Expedit into Entertainment Unit

Materials: Expedit 5x1, Capita Legs *8

Description: A relatively simple hack, basically we were looking around for a long entertainment unit but on a budget. Everything we found was either too gaudy or just really expensive. The idea was to get an Expedit shelving unit and turn it sideways and put some feet on it to raise it off the carpet.

I put together the Drawers and Doors you can purchase separately for the unit, then put the main Expedit together.

Screwed in 8 Capita legs (from the kitchen section as these are for pantries etc) on the bottom and turned it up the right way.

The hole is left in the middle for consoles and the network connected TV/movie viewing device so the remotes all work.

Very simple and i think looks better than any of the other options we could find out there.

~ Blake, Perth, Australia

Bastis Krona Hack - it's an ottoman!

Materials: Bastis Krona Pet Bed, 1 yd of material, heavy duty stapler, and that's it!

Description: I found BK pet bed in the As Is section at Ikea for $5.00. I've wanted an ottoman for the longest time and thought the dimensions looked good. There is a piece that comes with the Bastis Krona which you won't use so just put it aside. It's the railing which would ordinarily be inserted on the top of the bed.

This hack is super simple:

1. Lay your material on a flat surface and place the bed upside down on it.

2. Starting on one long side staple the material to the wood on the bottom of the bed. First one side and then the opposite. Pull the material tight! Do the same thing with the ends (short sides) of the bed.

3. You may have to trim away excess material so that you can screw the legs into the bottom.

4. Ta da! You have your ottoman! This is my first hack and I think I'm addicted!

Total cost:
Bastis Krona $5
material 6.25
staples on hand
Bringing the cost of this hack to $11.25

~ Maureen, New York

Soap dish from kitchen skimmer

Materials: Ikea (name?) kitchen skimmer

Description: We have 2 round vessel sinks in our master bath. Small Ikea bowls mimicking the shape of the vessels held our soaps next to the sinks. Every time we reached with wet hands for the soap or return it to the dish, soapy water splashed on the counter, very messy.

What we needed was an in-sink soap dish!

We looked at Ikea's Lillangen line of bathroom furniture but none of their in-sink accessories would fit our rounded vessel sinks.

While browsing Ikea's kitchen accessories, I came upon a kitchen skimmer that immediately presented a solution. The handle was thick and flat stainless steel, and being a skimmer the device had the requisite openings for the soap to drain excess water. (The newer versions available now have round holes instead of slits)

With a metal saw I cut off the handle to a workable length and smoothed the sharp ends with a sanding tool.

I inserted the remainder of the skimmer into a vice, and carefully bent the handle over a wooden dowel with a diameter approximately the width of the top of the vessel walls. I lined the inside of the bent handles with foam tape, so as not to scratch the porcelain sink, and voila: In-sink soap dishes.

~ Pippa, Chicago area

Updated 7 March 2012
Here's an photo from the side!

"Built-in" Play kitchen

Materials: Albert shelving units, some Duktig stuff

Description: We made this for our daughter and she loves it! :)

We have a very small kitchen and I really didn't wanted to buy any expensive plastic pink play kitchen. So we made this one from first two levels of Albert shelving units. I think it's really easy, money and time saving.

~ Jana K. Kudrnova, Czech rep.

Lack hiding light switches

Materials: Lack side table

Description: In our hall the lights switch was ugly, big and 8 cm thick, so I spent a lot of time thinking about a solution to cover that area and make it decorative at the same time.

I bought a Lack side table, I cut out a square at the back and I placed two hooks on the wall to be able to hang it.

I used some acrylic paint and just move my hands (with globes) to make some lines mixing the colors.

And this is the result.

~ Miriam, Spain

Revived Lack TV table

Materials: 1/4" poplar planks and pine lattice, miter box, saw, liquid nails, finishing nails, onyx stain, tung oil finish

Description: My TV dug a huge gouge in my Lack TV table. Rather than throw it away or replace the top slab, I opted to cover it with poplar.

Since I don't have a huge array of woodworking tools, I had to pick board sizes that required minimal cutting. I went with 2.5" pine lattice and 6" poplar planks - both 1/4" in thickness.

I put the pine on the sides first with liquid nail adhesive. I also put a random nail or two in place to compensate for bends and bows. I mitered the sides, but I'm not sure if this made a noticeable difference in the final look.

