Modern Decoration: 2013

Wednesday 5 June 2013

Sultan Lade Table

Materials: Sultan Lade Bed frame

Description: My wife and I had this crazy idea of making a table from these hand me down Sultan Lade. First step is to remove all staples and fabric supporting the frame. A leg was made from 2 wood slats, cut and connected together with screws and wood glue forming a narrow 70cm x 10cm rectangular frame. We made 4 sets of legs, 2 legs were connected by a full slat coming in between the leg frame, this will become the support of the table top made again from slats nailed and glued from the bottom

~ Marcus Isip, Dubai UAE

(Plant) Pot Lights

Materials: IKEA, SKURAR, Plant pot, off-white

Description: This hack is quick, easy and cheap!

I took an Ikea Skurar Plant Pot, 2 of them actually... and added a (moon) push light to each one. I secured a battery operated push light to the bottom of each pot with a patch of industrial strength velcro.

It was easy to hang them (upside down) as a sconce using EZ hooks, or Monkey Hooks.

Easy, inexpensive sconce lighting with no need for an electrician. Safe and easy to operate.

See more of the Skurar push light.

~ Jen

Steampunk-style Borrby display case

Materials: Borrby lantern, some wood and various odds and ends

Description: From another project I was left with an old and very beat-up mechanical clockwork. Because I like seeing a clockwork at work, I started looking for something that might function as a display case. The smaller Borrby lantern is inexpensive and seemed well-suited to my purpose.

Note: the galvanized version of the Borrby is constructed differently and I don't think it would work for this hack.

I bought two, because I couldn't find a single one without scratches on the glass (Hey Ikea, Borrbys are not adequately packed, they're just placed together in a box without any separation or protection between them). I ended up using 5 glass panels; one for the top as well.

First I removed all the glass panels. Then I pried off the top section of the lantern and sawed off the 4 supports flush with the bottom. I turned the lantern upside-down (so the top became the bottom). I fastened the top (now bottom) to a leftover piece of oak board - because the metal is thin and became a little deformed, I used brass L-brackets to clamp the metal down to the board (the brass echoes the clockwork metal). I was intending to put brass corners around the top too, but that didn't look like it would work out when I got to it (the screws would have ended up going through the glass).

The vent holes were covered up with leftover pieces of a LOBBO lampshade. Brass plate would have been nicer but I didn't find any.

The top cover is made of two overlapping L-shaped pieces sawn from what was originally the bottom of the lantern. These I glued together and re-painted black. The top is held in place by double-sided construction tape, In case I need to take it apart again.

I cut a glass panel to size for the top. I'm not very good at cutting glass, so starting from the panels of another Borrby limited the number of cuts I needed to make. Also, 3 chances to get it right...

My spare lantern is now missing its back glass panel, I intend to put a reflecting piece of metal in its place (perhaps cut from a cookies box) and turn it into a semi-directional lantern.

~ Eli, Belgium

Tuesday 4 June 2013

Faktum Storage Bed

Materials: Faktum (or equivalent) cabinets, Box Spring Bed (mine is Sultan Salhus), plywood, lumber for footing and inner structure, assorted tools, screws and various bits

Description: - Measure the space you have and figure out what size of cabinets to use and how to lay them out.

I used 9 Faktum cabinets in total: 4 x 80 cm wide, 1 x 60 cm wide (total width of the space was only 230 cm) and 4 x 40 cm wide, layed out as in the picture.

- Assemble all the full height cabinets. Leave the backing off one of the big ones - this will be the doorway to the storage space.

- Shorten the cabinets as needed prior to assembly. This is pretty easy to figure out when you look at the pieces, if you have prior DIY experience with tools. I'm looking into creating a tutorial for this, when I have the time...

- Lay out the cabinets. Optionally lay cabinets on a lumber footing, so they're easier to open. This also helps to attach the cabinets: you can screw them on the footing.

- Attach cabinets to each other and build an inner structure to reinforce them and to take the most of the weight of the bed and anyone laying on it.

- Optionally cover the tops of cabinets with plywood (or other material) for a sleeker look. Treat your chosen material (I waxed the plywood after sanding it fine) so it's easier to clean and will keep looking nice.

- Attach the bed on top of the structure. I used steel brackets (used them on a lot of places in the construction as well).

- Attach doors and handles. Line up the doors.

- Step back and enjoy! And then fill it up. There's more photos in my blog.

