bjuron wall display

this ones from melissa, who previously gave us this bathroom remodel. now, it's a wall display with the bjuron plant pot.

she says, "one of my co-worker collects japanese toys and miniature chair models but unfortunately she lives in a small studio and doesn't have a lot of floor space for a display cabinet. her collection has grown so large that she needed a new way to display them and just sticking them on an ordinary shelf was out of the question for her. luckily i had an idea for her... bjuron planter boxes.

i suggested painting the inside white so that the toys would stand out well but leave the rest with the natural wood so there would be an interesting juxtaposition of the natural wood and man-made plastic toy. we selected planters of all sizes to increase the visual interest and to suit the display and size needs of different toys and collections. finally we screwed them into the wall and displayed her collections."

hackadditions: share your version

you have a version of a hack seen here? share it with us. it's great to see what others have done or how they have improved on stuff.

here are a few that i received recently. i've added them to the original posts. please click on the links and scroll all the way to the bottom to see the additions.

[apologies to my rss readers if you receive all the old posts (but with new additions) again. there is just no way to stop feedburner from resending them.]

curtis adds his wicker headboard

richy spruces up harry

eve pimps her frosta

two wall collages. this one's from allie.

and this from patti.

more can be done to your malma, as concha shows us.

and the perennial hacker favourite. the fira, now chromed.

ikea celebrates summer

it's summer over at ikea and it's looking bright and breezy. click here to check out their summer collection.

since we're all in sunshine mode, thought i'll post some outdoor or garden hacks.

container garden table
pia hacked an old lack table into storage for gardening equipment and place for her plants.

she says, "it now hides our tumble drier and lots of gardening equipment. i removed the old legs, put on vika kaj and turned them so they became maximum height, which is 90 cm (approx 35"), then i used some fabric and some ironing glue, you can buy that at ikea as well. no sewing required, simply measure the places you want to hang the curtains, and iron the edges - you need to make an opening for the curtainholder to go through, and then attach the curtains to the table as shown in the photo."

bouquets of bloom
chelsea pairs an old farm window with ikea for a bit of country.

she says, "so, i have a bunch of old farm house windows (from a friend's family farm), and had yet to put them to use, but had lots of ideas fluttering through my head. today i finally used one of the windows. it was super simple. i used a kroken kitchen rail, and 3 kroken cutlery caddies.

i attached some eye hooks to the back of the window, and then chain to that (which i bought by the foot at my local home improvement store), and then attached the chain using S hooks into the soffit overhang. i still plan to stencil a little hummingbird, and some sort of quote (once i decide which one). it was really easy, only took me about 20 minutes, and cost only $16!"

spruce up the old
alessandro gave the wooden applaro chaise lounge a sunny new colour.

let there be light
dario from italy, with help from his neighbour, sandro, hacked some outdoor lighting for his graphic studio.

he says, "i live in italy close to venice and have a graphic studio in the countryside. together with our neighbor sandro we had to decide outdoor lighting styles of the studio. he came up a cool and cheap idea.

here is what you need:
- light bulb
- light socket
- ordning cutlery stand
- ikea plastic mug (actually they don't sell what we used anymore, but i believe kalas can be even better.. no handle!)
- bolt and screw
- transparent rubber pipe

just make an hole on the bottom of the mug, cut the handle and put it together.. that's it! the mug keeps the rain away from the wires and will give a touch of relaxing color to your house!

see more on dario's blog.

now for some summer fun
need some thing to hold toys around the pool? this one from rob is simple but totally workable.

rob says, "i cannot take credit for this hack. i got the idea from familyfun.com. they say to use a small white clear wastebasket, and i thought of the fniss clear wastepaper basket. it only took a couple of hours. the nice thing about the fniss is you don't need to use the marbles per the directions. it makes a nice umbrella stand, then in the summer use it around the pool for toys."

see more on rob's blog.

***

help change the world with an email
on another note, this is some thing we can all do to help make this world a better place. if you remember, colin beavan (who is also part of the liferemix network) of no impact man is meeting congressman jerrold nadler this friday to ask him to support an effective global warming mitigation policy that is based not on what is politically possible but on what is scientifically necessary.

his dream is to show nadler and speaker pelosi thousands of emails supporting his position. if you'd like to help, go to Colin's blog, copy the form email, and send it to noimpactman+nadler+pelosi@gmail.com. those of you who aren't American citizens, please put "From a world citizen to whom American policy makes a huge difference" in the subject, so that he can deliver them but keep them separate.

another way to hang your stolmen

here's another way to skin the stolmen. instead of using the little fixtures to hold the shelves, this idea from pavel of israel works out pretty well too.

he used:

• 3 laminated wood boards 1800 x 300 x 30 mm
• 2 stock stolmen posts and 6 end fixtures
• 12 screws 30 ? 4 mm
• 24 washers 3 x 15 mm
• 24 washers 1 x 15 mm

paper train stations to ramp up the fun on the lillabo train set

alicia created paper train stations to add to her kid's lillabo train set. hubby whipped up a digital drawing of the stations and passengers, which her boy then coloured. alicia is sharing her pdf with us. just look for the link at the end of this post to print your set of paper train stations.

