Black and white Stolmen Cat Tree

Materials: IKEA Stolmen storage system (post and fixtures)

Description: Here is our version of the "Stolmen" cat tree. We were inspired by pictures we saw on this website. We bought the post and fixtures and built our own shelves to reduce the cost. We gave the shelves the shape we wanted and painted them in white.

We made a hole for the post and fixed the carpet in place with little nails. We wanted our cats to get more vertical space and we thought that in front of the window was the best place for them. They can look outside higher than ever! We love the clean lines of this tree, we still get plenty of light even if it's right in front of the window. It is really well integrated in our decor which was important for us since it's in our living room.

~ Sabrina, Quebec city, Canada

More hacks on IKEAHackers.net

Cat Hack - cat tower & scratching post

Materials: Stolmen

Description: Inspired by earlier hacks (such as this) we decided to hack IKEA for our cat, Billy.

We live in a rather small apartment and wanted him to use the height of the apartment as well, so that his living space is optimize (especially since cats love high viewing points). We bought the Stolmen Post and Mounting Fixtures at IKEA, went to a DIY shop and bought: plywood, paint, glue, doormats and rope. Additionally we uses extra bolts and such, I think the photos say enough.

1. Design a shape and size for the boards/shelves.
2. Saw the plywood accordingly.
3. Drill or saw a hole in the shelves (the pole must fit through it later on).
4. Sand the plywood shelves.
5. Paint them.
6. Design and cut the doormats (or some other material).
7. Glue them onto the shelves. It's softer for the cat plus it prevents them from slipping off the boards.
8. Mount the shelves onto the pole (which you already installed). A bit hard for me to explain, just take a good look at the photos I'd say?
9. Wrap rope around the pole (we used 8 mm on the lowest part (took 10 meters) and both upper parts are 8 mm (took 2x 20 m!).

Billy absolutely loves his tower. he reaches the top in no time (he jumps and climbs as well), loves scratching the rope and when he's not sleeping on our laps on the coach, he's asleep on the top shelf.

See more of the Stolmen cat tower.

~ Kelly, The Netherlands

Ikea elevated DJ booth

Materials: Expedit 8 bay shelf, 42" Stolmen shoe shelf, Vika Adils legs

Description: I researched for weeks and found two ideas that I liked for my DJ setup and combined the two.

For years, DJs have been using the Expedit shelves for their durability and size. I follow with this same thought.

1. Assemble the Expedit as per the included instructions.

2. Loosely assemble the Vika Adils legs to the Stolmen shoe shelf. The purpose is to decide what width you want to between the base of the legs.

3. With this measurement, layout the leg bases evenly and equally.

4. Tighten up the legs.

5. Tighten up the joints and brackets for the Stolmen shelf.

~ Marcuis Wade, United States

Stolmen speaker mount

Materials: Stolmen

Description: I collect a lot of different display items and even used Detolfs raised on some 10yr old Ikea cabinets and loved the setup.

However, in order to maximize the prime display area around the TV (which was already wall mounted) I needed to mount the speakers. Stolmen parts were a perfect match (at the time as I have since changed speakers and rearranged everything again.)

Just a pair of Stolmen clamps per speaker top mounted on the speaker's top and bottom and it was done. I made the mistake of being too close to the wall so it was difficult to install the clamp but I still managed. So give yourself an extra inch away from the wall just to stay sane. Wire management was easy as I simply used rubberbands around the two joints to hold any wires in place.

See more of the Stolmen speaker mounts.

~ Jeff, Toronto

Kitchen Storage and Seating

Materials: Ikea Stolmen Chests, Vika Amon Table & legs,Ikea Stockholm Blad Fabric in Beige

Description: I needed extra storage space in my kitchen and I had this little 7ft X 5ft L shaped space so I purchased 2 Stolmen Chests with 2 drawers $120.00 each. I then purchased some foam and covered the foam in Ikea Stokholm Blad Fabric. I used 4 metres @ $7.99 per metre.

I finished off the space with the Ikea Vika Amon table top and legs $25.00

Not only did I get tons of extra storage space I also have a classy looking kitchen nook to eat at.

I am a 57 yr old lady and this is my Ikea hack!

Thanks a million, Ikea!