~ Nora, Espoo, Finland

Simple Lack Ottoman

Materials: Lack coffee table, Capita legs

Description: I love the new SODERHAMN ottoman, but right now is out of my budget (250 dollars for an ottoman? what?!) so I came up with this, which is basically another approach to a LACK/OTTOMAN hack you would find here, the only difference is that I used the 35" x 21" coffee table instead of the little one.

The instructions are the same as other ottoman hacks, the only difference is that I didn't use spray glue because the foam will stay in place when you staple the batting.

Costs:
Lack table $10 used from Craigslist
Capita legs $10 I was lucky enough to found them at "as is" section.
Fabric $15 (I got 1 1/2 yards, you can use the rest for cushions covers)
Foam $ 15
Batting/Dacron $ 8

Total $58

Now, if you live in US consider yourself lucky because I'm sure the material costs are cheaper than here in Canada.

~ Aurea M, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Wall-mounted charging station plus earphone/cable storage

Materials: Forhoja set of 3 boxes, electric drill with centre bit, wood glue, a few small nails, strip of 4x1 cm wood, extension lead

Description: We have in our household: 2 e-readers, 1 iPad, 1 smaller tablet computer, 1 iPhone, 2 other cell phones and a camera. All of which need to be charged ALL THE TIME. Result: We were constantly looking for charging cables, free wall sockets and the devices themselves.

So I built this charging station which can also be used to stores extra charging cables, earbuds and cell phones. I wanted a wall-mounted station so as not to clutter up the last few precious bits of free table and shelf surface.

I got the Forhoja boxes - it's a set of one big and two smaller boxes; the big one comes with a tray-like lid. The entire thing is just wide and deep enough to comfortably hold the iPad, at least to Kindles and two cell phones at the same time.

First I attached the little pieces of wood into the big box (instead of into the lid as per instructions) to prevent the lid from sliding about.

Using wood glue, I glued the smaller boxes on the sides of the big box. Originally I hadnâ€™t planned to use the small boxes at all, but they make an excellent place to keep earbuds (which disappear all the time as well). I glued 4 strips of wood (10 x 4 x 1cm) to the back to provide a little space between box and wall and put a few small nails in for extra sturdiness.

I drilled a few 22mm ventilation holes into the lid and the bottom of the big box to prevent the charging plugs and extensions lead from overheating. (Note: donâ€™t forget to put a piece of scrap wood under the box when drilling ventilation holes! You can also put sticky tape on the underside so the wood wonâ€™t splinter outwards when the drill breaks through.) I also drilled holes into the back for wall mounting with two screws and washers.

When I screwed the box to the wall I placed the power cable along the back of the box so it runs down the middle between the strips of wood. I had to use a manual screwdriver because the electric screwdriver wouldnâ€™t fit â€" hard work! The cables inside the box are gathered together with a bit of plastic-coated wire so they wonâ€™t go all over the place when the lid is lifted off. The lid goes on to the box deep-side up, so the devices can be propped against the wall and wonâ€™t slip over the edge.

I'€™m pretty pleased with the whole thing; I only wish I had painted it a bright colour before screwing it to the wall - maybe I'€™ll do that at a later date when I can face having to screw it on again with the tiny manual screwdriver.

~ Nina Hyland, Munich, Germany

Terrarium From Another World

Materials: Morkt Lantern

Description: For my daughter's woodland themed room I took the Morkt Lantern and used silicone and a plastic ring to seal up the bottom. I then planted succulents and placed an AT-AT for a terrarium from another world.

~ Kaylie, Seattle

Monday 3 June 2013

Henriksdal's new look

Materials: Henriksdal bar stool and wool yarn scraps

Description: Pimp up your stool with scraps of wool yarn: wrap different colors of yarn around the stool and tie under the seat.

~ Rosandra

Non-flimsy full height, 24" wide recycling and trash cabinet

Materials: Akurum kitchen cabinet, drawers, jigsaw, drill.

Description: Ikea's kitchen cabinets are great, but their recycling center is limited to an 18" wide cabinet with a drawer above. That's not tall enough and if you use a full height door, when you pull the handle, the whole door flexes outward. And at 18" wide it's just not big enough for a family's trash and recycling.

SOLUTION: Use a 24" wide cabinet with full height door panel and an extra drawer kit. Don't buy the Ikea recycling kit, use standard Sterilite laundry bins instead.

1. Attach your bottom drawer to the door panel per the instructions and template and your rails into the cabinet. You can now install the assembly into the cabinet and it will slide in and out.

2. Stand your bins sideways (see photos) so there is an even gap to the front panel, back of drawer and between the two bins. This will allow enough wood when we come to cut the upper drawer base.

