Apple mirror

Materials: Malma mirror, jigsaw, sand and spray paint

Description: First draw the apple logo on the frame.
Then cut with jigsaw.
Then sand it.
And finally paint with spray paint.

See more of the Apple mirror.

~ aramissenil, Zaragoza ( Spain )

Catch-all corkboard calendar

Materials: Malma mirror, Tyst cork placemats, fibreboard, ruban, nails, glue, thumbtacks, screw-in hooks, staple gun, picture hooks

Description: This piece of hallway decoration features a perpetual calendar, a coarkboard for storing notes, a mirror for checking yourself before you leave, and a storage space for jewellery and keys. It was partially inspired by this ikea hack, but it needed an extension to get organised.

First, you nail the Malma mirror onto the fibreboard. On the blank side of one of the placemats, you draw the calendar. If you mess this one up, no worries: try again on one of the other placemats, the marker does not shine through. When you're happy with how it looks, cut all placemats to the desired dimensions. At the very least, you need to cut off the rounded edges.

Glue the placemats into place and allow to set. Finish off the sides by thumbtacking the ruban in the front of the board, use a staple gun to attach it on the back of the panel. Finally, screw the hooks into the mirror, attach some picture hooks and hang onto the wall.

~ Naantje, Nederland

Mirror with building blocks decoration

Materials: Malma mirror, building blocks, glue

Description: This is a very simple hack. We have two little children, so we've many building blocks toys. Put in the Malma mirror the blocks and when you are content glue them.

~ Vintage Bazaar.hu Neuvirth Judit, Hungary, Budapest

HappIKEA Xmas

Materials: IKEA Malma photo frame

Description: IKEA photo frame
Black and red permanent markers.
Stars adhesive.

See more of the HappIKEA Xmas frame.

~ Bypils, Barcelona

Mosaic Mirror Sorta Kinda Head Board

Materials: Malma Mirrors, Ceramic Tiles, Found Objects, Mastic adhesive, Grout

Description: I took a ceramics class last Spring and made some really cool tiles. I wanted to create a project with them and this is what I eventually came up with. I glued down my ceramic tiles along with found (and craft store bought) items using a mastic thin set-like adhesive. I then used grout to fill in the gaps and hung the mirrors using the hardware that was provided with the mirrors.

~ Sara K, Pittsburgh, PA

Mirror, mirror Malma on the wall

Materials: Malma x 32, 4 cm wide double sided carpet tape, tape measure, carpenter's square, spirit level, marker

Description: In the dining room of our new apartment we had a very special decorating challenge. On the back wall (facing the whole living area) was a large 1970s smoked glass mirror. And it was glued to the wall. Now I realize that in some context this might be cool, but it just really wasn't working for us. In fact we hated it. But not to worry, we had plenty of inspiration from the Internet, and in no time we had come up with a perfect solution.


On one of our many Ikea visits we purchased 32 Malma mirrors (red finish), after carefully sorting and selecting the nicest ones. We also bought one or two spares just in case.

The most important part of this hack was the careful measuring and placement of the Malmas. We started from the center of the old mirror and worked our way out, much in the way you would place tiles. The mirrors were attached directly onto the old mirror with several generous strips of carpet tape each. We haven't had any problems with the tape holding, non of the mirrors have moved a bit. The Malmas overlap over the edges of the old mirror by just a bit all the way around.

In spite of being a simple hack, this has become one of the most commented-on features in our home. It has created a striking feature wall, while at the same time reflecting light into the back of the apartment.

~ marikorose, Athens, Greece

Mosaic Malma Mirror

Materials: Malma Mirror, china marker, Weldbond or other mosaic glue, tweezers, tile nippers (hardware store item), dampened sponge, broken crockery, tiles, glass and nail file

Description: Collect old dishes, tiles and glass. I get them in a thrift store.

Break crockery items them by wrapping them in a towel and hitting them with a hammer.

Plan your design. Keep the focus on line and shape. Contrast of tone and color works well in mosaic.

Draw design on the mirror frame with china marker

Fit shards into place like puzzle pieces. I use tweezers to move the pieces around and fit them in tight spots. If a piece has sharp edges, dull the points with a nail file.

Glue them as you go with a little Weldbond on the back.

Use the sponge to wipe off excess glue--it dulls the surface if you leave it.

If a piece doesn't quite fit, trim it to shape with the nippers.

See more of the mosaic Malma mirror.

