A long one for cat lovers

I know not everyone likes cat hacks, so if you fall into that category, please feel free to sit this one out. This post lists 4 hacks 
- DIY cat shelves from Bjarnum shelves
- A cat tree from Expedit shelves
- A kitty litter from a Corras bedside table 
- A hallway cat litter & food hideaway
- A Birkeland cat litter 
~ Hiding a litter box in the hallway

Meow!
~ Jules

DIY Cat Shelves

Materials: Ekby Jarpen shelves and Ekby Bjarnum brackets, Flor carpeting and glue

Description: We were pretty much either unimpressed with a lot of the cat trees out there or AMAZED at the cost of the ones we were impressed with. So we decided to make our own. Here are the steps:

1. Mapped out a practical layout deciding which shelves would be loungers and which would just be steps.

2. Cut the Ekby shelves to size.

3. Cut Flor carpeting to size and glue to shelves.

4. Attach shelves to the wall.

Easy peasy. And our cats LOVE IT!

See more of the Cat shelves.

~ Lizzie, Santa Monica, CA

Expedit cat tree

Materials: Expedit shelves , L-brackets, area rug, padding, staple gun, screws, wall anchors , and power drill

Description: We had hacked a 4x4 Expedit bookcase to make an entertainment center. With the left over parts I made a kitty tree to replace a store bought one that took up too much floor space.

I used a long cross shelf and 3 small divider shelves. I pre-drilled holes in the long back and attached the smaller platforms with two screws a piece. I staggered two of the platforms so my kitty could easily jump to the top.

On the top again using a pilot hole I screwed a platform that was square with the edge of the back. I added L-brackets for support

I wanted my kitty to not just be laying on a hard surface covered with carpet so I bought some foam padding used in packing plates and stapled it to the platforms. I then covered the padded platforms with carpet cut from two 2'x4' cheap area rugs. I had enough carpet left to make a vertical scratching area on the floor level.

I then hung it on the wall with drywall anchoring screws. I didn't have to pre-drill any holes because there was holes left from the wooden pegs.

I covered the screws with small pieces of electrical tape because the screws were silver colored.

~ Kristyn, Pennsylvania

KITTY LITTER FROM BEDSIDE TABLE

Materials: Ikea "Corras" side table

Description: Over the weekend, I picked up an awesome Craigslist find - a discontinued Ikea side table slash soon-to-be incognito kitty litter.

The entire construction time came in just under 30 minutes and cost less than $20. This is how I made it.

SUPPLIES:

-Ikea Corras� side table ($15 from Craigslist)
-2 hinges
-8 screws (for hinges)
Drill

I removed the four casters by removing the screws fastening the casters to the underside of the table. Then I made the shelf into a door by attaching two hinges to the front of the table.

Since the shelf came with the table, it was a perfect fit- no need to trim or resize. I didn't mind the visible hinges, but you could buy hidden cabinet hinges from the hardware store.

Then I placed the litter box inside as so:

The cat accesses the litter box from the back of the side table, which rests a about eighteen inches from the wall. To clean the litter box, I can access it from the front by opening the newly installed door. So far the kitty seems to like his new digs!

See more of the kitty litter.

~ Fran Laks, Brooklyn, NY

Cat Litter & Food hideaway

Materials: 2 Faktum fan cabinet, 2 Applad doors

Description: I wanted to hide the cat litter positioned in the corridor, and I thought that it would have been great to find a way to make also the cat's food bowl inaccessible to our greedy Jack Russell Terrier!

I dug into the Ikea website looking for a cabinet that could fit the place where the litter initially was and found the Faktum kitchen fan cabinet: I bought 2, in order to use them vertically one on the other.

We mounted the cabinets and first thing, with the help of a friend and the right tool, we cut out the entrance on the side, cat head shaped. Then we cut the inner passage between the two cabinets.

We mounted the 2 Applad doors; then we applied 2 layers of felt pads under the cabinet that stays on the ground so that the door could open without scratching the floor; lastly we put some double-sided tape between the two cabinets, so that they could be stable together.

I'm planning to add a shelf inside the upper cabinet to store food and bowls.

~ Laura, Italy

BIRKELAND for Cats

Materials: Birkeland nightstand, hammer, wide chisel (or something with a blunt edge), glue

Description: Inspired by other Ikea hacks I've seen for hiding litter boxes I decided to make my own. I chose the Birkeland nightstand because the inside was the exact size of my cats litter box, and the height was perfect for beside the daybed in my spare bedroom/den. I started by building the nightstand as instructed. The hack comes when you get to the door. Lay the door on the floor, backside up. With a blunt edge chisel bang apart the frame of the door, removing each side one by one.

Be careful not to break the dowels that interlock the frame together. Once the frame is apart just take away the middle panel and put the frame back together. Use a little bit of glue in the dowel holes to ensure it's strong enough without that middle panel. For added privacy attach a sheer piece of fabric to the inside of the door (I just taped it). Now just hang the door as instructed and voila! A super simple nightstand/litter box home.

~ Nicole R, toronto, canada

Hiding a litter box in the hallway

Materials: Besta, TOFTA doors, cat flap

Description: Since I had my cat's litter box in the living room, right in front of the entrance, and there is no other place to put it, since the cat sleeps in there, I decided I had to find a way to hide it.