Next, I put the poplar on the top, covering the pine lattice, and trimmed to create staggered joints. It wouldn't have been a bad idea to cut and place the pieces before gluing so I could have a more random pattern. The boards got held down with a healthy bead of glue and tacked in place to smooth out the considerable bowing. I tried to select the flattest pieces of wood, but even small curves become noticeable when butted up against another board.

For joints with huge discrepancies, I used a hand planer to even out. The last board had a huge curve that created a 1/8 gap that I plugged with tiny slivers of left over wood. Once things were relatively smooth, I sanded pretty extensively with 60, 100, 150 and 220 grade sandpaper. I originally used wood putty to fill the nail holes and gaps, but it didn't match the wood at all so I removed as much as I could and opted for elmers glue which absorbed the saw dust and worked way better.

I did some tests, but poplar isn't great with stain so I used Tung Oil Finish. The pine was noticeably redder than then poplar, so I sampled some black stain on a corner. The stain only penetrated scratches, defects and other random spots, which when rubbed with a cloth looked kind of cool. So I did all the sides. The pine matched much better and lost its new "wood shop" look. I put two more coats of Tung Finish on and may do another later on.

I feel pretty good. I don't have to trash the table or the top and I used a pretty tiny amount of wood, (enough to carry home on the bus).

~ Brendan, Astoria, NYC

Lack and Irma Footstool

Materials: 1 Lack side table, 4 Irma pillows, Fabric, stapler, saw

Description: Pick a Lack side table and 4 Irma pillows. Staple the pillows to the table so that it creates a fluffy pillow look.

Take a piece of fabric and put it over the pillows. Stretch it really well and staple it to the bottom side of the table.

Cut the table's legs so that your footstool is the same height as your couch. This way you can almost create a "chaise lounge".

You can also put a ribbon along the table's side, on the fabric, to make it prettier.

~ Raquel Ferreira, Lisbon, Portugal

Revamped Aspelund dressing

Materials: Aspelund 3 doors dressing, 2 wooden ornaments, wood glue, primer for wood painting, white mate paint, 3 country style brushed nickel knobs

Description: I was looking for an affordable dressing that would both offer a wide storage space and fit with the classy neo-baroque style of my bedroom. The 3 doors Aspelund dressing appeared to have just the perfect size and the perfect price but looked a bit too ordinary and lacked stylishness.

To revamp it and make it match another dressing of mine, I chose 2 wooden ornaments to adorn the two side doors of the dressing, making sure they would be large enough to fit elegantly the long center space.

Before assembling the dressing elements, I glued the ornaments on the center of the doors with wood glue, symmetrically. Once dry, I first painted the front and side dressing elements with a special primer, then gun-painted them with two coats of white mate paint in order to get rid of the fake patina style finish.

Once perfectly dry, I assembled the dressing and replaced the doors knobs with country style brushed nickel knobs with a design that reminded me of the wooden ornaments design.

The result : a unique, stylish AND AFFORDABLE large dressing!

~ Sonia D. Creations, Montreal, QC, Canada

Another Expedit Standing Desk with CDs as risers

Materials: Expedit Book Case, Vika Desktop, CDs

Description: After reading all about the benefits of a standing desk, I had been wanting to build one for my home office for some time. So after seeing this post on Ikea Hackers, I came up with a plan to use an Expedit book case and a Vika desk top to build a simple but attractive standing desk.

The first step was to do some research on the ergonomics of standing while working on a computer so I could get the height right for me. I use some books, paint cans, and other materials to prototype the desk I figured out the correct height I would need to work and type comfortably.

To start I turned the Expedit on it's side and attached some Ikea casters to raise the desk off the ground and make it easy to move around while I do a bigger home office remodel. To attach the desktop I used 5 inch (127 mm) bolts some PVC pipe and CDs to make the risers that sit between the Expedit and Vika desktop to get my perfect height. This was done as close as possible to the ends to ensure the Vika was attached through the solid portion of the desktop.

To finish off the desk I purchased a monitor arm to attach my monitor to ensure it was at the right height for working as well.

See more of the Expedit standing desk.

