TRONES storage + headboard!

Thank you label
Photo: Anna See

Thanksgiving is not celebrated where I live but I’m bursting with gratitude all the same and want to take the chance on this special day to thank you for making IKEAhackers possible.

Seriously, when I started this website, I thought my interest (and the world’s) would fizzle out in a couple of months. But it’s been 9 years+ and we’re still here! All thanks to your support and our common love for hacking IKEA into all sorts of amazing.

If you are celebrating Thanksgiving, let me wish you a joyful time with family and friends. While eating and chatting with family is fun (and I do love that a lot), why not make it even more memorable? I came across this Thanksgiving Reader from Seth Godin and believe me, it’s beautiful. It is pages and pages of heartfelt poems and thoughtful passages which we can chew on even after the turkey is gobbled up. I hope you’ll find it inspiring too.

And with that I will leave you to enjoy the rest of this glorious Thursday and the very good looking and functional TRONES storage headboard hack below.

TRONES storage + headboard!

IKEA items used:

My wife and I live in a tiny but lovely space overlooking the pacific ocean, so we try to max out the functionality of everything we own or use. We bought an IKEA Brimnes bed frame and love the storage underneath. We set the frame up in our room to take advantage of our view, but that left our heads in the middle of the room with no support and the atypical need for a headboard that looks nice on both sides.

With our first child on the way, we decided that the headboard needed to double as storage also – and got to hacking.

IKEA TRONES shoe storage boxes

Frame to hold the TRONES

I used 1″x8″ hardwood pieces to frame the Trones units (stacked 3-wide and 2-high and lime green because the color pops nicely with white), which conveniently matched the width of the Brimnes frame. I used 1″x6″ tongue-and-grooved cedar fence boards nailed to the sides to give the bedside face some flare and warmth, not to mention the structural support. Lastly, I framed out a small shelf on top for random storage. I’m planning to use some nice salvaged material for the front top lip, yet to be found/purchased. I then removed the Trones, taped out the cedar pieces and painted everything white to match the bed frame.

Cedar Fence Headboard

Before adding the shelf, I predrilled and attached the headboard securely to the bed frame in 8 locations – maybe overkill but I’d rather be safe there – and then stacked the Trones in place using a small screw in the cedar board to hold each Trones in place (the back of each unit has a groove, similar to hanging a picture frame/etc). Secured the shelf on top and its super snug all-around.

All in all, a great headboard that doubles up to help with our storage needs! Hope this is helpful to anyone else out there stoked on the tiny-house life!

IKEA TRONES storage headboard

IKEA TRONES storage headboard

IKEA TRONES storage headboard

~ Timothy Barrett