see more of the crumley's paper trains or download the pdf here.

medicine cabinet turned booze hound

i love this tongue-in-cheek use of the medicine cabinet - emergency booze supply.

eviedee says, "have you seen the bjorken medicine cabinet? i am currently using mine to hold booze in the living room. the bjorken is attractive, sturdy and makes a lovely visual joke."

but it's the matching glassware that completes the joke. using tape, stick a cross on the svalka glass. spray paint the entire glass with frosted glass spray. please note that it is for decorative purposes only as the spray is not safe for food. what a waste! i can so imagine swirling my rocks in one of these.

see more of eviedee's emergency booze cabinet.

bag this!

it's a load of bags today. different shapes for different folks.

frame your portfolio
the first is a portfolio bag and one i'd like to have. i work in advertising and have always thought some thing could be done to those black portfolio bags. while they look understated, it just doesn't make much of a statement. i think i must have sighed 'finally!' when i saw this in the mail.

mary tells me, "i'm a graphic designer who was recently laid off. with little cash to spend on a new portfolio case, i designed and built a new case using items from ikea.

i found two aluminum ribba frames in as-is. they'd lost their glass, which i didn't need anyway, and were much less expensive than new. i added hinges to the bottom and attached the jigga handles so that they come together at the top, making it comfortable to carry. one yard of patricia fabric covers all sides of the backing board that comes with the frames. i used spray mount to adhere it to the board and put the boards back in place using the bendy clips in the frame.

i attached cabinet magnets and strike plates to the inside. gently pushing the tops of the frames together engages the magnets. they're strong enough to keep it closed and by putting the closures on the inside, it kept the outside sleek. i installed chains on the inside to keep it from opening too wide.

i'm still looking for a job, but everyone who has seen the case has been very impressed."

cheap art carrier
next ... not one to bring to meetings. but for getting art supplies.

maike claims it is the cheapest ikea hack ever and says, "i just cut the seams at the bottom of an ikea bag (on the narrow side) to be able to make it into one flat bag. i am using those bags to transport big (up to A1) foam board mounted photographs, usually on a bike. the straps are long enough to carry it over the shoulder, unless the picture is wider than 65 cm ... the good thing is that when i have delivered the picture, i can fold the bag into my backpack � and it costs next to nothing. in spite of the cuts, the bags are very durable � i have three of them and have been using them for a couple of years already."


an all day carry all
inspired by this hack, julie whips out her lotta jansdotter's simple sewing and sews herself an "all day tote".

see more of julie's all day tote.

reusable eco market tote
while at linaloo's, she reviewed a sew, mama, sew pattern with beautiful results. the fabric is patricia.

see more of linaloo's eco market tote.

Updated! February 25, 2009
Covadonga's cushion cover handbag
She says, "I used the Hedda Blom cushion cover to make this cute handbag. The size of the cushion is perfect for a big handbag. I even ended up with some scraps. I haven't seen any other things done with Hedda Blom, so I guess it can be inspiring for other Ikea hackers.

See more of Hedda's hand bag.


Other ikea bag hacks:
- a shopping tote
- on the go diaper wallet
- reusable ikea tote
- 59cent diaper bag and changing pad
- shopping bags from drawer mats
- funkstation blue laptop bag

hey, hey it's headboard day

after 2 years my sultan bed is still headboard-less. i've been toying with the idea of painting a mural instead of mounting a headboard ... but that would depend on how motivated i get. these are some ideas i could use though, should the paint job be too painful.

tracy's pax headboard
"our grand headboard is actually 2 pax wardrobe doors that we turned on their sides and air-nailed to the wall," she lets us in on the secret. "we were lucky enough to find the doors at a second hand store, but even bought new it's a cheaper alternative to any headboard i've ever seen." the curlies above the board add a nice touch.


melissa's surreal headboard
this may be the closest thing to painting a mural. a definite maybe. i just got to find the right picture that i can wake up to every morning.

melissa tells us how:
"i uploaded a photo i took of Central Park to www.blockposters.com. downloaded and printed the resulting pdf.

mounted the mural with krylon repositionable spray adhesive so that it can be removed from the walls of my rental.

hung a ikea lill curtain with the dignitet curtain ring with clip to some silver metallic pushpins hammered directly into the wall. then, simply enjoy my new room with a view!

shane's padded malm headboard
shane liked the malm but wanted a headboard that was taller and padded so he could sit in bed to read or work on his laptop.

as a result he also had to reposition the bedside tables.

see more of shane's padded malm headboard on his blog or flickr photoset with notes.

miguel's recycled vika headboard
miguel took an old vika amon table top and hung it horizontally as a headboard for his bed.

no fuss. pretty clean. see more of miguel's headboard.

[added 28 May 2008]

a wicked wicker headboard
curtis does a headboard too, with the an ikea wicker room divider (name unknown) hung horizontally.

see his flickr set for instructions and more photos.