The perfect cabinet fitting the rest of the furniture (and containing the litter box) was Besta.

The hack consisted in making two holes: a hole in one side of the cabinet, to install a cat flap (bought in a pet shop), and another in the back for a ventilation grate.

Then we put the litter box in one half of the cabinet, while the other half is used to store cat food, brushes, and the like.

Ginger did not mind at all the change, and now if you don't notice the small window in one side, you really cannot tell the litter box is there.

~ Vale, Roma

Vanity/Dressing Table

Materials: 2 Ekby Jarpen wall shelves w/ brackets, 3 Branas baskets, and 1 Ingolf stool

Description: We mounted the 2 Ekby Jarpen wall shelves just far enough apart so that the 3 Branas baskets could move in an out freely and that was all. Mounted a mirror over them and made a cushion for the Ingolf stool... very simple and quite useful for a house full of young girls!

~ Sally Popa, Topsail Island, NC

Music Producing Desk

Materials: VIKA AMON, VIKA CURRY, VIKA ANNEFORS, EKBY JARPEN, BILLY

Description: I wanted to build a desk to produce music and still have enough space to work and do everyday stuff.

In the beginning I planned to build everything on my own, but soon I realized that it must be cheaper and easier to combine some IKEA furniture.

There were some requirements I had, that didn't make the selection that easy:
- It should look awesome (of course)
- It should match my existing furniture like a Malm bed. I also wanted a very simple and clean design.
- The speakers should be on the same height as my head.
- The working space should be big enough also having some space for two monitors and a two RU 19-inch rack.
- Did I already mention that it should look awesome?

This is what it turned out. I am quite happy with it, although the black of the table doesn't exactly match with the brown-black of the two Billys, but that's ok, you don't recognize, when you don't look too close.

The white switch, by the way, is to switch the power of all the music equipment (speakers, monitor mixer, audio interface, ...) at once and will of course be replaced by a black one as soon as I have one ;)

~ Michael

Ekby Jarpen in the hallway

Materials: Ekby Jarpen shelves, Vippa hooks, Ekby Robert Brakets, Besta frame

Description: Moving into a new apartment we had trouble finding some hallway furniture to fit in the designated place. As we had three extra shelves we didn't need and a Besta frame which was bought as a TV stand but was never used, my husband came up with this idea.

Items used:
- 2 Ekby Jarpen shelves 119 x 28
- 1 Ekby Jarpen shelf 79 x 19
- 5 Vippa hooks - large
- 5 Vippa hooks - small
- Wallpaper
- Black spray paint

My English is not very fluent so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. The shelf which is used as support for the hooks was fixed to the wall and the hooks are masking the screws. The smaller shelf has three hooks for keys and two for our kids' jackets.

The part of the shelf which is not finished (should normally go against the wall) was painted black.

~ Laura, Cluj, Romania

Simple and Reversible Standing Desk

Materials: Vika Amon Table Top, Vika Byske Legs, Ekby Jarpen Shelf, Ekby Tore Brackets

Description: After reading all those articles about how sitting is killing you, I decided to try a standing desk! The nice thing about this one is it is reversible - the legs are adjustable, meaning that if I ever were to change my mind about standing at my computer all day, I have the option of lowering the whole desk back down to a seated level.

Here's how we did it:

We got the Vika Amon Table Top for $19.99.

Then screwed on 4 Vika Byske Legs for $30 each (total $120). These legs are the tallest ones we could find at IKEA, and they're adjustable up to about 42". Online they say you shouldn't use these legs unless you're going to mount your table top to the wall. We didn't mount my desk because we didn't want it to be permanently fixed in one spot. The legs are a bit wobbly (I can understand IKEA's warning), but since I have it propped up against a wall, I don't feel a whole lot of shakiness.

Then we attached an Ekby Jarpen Shelf, which was $9.99, using two Ekby Tore Brackets, $5.00 each for a total of $10. I needed my monitors to be up higher (at eye level), and this shelf does the trick. It also keeps more of the desktop area free, which is nice.

And that's it! Pretty simple. Total cost for this desk was about $160. That seems kind of high, but considering the last desk I bought was about $120, this one is comparable. (On a positive note, I was able to sell my old desk on Craigslist to help offset the cost of this new one!)

See more of the reversible standing desk.

~ Leiah

Sleek Console Table

Materials: 3 ECKBY JARPEN Shelves size 46 7/8", 8 2" coarse pocket screws, table saw

Description: I had been looking for a console table to fit in a nook behind my sofa so I went to Ikea to see what might work.

1) Purchase 3 Ekby Jarpen Shelves at 46 7/8"long
2) Use a pocket screw jig to make 4 pocket screw holes in the top inside of the shelves that will become your "legs" of your console table and repeat this same step for the other leg.
3) Use a regular table saw to cut the legs to your desired length. 30-31" is standard for a console table.

4) Screw the top of your table to the legs using the 2" coarse pocket screws. There will be 4-2" screws used on each leg. They will screw from the inside of the leg to the bottom of your console table shelf.
5) Stage your new console table, stand back and smile

*Note that the pocket screw jog makes your screws not visible from the top of your table giving you a more finished look instead of exposed screws.

See more of the sleek console table.

~ thecubaninmycoffee, Miami, FL