3. Offset the bins sideways, which when finished will allow for a roll of trash bags to sit in the bottom.

4. Assemble your second drawer without the base / floor in it. With your door open and the bins in place, hold the drawer (maybe need a friend for this) around where you plan to install it to determine which holes your rails should go in. Mark inside the cabinet, install your rails and fit the drawer without the base in it. The drawer should slide in and out.

5. Slide the upper drawer forward until it hits the cabinet front and mark where you will attach it to the door / front. This is a little tricky and is best done with the door as closed as possible so the drawer is sitting rigidly in the rails and not drooping down at full extension.

6. Re-use the Ikea template from step one to finalize your drawer attachment points on the door. Drill the holes and attach the drawer to the door front and check the operation. Your drawer base will still be missing.

7. Mark a line from the bottom of the upper drawer onto one bin. This is the level that the bin passes through the drawer base. Measure the depth and width of each bin and draw the outline on your drawer base. If in doubt make it a little small at first as the wood is easy to enlarge with a rasp. Cut your holes with a jigsaw.

8. Detach the upper drawer from the door and slide in the drawer base. You may need to remove the door completely first to get the board to slide in. Reattach everything.

The bins should drop into your two holes in the upper drawer base. If the bins don't sit all the way in the bottom drawer, your holes may be too small. Enlarge them a little with a rasp.

~ Patrick Ryan, San Diego

Custom Bathroom Unit with Adils legs

Materials: 8 x ADILS Black Legs, 1 PRÄGEL Countertop

Description: I made a custom Bathroom Unit out of ADILS legs and PRÄGEL countertop.

Description:
I customized the PRÄGEL into 2 Units that fitted the width of the niche. I also made them trapezoids with one of the sides longer than the other.

I then drilled holes in the PRÄGEL for the pipes from the sink.

The nice things with the ADILS is that they are made of hollow metal, so they are easy to cut. You just pop out the plastic feet off the leg, cut it to the desired length, and pop the plastic feet back on.

The feet can also be adjusted to fine-tune the height of the legs.

I screwed the legs under the two PRÄGELs and put them on top of each other. I also used some L-brackets to fasten the PRÄGEL to the wall.

Ingredients:
8 x ADILS legs
1 x PRÄGEL countertop
2 x L-shaped brackets

Tools used:
1 Hand Saw for cutting wood (For cutting the PRÄGEL)
1 Hand Saw for cutting the metal ADILS legs
1 Hole Saw for cutting the holes for the pipings
1 Screwdriver to screw the ADILS legs on the PRÄGEL and the brackets to the wall.

~ Stein, Norway

Saturday 1 June 2013

Bye Bye Lack Shelf: Alternative cat stairs

Materials: Red L brackets, red shelves from Ikea

Description: Ikea did away with the Lack shelf! So we made own! We took 5 red shelves, cut 2 in half, used the $0.50 brackets and one fancy red bracket and poof! Our own Lack! Enjoy!
Project was under $30

*we used the $2.99 bath mats and cut them in half so the shelves were soft for the cats.

~ Kristel, Fishtown- Philly

Pax Built-in for sloping ceiling

Materials: PAX closet BIRKELAND doors FINTORP handle

Description: First I have measured the space between the closet and the ceiling this was about 20 cm. I have used 2 rows of aerated concrete blocks of 10 cm direct on the floor to raise the closet 10 cm.

After placing the blocks I had to cut all sides of the closet because at 160 cm (170cm from the floor) the roof slope began. Don't forget to cut the right side, I messed up one panel :(. I have added some wood laths on the walls to mount the covering.

After this I have mounted a wooden lath over the closet to give it more strength and to mount the ceiling covering. After all closets were placed and connected to each other and to the wall I have screwed 12 mm carton board to finish. After grounding I have used a self adhesive MDF finishing profile to make a nice connection to the walls and ceiling. I have used Acrylic kit to finish it up and used white paint.

~ Bram van Tienhoven, NL Hendrik Ido Ambacht

Map It Out Desk

Materials: Vika Moliden underframe

Description: I used the the Vika Moliden under frame aka desk legs. I would of purchased the desk top too but b/c of where I live they wouldn't ship it. So, I had a desk top made with the exact same dimensions of the one you can purchase at Ikea.

I download a picture of the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort Trail Map then imported it into photoshop and changed the dimensions to fit how I wanted it to appear on the desk top. Then, I took the pdf file to a large format printing company who printed it out on sticker paper. Lastly, I carefully placed the giant sticker on the desk and then added a glass top.

It was super easy.

Checkout the link below for the DIY video I did on the process.

