The NORNÄS Tie Display

I like to collect ties, and here is my home made tie display.

IKEA NORNAS tie display

Tie display units are impossible to find on the market and often have to be custom made for up to thousands of dollars. As for custom glass doors, 1 custom made door to cover the surface of 1 NORNÄS unit sells into the hundreds of dollars…and for the hinges, add another 100$! In the picture, you have 4 NORNÄS units transformed but you can basically create from 1 to as many as you want on your wall. I gave the plans to my father so he built them for me.

Here is the how-to for 1 unit:

Materials needed:

  • 1 x NORNÄS Display Unit
  • 1 x MAGLEHULT lamp (optional)
  • 1 small 4in-wide plank (to strengthen the back)
  • 11 thin wood planks (with a nice finish)

How-to:

  1. The NORNÄS is too deep to display ties, so part of the side-boards needs to be removed. Before assembling the NORNÄS unit, cut down the 4 side panels to a dept of 7 7/8 inches (20 cm) down to a dept of 5 ½ inch (14 cm) by removing wood from the back of each side-panel.
  2. Using a router, create on each panel a new groove similar to the dimensions of the previous one that was removed. This will replace the groove that was removed and serve to fit the back panel.
    Reassemble the new 5 ½ in deep unit but do not assemble the doors yet.
  3. With thin wood panels, this display has been split into a 7×6 display unit. For that, you will need: 6 shelves high, and 5 shelves wide. All shelves have been routed halfway through so that they fit one into the other and then, they are glued together only once they have been placed into the unit.
  4. The unit has been stained with a non toxic stain. It is also nice if left as-is with a wood finish and oil. But make some tests so that you do not stain your ties…
  5. Behind the back panel, at the top of the back section, a piece of wood has been screwed in to strengthen the unit and create a section to screw the unit into the wall.
  6. Install the doors.
  7. A MAGLEHULT led lamp has been installed but is optional. Any led lamp would be nice.

IKEA NORNAS tie display

Note: the 2 glass shelves were not used and could be reused in another project.
Each NORNÄS unit split into 7×6 will hold 42 ties. Right here you have 168 ties…and one of those drawers still hold a few dozens that didn’t fit…so I guess more display units will have to be made.

I hope you like.

IKEA NORNAS tie display

~ Arnaud Paquet