~ Vicki McPhail, Cambridge, ON

Stolmen laptop stand

Materials: Stolmen, IKEA plastic box

Description: Use a Stolmen pole as a laptop stand for a clean desk. You just need an IKEA Stolmen pole, a plate (with a hole you have to drill) and a plastic box you also get at IKEA. The nice fact about the plastic box is that I made holes in it to store cables insides which are way too long.

See more of the Stolmen laptop stand.

~ Rainer, Berlin

Creative IKEA desk

Materials: Stolmen, Capita, Vika Amon

Description: Use two Stolmen chests, with Capita legs, and four Capita bracket and one Vika Amon.

~ Pasquier Nicholas, Nantes - France

"Ideale" bike rack: Stolmen becomes art!

Materials: Stolmen pole with end fitting

Description: Wanted to get a bike rack for my Keirin track bike but solutions available are rather expensive. Thus, decided to get creative some spare bike parts and build an awesome bike rack.

Used the Ikea Stolmen pole, placed a ring (shape similar to the Greek omega or a traditional lamp shape, cost me less than $2 a pair!) holding the Nitto B123aa Gold handlebar to one Stolmen end fitting, and then took it to the "art" level using a vintage Ideale 80 saddle to make it look like a bull head.

Hope you like, I really do!

~ Luis Vieira, Osaka, Japan

Stolmen Plasma TV & gadget mount

Materials: Stolmen

Description: I live in a small flat and wanted to try and use as little floor space as possible when fitting my plasma.

I had already bought a wall bracket with my 50" plasma so fitted that to the two cross bars with "U" bolts from B & Q. The TV then fitted on the bracket as normal.

As well as this I wanted unit to hide a wall radiator plus take an X-box, sound bar, magazine rack, DVD and have storage.

Managed all and it looks good too.

Used two poles, two half depth shelves, three shoe racks, four cross poles and a couple of hooks.

Mounted the TV as shown above with the wall bracket and "U" bolts.
Only drilling involved was the holes for the u-bolts in the bracket and to mount the DVD

Just above the radiator I fitted one shelf tight to the wall and the other high up again tight against the wall but adjusted the height as required when finished. I then fitted one of the shoe racks vertical above the lower shelf butting up to it.
The TV was then fitted to just touch the upper edge.

Below the shelf the second show rack was fitted to take take magazines, books etc.
Below that was fitted the third show rack again vertical and used to fit a sound bar. On the upper shoe rack was fitted an LG Floating DVD player with the cables pulled to the back after drilling holes.(1 hole for a wire still to do!)

One of the two remaining poles was fitted behind the lower shoe rack to stop it rotating with the weight of the sound bar. The last pole is still to be fitted but will be fitted above the upper shelf to help as the back of a DVD rack.

All cables are out of sight with the x-box tucked away at the back but with good access.

Only cables in sight are one supply to a 4 gang socket and one aerial which are both white and match the wall.

The radiator is still used but with the shelf above it the air flow and thus heat output are down but the flat is still warm so no problems that way.

Hope you like!!!!

~ Chief

The other cat tree

Materials: STOLMEN, LACK, ANTONIUS, BORRIS

Description: Searching the internet for a cat tree, which did not look like one, I landed on ikeahackers.net An I found the tree of Maria and Jan Ove Gjerde Strand, Norway.

I was immediately impressed and inspired by this tree, because it is easy to clean and defective parts can be changed easily.

Now you can see here the German version.

One hole drilled with a 52mm holesaw through the LACK table (used with only 3 legs)
Steps made of 4 ANTONIUS shelves also drilled with 52mm holes for the STOLMEN pole and 9mm holes for the STOLMEN fastening kit.

For a better look, I've painted the nuts white

The ANTONIUS shelves I have partially covered with BORRIS floor mats, these are rubberized on the back so no further fastening is necessary

~ Boris S., Germany

Stolmen as multimedia rack

Materials: STOLMEN post, STOLMEN end fitting, glass sheet

Description: 1. Measure your components.

2. Find a shop to cut glass according to the measurement (Take some room for moving components).

3. Get square profiled aluminium 'tubes'.

4. Cut square 'tubes' to length of glass.

5. Assemble STOLMEN end fittings (501.799.34) to middle of square profiled with self-piercing screws.

6. With double face self-adhesive, fix the glass to the square profiled.

7. Assemble on the Post (201.799.40).

~ Luc Berger, Brussels, Belgium

Three bikes on a Stolmen

Materials: 2 Stolmen telescoping posts, 2 Stolmen clothes rails, 10 Stolmen end fixtures, and 6 Stolmen hooks

Description: Well, I got the idea from this IKEA Hackers post awhile back.

