Lack Tower

Materials: Lack wall shelf, feet and hardware from hardware store, paint, screws, piece of plywood

Description: My Malm nightstand wasn't working for me, so I hacked a Lack. I wanted to use it as a tower but didn't trust it to stand unaided, and bolting it directly to the wall would make it awkward to reach from the bed. I also needed one larger area for my lamp.

So I screwed some feet to a piece of painted plywood cut to the same size as the "bottom" of the unit, then screwed that plywood to the bottom in the areas I was pretty sure there was solid wood. (Added bonus: the plywood came from an old IKEA computer desk, name lost to antiquity.) I attached one shelf to the backside, and used the bracket provided to attach that shelf to the wall.

I was going to glue the plywood to the bottom of the unit, but, as it turned out, there is a small (1/8") lip hanging down from the back piece, so there is a gap between the plywood and the bottom shelf. I need to shove something in there -- a paint stir stick across the front, perhaps?

I don't have a lot of woodworking experience so the execution wasn't as perfect as I'd hoped, but it functions just as well as I imagined. Not bad, for my first hack!

~ Liz T., Seattle, WA