~ Carol Bowen, New York City

Malma Mirror Nightstand Storage Thingy

Materials: 10 Malma Black-Brown mirrors, 8 straight joiners, 8 L brackets, box of 4x1/2 tiny screws, two hinges

Description: I had a bunch of old Malma mirrors lying around and figured it was time to do something with them (read: I'm sick of making Swiss cheese out of the walls trying to line them all up grid-style; and I needed another nightstand, and I didn't want to buy wood). So, for a first go at building anything from scratch and without plans, I set out to use what I had on hand (minus the 4 trips to the hardware store for screws, joiners, etc.) to make something new.

First, I sorted my mirrors to use the nicest ones towards the top, and the scratched one on the bottom. I used the straight joiners to attach two mirrors vertically. This I did four times (two joiners for each mirror). This created four tall rectangular boards.

Then, I attached a mirror to the bottom -- centered so it would be inset -- using the L brackets. After that, I used the hinges to attach the top mirror to create an top-opening lid. I thought it would be nice to have a bit of storage for an extra blanket, etc.

I bailed on adding a knob/handle since the lid sticks over enough to open easily. I'm considering adding some sort of embellishment... any ideas? I've also thought about adding feet. Open to ideas.

Anyway, voila. Nightstand!

~ Jaime G.

Reflection of time

Materials: Malma Mirror, 3/8" glass drill, clock work

Description: Carefully drill a hole in the center of the mirror with the glass drill. I use a drill press to do this but it can be done with a regular drill motor. The trick is using a glass drill bit- one made for drilling through glass. Once the hole is made, install a clock work through it. In case you crack the mirror you can replace it with a 4" tile. If you use a tile you need a masonry bit. You can probably use the glass bit though. The end result is a cool mirror that reflects time.

~ Rob, Burien, WA, USA

Decorated Ikea Malma frames

Materials: Malma 10" Mirror frame

Description: Firstly, I painted them white using acrylic paints. I covered the entire front surface with a strong double sided tape. I punched out literally hundreds of 1cm squares choosing the colours carefully. I foiled my own papers for my mosaic mirrors using various pearl, holographic and pale coloured foils.

I only worked on a one strip of tape peeled back at a time sticking each square on carefully and leaving equal gaps inbetween them. Once I finished covering all the frame I sprinkled white glitter to fill in as the 'grout' and to complete them I stuck pretty sequins around the mirror itself.

I cut pieces of embossed wallpaper and stuck them to the frames, then I painted them a few times with acrylic paints giving a good covering., then I used a hot foiling pen to apply some beautiful puple foil in the plain areas. I added sequins and gems just to glam them up a bit too.

See more of the mosaic Malma frames and wallpapered Malma.

~ Sylvie

Laser etched Malma frame

Materials: 1 Malma pine 10" square mirror + 1 laser etching machine

Description: This hack is pretty simple and straight forward. I just laser-etched flower graphics onto the pine frame.

See more of the laser etched Malma.

~ Manny Torres, Los Angeles

Jewelry Displays (recycled Ikea mirrors)

Materials: Malma mirrors

Description: I covered the wooden frames of two Malma mirrors with fancy wallpapers and then screwed different kinds of hooks into them, to turn them into jewelry displays.

~ BeaG, Belgium

Malma meets Venice

Materials: Malma mirror, mosaic tiles, tile nippers, glue, grout, husband to pour the wine

Description: We moved into a place with a hideous little bathroom. As a gift to myself, I decided to defy our rental agreement and paint. The bathroom had two colours of blue tile, and we had a pair of beautiful masks from Venice, so I decided to use our $2.99 pine Malma mirror to tie it all together.

I used a pencil to draw a couple of Venetian masks onto the pine, as well as four diagonal lines to outline where the two different colours of blue tile would go.

Hubby poured wine and chose DVDs while I curled up at the coffee table with my tile nippers; I sipped and nipped and glued for a couple of hours. The next day, I added grout. We painted the bathroom to match the mirror. Voila! Gorgeous! Hideous bathroom redeemed!

~ Mia Torr, Vancouver

The "A rose by any other name is a Malma" mirror

Materials: Malma Mirror, clay, paint, varnish, glue

Description: Using a self-hardening clay (no kiln needed), form your roses, then once dried, paint and varnish them. Glue them to the Malma mirror with bathroom-tile glue, to which you can add paint, so that it will blend in with your color of roses.

~ Eileen, Lisbon, Portugal