I live in New York City and have three bikes, e.g. the top and bottom one are mine and the middle bike belongs to my lovely girlfriend. I felt the same way as the poster of the Ikea "Stolmen Bike Rack" in regards to a non-ugly bicycle rack, but also needed something for three bikes. Sooooo in all fairness, I just hacked what the Stolmen Bike Rack poster did.

We have 10'6" ceilings so the posts have no problem in their reach. It took awhile to strategically place the hooks to hang the bikes parallel to the ground, but that was the only real challenge. Just follow IKEA's pictogram instructions for assembly. The beauty of this "hack" is that all the parts and tools come from Ikea, even in the same section of the same aisle! The only components outside of IKEA was the adhesive felt pads for the Stolmen hooks to prevent scratches.

See more of the 3 bike rack.

~ Tony, New York City

Stolmen cat tree

Materials: STOLMEN, VIKA ANNEFORS

Description: Stolmen post with fastening accessories along with Vika Annefors bench as foundation.

Two holes drilled with 52mm holesaw through Vika Annefors.
Steps made of simple pinewood from local hardware store. Drilled with holes for Stolmen and the fastening kit.
The steps finished with cat scratch friendly carpeting.
Capable of entertaining four heavily built and active Siamese and Oriental cats!

See more of the cat tree.

~ Maria Gjerde and Jan Ove Strand, Norway

Stolmen bike stack

Materials: Stolmen

Description: Ikea Stolmen system used as a bike rack. Not really the cheapest solution, but at least no more black stripes from the wheels on my walls. And as a spin-off, the floor is much easier to clean. Also nice as a "showroom".

See more of the IKEA Stolmen bike rack.

~ Rainer, Berlin

Skatedeck wardrobe

Materials: Stolmen Hooks

Description: I simply used Stolmen Hooks linked to a skatedeck as a wardrobe. Hope you like it.

See more of the skatedeck hanger.

~ Rainer, Berlin

Stolmen outdoor cat ladder

Materials: Stolmen upright and clamps

Description: This ladder was custom-made for access from a 1st-floor balcony down to the garden outside. The top step of the ladder reaches out from under the balcony and the remainder are arranged in a zig-zag fashion.

With wider steps it would work just as well as an indoor climbing platform for the cats. While googling for the clamp sizes, I came across a couple of firms which do just that.

This version uses a single STOLMEN upright, treated balcony wood flooring for the steps and one STOLMEN shelf clamp per step.

Total cost: about $100.

55mm hole cutter

This is the only bit of specialist equipment needed and can be found in decent hardware stores and normally comes with about 6 cutters of varying diameters. The end which passes into the drill attachment should be hexagonal in cross-section. Due to the torque involved, a round cross-section will slip in the drill chuck.

However you choose to cut them, the holes in the steps need to be at least 50mm in diameter so that the thicker of the two sections of Stolmen pole can pass through.

Measuring the holes

I could have avoided drilling such large holes and just had the step fixed on one side of the pole, but this arrangement uses both sides of the clamp and is much more stable.

The centres of the three holes are 13mm, 55mm and 97mm from the end of the step. The 50mm M8 bolts are long enough to pass through the clamps and the 25mm-thick wood.

The wood has a corrugated surface for extra grip and has been heat-treated for use outdoors which hopefully means it will last a few years - maybe longer than the cat.

Clamped step

I used rounded nuts on the cat side of the pole. They also make it look neater.

A dry run indoors

The top two steps are about 60cm in length because the pole will be placed underneath a balcony and those steps need to extend out far enough so that the cat can step down onto them. The rest of the steps are 40cm in length.

The standard STOLMEN pole has been used upside down, with the thinner section at the bottom. This should reduce the amount of water getting inside and also means the adjustment nut is at the top where it is less likely to be tampered with. For additional safety, the top of the pole is secured to the balcony with a metal strap.

Cat ladder in place

The gap between the top of the clamps and the underneath of the step is filled neatly by three 2mm washers.

For additional safety, the top of the pole is secured to the balcony railing with a metal strap.

See more of the cat ladder.

~ Victor