See more of the map desk.

~ that girl katie, Jackson Hole, WY

Friday 31 May 2013

A Creative Exercise Using RUSCH Clocks

Materials: RUSCH clocks, anything to decorate the clocks with (spray paint, fabric, dollar store trays, etc.)

Description: Description: The RUSCH clocks are really cheap here - in USD $0.84. I wanted to see what sort of ideas I could come up with when hacking the look and design - so I ended up buying 5 of them.

My first experiments were based on trying to change the look of the whole clock - like spray painting the frame black. But anyone who has seen one of these clocks would know what I just did. So my attention went to hacking the round plastic cover. This way the new clock designs wouldn't look like the original RUSCH design.

For three out of the five clocks (The Black Beast, White on White, and Dressed Up) I ended up using the round plastic cover as a base. Two were spray painted, another covered up with fabric. For the Black Beast I cut up the seconds hand to create the number locations.

I didn't want the seconds hand on any of the clocks so I cut off the stems, just to keep the round tab to cover the hole.

Next up is the Double Dose clock. Instead of using the round plastic cover as the base I glued cardboard to the back of an IKEA MARIT dinner table mat.

The last clock, Horizon, used a dollar store serving tray as the base. Half of it was spray painted black, the other half white, to give it a more abstract design. All of the spray painting, including the painting of the first two clocks, were done inside of an IKEA shopping bag (so the spray paint doesn't go everywhere).

To see more pictures of the clock hacks, click here.

~ Jacob, Malaysia

Granite Coffee Table with EXPEDIT Wall shelf and Lack granite top sofa table

Materials: EXPEDIT Wall shelf, BLADIS Baskets, FIXA Stick-ons, Lack sofa table

Description: Simple 'Hack'. I was looking for something to support a granite slab for a coffee table which I got from a granite supplier 'bone yard' at a 75% discount - $150. I found the IKEA EXPEDIT cubes which were the perfect height and used the BLADIS wicker storage cubes for magazines and remote controls.

Also by placing the cubes on two corners this allowed for leg room under the table in the corner of the sectional. I also used the FIXA stick-ons to protect the cubes. Total cost of IKEA products $75 - total $225. Interior designer friend said it would sell for $1,000 at a high end furniture store.

I paid only $60 for this sofa table sized beautiful granite piece and in looking for a way to support it I ran across the IKEA LACK Sofa Table $30 - perfect fit - $90 total. An interior design friend thought I paid at least $500 for it. Oh yes - I put IKEA FIXA Stick-on floor protectors on the bottom of the granite to protect the table top.

~ Robert Youngberg, Denver

Glass top kitchen peninsula

Materials: two IVAR (80x50x83) cabinets, one TORSBY (180x85) tabletop,three Gnosjo doors (60x92cm) 1 gnosjo door ( 50x92) one Gnosjo plinth , 16 L-Brackets, 4 mending plates , 8 legs (9cm high), a piece of pinewood of 20x50x1,5, and a piece MDF of 180x85 finished with aluminium edging tape from hardware store

Description:
1.- Paint the IVAR cabinets and the piece of pinewood with transparent white glaze that reveals the wood grain.
2.-Assemble two IVARs as instructed and mount four legs each onto the bottom walls. Leaving the doors unassembled, makes handling a bit easier.
3.- Put the two cabinets side by side, leaving a gap of 20cm in between.

4.- Attach the pinewood piece to the bottom of both cabinets to fill the gap using the 4 mending plates, forming a very useful shelf to store the trays. Now you have the island.
5.- Attach the 3 Gnosjo doors (60x92) to the back of the cabinets and the 50x92 door to the peninsula side opposite to the wall with the 16 L-brackets.
6.- Paint the mdf countertop in white and screw it to the top of the cabinets. Put the whole in place.
7.- Put the Torsby tabletop on it
8.- Saw the Gnosjo plinth to get a piece of 180x9cm ant glue it to the legs at the front part of the peninsula.
9.-Fix the peninsula to the wall and put the IVAR doors in place

~ Teresa Aznar, Spain

Thursday 30 May 2013

Antique Exit Sign Lamp

Materials: Alang Lamp, Dioder 4 Piece Light Strip

Description: I found an old Exit sign at a vintage shop and it was only $20 or you can buy them online.

Exit signs come with a hole drilled in the top for ceiling attachment.

I took the base of the lamp, unscrewed the plastic washer and placed the exit sign on it. Screw the washer back in to hold it in its place.

I then put 2 Dioder LEDs inside giving a normal sign we see every day a new take.

~ Zach Berry, Chicago