x40x64, n°2 Besta Tombo doors cm 60x64, n°3 white knobs, connector caps, drill/screw gun, wall plugs

Description: The partition wall between the bedrooms and the entrance room in our flat was still empty and we needed a bookcase/storage unit.

Our problem was not to interfere with the sliding door frame in the wall (on the right) and with the opening space of the closet door (on the left). So, we carefully measured everything and came out with an error-proof-CAD drawing, which was useful to choose the best combination of Ikea units.

In the end we bought what I wrote, but I told you our motivation because, if you don't have any restriction, you can choose a wider combination.

IKEA PAX Wardrobe Hack

Materials: PAX Wardrobe

Description: We started with 2 wide PAX units and 2 narrow PAX units. Our ceilings are not even 80" but our height options at IKEA were 96" or 75".€ We rolled the dice, bought 96” units. Using a chop saw we cut them down to 80" and assembled using the instructions that came with the units.

We then screwed them all together and to the wall and built a hardwood face frame over the units to give it a solid, built in look. We split up the units in half by adding a custom hamper drawer and display shelving. This way we had the closet guts with a high quality frame and doors that will hold up to wear without spending a fortune.

VH-YES Coffee Table ('LACK'ing no more)

Materials: LACK Coffee Table, VHS Collection, Bit of Wood and Paint, Glass

Description: For my new offices (I'm a filmmaker), I wanted a coffee table that would be a talking point and I also wanted to do something with my (possibly quite valuable) VHS collection rather than allowing it to gather dust (which it has been doing for about 6 years).

So with a little help from my crafty girlfriend, we took a coffee table that was ready for the charity shop (if not the tip) and turned it into the envy of all my filmmaker friends.

My Expedit computer desk perfection

Materials: 2 Expedits (4x4 + 2x4), wood drill, wood glue, 3 plates, wood screws, 38.8 x 68.8 cm board, 30 x 60 cm keyboard drawer, 147 x 72 light wood panel

Description: Hello there, a baby girl soon to come and a brand new 27" all-in-one computer ... I had to rearrange a few things in our apartment and get some thinking done: I needed a desk not deeper than 40 cm and with as much storage space as possible. A few sleepless nights and once more, Ikea was the solution ... well, of course hacked Ikea :-)

The 149cm wide and 39cm deep Expedit shelves looked perfect in term of size, but I had to turn them into a comfortable desk. I simply removed (or better say did not install) the inner part of a 4x4 to create the desk space. This is feasible if you make sure you use the long boards vertically and not horizontally as described in the construction notice from Ikea. Instead of the wooden dowels, I used wood screws to fix the small shelves in the vertical boards. I cut a white board (68,8 x 38,8 cm) and fixed it with wood screws in the vertical boards, to use as the screen stand. I bought a 30 x 60 cm keyboard drawer from Ebay and fixed it under the screen stand - I could have built it myself but chose the easy option!

I covered the back of the desk space with a light wood panel and drilled inside a small circular hole for the cables.

I stacked a 2x4 Expedit shelved on top, and got inspired from "My re-structured Expedit"-Hack to get rid of the double frame.

As a result, I have a lot of storage place and a comfortable computer desk.

The next step is too add some colors but I have not made up my mind yet (stickers, paint, ...). Can take a while before I decide ... will post something when I am ready.

~ Juliette, Hamburg, Germany

Galant Standing Desk with Monitor Shelf

Materials: Galant 160x80cm Desk with Frame, Galant 80x60cm Extension Table with Frame (2), Galant T-Leg (2), 8" Capita Legs (2), Ekby Hemnes 119x28cm Shelf, 1' Long 3/8" Threaded Rod (4), 3/8" Hex Nut (4)

Description: Inspired by Steev Kelley's two-level Galant hack, I set out to create my ideal standing desk.

This design provides a 160x80cm upper desk, a 160x60cm lower shelf and a 119x28cm monitor shelf.

I had a lot of fun thinking this out and figuring out what pieces to use. Thanks again to Steev for the original concept.

Bunny Do!

Materials: BJURSTA Bar Table

Description: We have been looking around for ages for a good rabbit house but of course none of them met the specs which we had in mind nor were they very "quality for money". So, we hacked! We luckily got a new (larger and more oval shaped) wood kitchen table from my partner's sister for 25 Euros (super cheap and beautiful natural wood) so naturally we were thrilled to have the opportunity to turn our Bjusta bar table into a much needed Bunny house for our two best friends.

IKEA Cabinet Door to Light Box

Materials: Ikea Door, Ikea Plinths, Kreg Jig

Description:
1. Cut Plinths to desired size of door.
2. Build box using Kreg jig and pocket holes.
3. Attach box to back side of Door.

IVAR jird's cage

Materials: IVAR shelf, plywood, acrylic glass, hinges, ...

Description: I used an IVAR shelf as framework for my jird's cage. At the moment, it houses 3 fat-tailed jirds and 6 bushy-tailed jirds.

Ikea NOT floorlamp makeover

Materials: Not floor lamp, wax paper, jewelry jump rings, mesh wastebasket, mesh pencil cup

Description: What I Used:

- Ikea Not lamp
- Dollar Store Wire Mesh waste basket
- Dollar store wire mesh pencil cup
- Fishing line (Monofilament)
- Large jump rings (jewelry findings)
- Wax Paper
- Iron
- Cutting Machine (can also be done with punches or circle cutter.)
- Wire snips

Backboard for Grankulla Massum bed

Materials: Grankulla sofa/bed, wood planks, screws

Description: I made this hack, because I use this sofa/bed only as a bed and I needed the back rest.

First I made a drawing in computer (also added with pictures), so the new part would be the same as original one, and then made these planks and put it together.