~ Jason, Atlanta, GA

I like the idea of using CDs as risers. We've seen a lot of standing desks using the Capita legs but the use of CDs is brilliant. You can adjust it to the exact height you need. And if you have old CDs that you don't need anymore, it's a great way to repurpose them. ~ Jules 

Borrby Lantern lamp from Grono Disaster

Materials: Borrby Lantern, Grono lamp parts

Description: After my dog broke my Grono table lamp, I wanted to get creative and salvage the lamp base. I took a Borrby lantern I had on hand and with a few minor alterations turned it into a great new lamp! Using a 1 1/4" hole saw bit, I drilled through the bottom to pop in the base. Tin snips clipped out a section of the base lip for the cord to slide through (so the lamp would sit flat) and a little frosted glass spray on the panes softened the harsh light. In less than 10 minutes, I had a new, awesome lamp! This could also be done with the cord kit from IKEA, or from a thrift/dollar store lamp with salvaged parts.

See more of the Borrby Lantern lamp.

~ Brooke, Lake Jackson, Texas

Ikea iPhone Stand

Materials: IKEA TERTIAL LAMP, iPod base.

Description: Finally, we made the iPhone base we were needing to make better Arduino tutorial videos.

It's a simple IKEA Hack of an extensible lamp. We remove the lamp head but keeping the base of the head.

We also remove the screw for the head and use an 90 angle from the hardware store and attached it to the base with another screw.

We secure this 90� angle to an iPod/iPhone base and we have it!

Check the video for more details!

See more of the iPhone photo studio stand.

~ @mrlndr, Madrid

Glamour console

Materials: VIKA FAGERLID (table leg with storage) and EKBY ALEX (shelf with drawer)

Description: My girlfriend and I were looking for a small console because we have little space near the front door, but consoles at ikea were all too big. so my mom came to help us proposing this solution:

We created our own console using VIKA FAGERLID (table leg with storage) and EKBY ALEX (shelf with drawer)

~ andrea e claudia, florence, italy

Maskros Dandelion Gold Beauty

Materials: Maskros lamp, gold paint, gold leaf, paintbrush and patience

Description: 1. Cut each of the petals from the Maskros to the size that you desire. I wanted the petals a little bit smaller so that the shadows on the walls weren't quite so big and there was a little more light in the room.

You can do this by using a glass to draw around so the petals are all the same length. I soon got bored of this and just guessed!!

2. Lay out a plastic sheet and paint the backs of all the petals in whatever colour paint you like - gold/silver mix for me.

3. Paint all the arms and the white clips that the petals will mount on. I hung them on a broom handle between two chairs to dry.

4. Paint the fronts of the petals once the backs have dried. Whilst the paint on the front of the petals is still wet, gently place pieces of gold leaf on to the paint. The wetness of the paint makes the gold leaf stick. I found it was best to tear small pieces of gold leaf off of the big sheet with a little brush. Leave to dry.

5. Assemble per the normal instructions and boom - beautiful sparkly Maskros!!

~ K Honey, Midlands, England

Minimalistic DVD rack in an Expedit

Materials: NEGLINGE 2x, EXPEDIT (doesn't matter which one), plank

Description: I wanted to use as little space of my Expedit as possible to store my DVD's. I don't have that much DVD's, but I wanted to be able to see which ones I have. Instead of just putting a second row in front of the others.

I made myself a plank of 33 cm x 15 cm and glued two Neglingle candlelights beneath it; and ta-da, I got myself a nice DVD storage.

I realize it's not exactly an outstanding hack, but hey, it's my first. :)

~ Maranke, The Netherlands

Godmorgon sink cabinet to bench

Materials: Godmorgon 2 drawer sink cabinet, ply wood, finish

Description: We have found this Godmorgon Wash stand at the "as-is-corner" (in german fundgrube).

Paint the front with the finish you want.

Mount a ply wood on the top. Diameter 125 x 55 cm. Thickness more than 21 mm.
Mount a frame on the bottom to heighten the wash stand a little bit and make it easier to open the drawers.

~ Andi and Steffi, Dresden

Petit d�jeuner sur l'herbe

Materials: Bekvam stepladder, decopatch paper, artificial turf, glue for decopatch, extra strong glue for artificial herb, varnish

Description: First I put green decorated decoupage paper on the stands of the ladder with decoupage glue. Covered stands with 3 layers of glue to make it stronger.

When the stands were completely dry, I've varnished them (that will save the ladder from being damaged too soon and gives it a beautiful shining).

- Afterwards I decorated only the sides of the 2 horizontal levels of the ladder also with decoupage paper with 3 layers of glue.

- Cut out the artificial grass with a stanley knife and putted on the 2 levels.

- Varnished the sides of the 2 levels

- Put together the Bekvam ladder like mentioned in the Ikea manual

~ back2, belgium