Kitchen shelves from a wardrobe door

Materials: door to Ikea wardrobe, hand saw, drill, screw driver, screws

Description: I picked up a used Ikea wardrobe for nothing from some nice Brazilians moving away from Berlin --the land of recycled Ikea junk. (Don't fret, I bought some of their other more valuable stuff, like a sofa.)

Arduino based data logging thermometer in a frame

Materials: RIBBA frame and some circuitry

Description: I was looking for a nice enclosure to host my latest project (an Arduino based data logging thermometer with multiple sensors) and, once again, I came to an Ikea product, a RIBBA photo frame that seems to have enough space to host my project circuitry.

My idea was to put all the circuitry inside, masking the clear glass with tracing paper to have a blurry vision of the circuit boards.

A simple hanging pot rack hack

Materials: LÄMPLIG Trivet, GRUNDTAL S-hook

Description: I used a piece of Oak that matched my cabinets then cut it to size and drilled holes for the ends of the LÄMPLIG Trivet to stick out.

After smoothing the edges with sandpaper, I used large screws and countersunk them in so they sit flush with the wood. Before putting it all together, I finished the wood with food safe mineral oil.

I used stainless steel hooks and chain I got from Home Depot. Though you can get zinc plated ones for a lot cheaper.

Total cost: ~ $40 Though if you use zinc plated chain and hooks you can do it for a lot cheaper. ~ $30

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

~ Chad, Pittsburgh, PA

A TERTIAL chandelier

Materials: IKEA Tertial lamp, black MDF, table leg, steel wire & wireclamps, nuts & bolts TOOLS: Drill, Screwdrivers, Jigsaw

Description: Dear IKEA - Inspired by Ingo Mauers "Dear Ingo" I wanted to make a cool, modern looking chandelier that didn't have to be expensive. So I did - Out of IKEA Tertial lamps a Table leg and some black MDF plates. (edited 15 Feb 2013)

1. Start with the shopping, it actually takes longer than I expected. Primarily due to the fact that I didn't really know where I would end up, when I started.

You will need the following materials:
- A sheet of black MDF or basic plywood 400x1200mm, 16mm thickness, (you can choose to paint it afterwards)
- A table leg apx. 700mm long Ø25-30
- 12 IKEA Tertial Lamps
- Wood glue
- Various screws
- 1.5m steel wire + 2 wireclamps (for safety reasons)
- 1x M8 bolt 30mm
- Eye nut M8
- 1x M6 Eye bolt and 2x nuts and 2x washers
- 5x dual wire-terminals
- A car (To go and get the things you didn't know you needed)

Mini-Work shop

Materials: PAX Wardrobe + Pegboard

Description: We needed a good storage solution for our garage. We decided to buy several PAX wardrobes for this purpose. Because I needed a good place to store my tools, we designated one of the wardrobes as "the mini-workshop."; I simply used 1" x 2" strips of wood and mounted them to the back of the wardrobe, then I cut a piece of pegboard to fit the back wall and attached the pegboard to the wood strips (this created space behind the pegboard so hooks could be added).

Once in place, I just hung my tools. We used one of the PAX shelves for a "workbench" and added a few drawers to help with additional storage.

~ Jon Myers, Idaho

The frame hanger

Materials: Nyttja white frame 13x18, Lindsdal knob (or others)

Description: I had 2 new frames (bought here in Italy just 3 euros/2 pieces) and 2 knobs (taken years ago from old wardrobes).

One day I thought it was time to transform creatively these items into something useful and nice.... here you can see the result.

Simple crib with storage

Materials: Ikea Gulliver Crib

Description: We bought the Gulliver crib from Ikea for $100 and we went to the hardware store and loaded up on lumber. He removed the legs of the crib and built a drawer to form a new base. The end result? The most awesome crib, ever!

See more of the crib with storage.

~ Emily

Rubrik Cabinet Door Storage Solution

Materials: Rubrik glass cabinet door, Akurum wall cabinet frame, Besta media cabinet

Description: I found these Rubrik glass cabinet doors on clearance at Ikea for $5 each, while in the midst of a basement renovation. We were looking to add built in storage as well as hide an ugly gas meter, and these doors were perfect. They were 39", so they could only be used as wall cabinets. We ended up hanging 4 30x39" Akurum wall cabinet frames 1" off the floor against the back of the room.

Movie-lamp & Peter's 35 mm spiral lamp

Materials: Film, fishing line any standalone IKEA-lamp

Description: I bought this from my worldclass handy-hacker-friend.

You sew pieces of film together with fishing line. And add really good quality light bulbs. Voila.

~ kenneth, Denmark

Updated 12 April 2013

Peter's version of the 35mm spiral lamp

Materials: Ikea Storm, 35mm film, fishing line

Description: After having two Ikea Storm paper shade lamps (one small, one big) in the corner for two years, I wanted to change that bit of the flat and redecorate.

This is what came out of it. I took the small one and gave it a new shade. Made out of a unbroken strip of 35mm cinema film. The trailer to Zathura to be exact.

Building was straight forward. I wanted to use both end pieces (metal rings) of the original Storm lamp, so the diameter and height was fixed. The first loop had a diameter of 22cm, then I began stitching fishing line through the transportation holes until the spiral reached over 70cm in height. Took me over 6 hours to do that. Boring work, but cool result. =)

Recycled driftwood lamp

Materials: HEMMA / ALA„NG / Driftwood

Description: 1)I found driftwood in Washington.
2) Drilled a hole through it.
3)A lamp base from Ikea and see the very nice result: a beautiful table lamp!

~ Yvonne van den Berg, Bakel The Netherlands