Varde island with stainless Vika Hyttan desktop hack

Materials: Drill, screwdriver

Description: This one is a relatively simple hack with a stylish final product. My wife and I were planning on using a Varde kitchen island in our kitchen, and decided on a four-door Varde base cabinet, which didn't come with a counter top.


Now for the hack: we had looked at the Varde counter tops, as well as the other kitchen counter tops, but didn't find one we liked that much. Our kitchen cabinets were wood coloured, and we also had a small older Varde island with wooden top so we were thinking of doing something different. A trip to the desk area landed our eye on the Vika Hyttan stainless steel desktop. It came in two sizes and luckily the longer one was big enough for our island. The Vika stainless desktops are stainless steel on top with wood on the inside so it was relatively easy to drill holes into the desktop where needed to finish the project, and screw it into place. The Varde base also has holes pre-drilled for where you're supposed to attach the counter top so it was easy to line up, and also came with screws of the proper length for a counter top.

I've only included one photo which shows the final product, as it seems easy enough for anyone to understand. The Vika desktop has pre-drilled holes to use with Vika legs but they are hidden underneath so it's not really a problem. One night of work and we've got ourselves a custom Ikea island!

~ Barron Chung, Markham, Ontario, Canada

Home Office Hack

Materials: 2 small Vika Hyttan table tops, 1 large Vika Hyttan table top, 9 Vika Fintorp legs, 3 flat plate brackets from hardware store, screws.

Description: My objective for my home office was to have two workspaces. One with a computer on it, and another that I could turn around to use that would be free of clutter.

For the clutter free workspace, I wanted as big a table as possible, so I went with the large size Vika Hyttan with the Vika Fintorp legs which is assembled according Ikea's instructions (no hack, although you do have to drill holes for the legs for some reason).

For the computer workspace which would be against the wall I wanted for visual and functional reasons one that was wider and not quite as deep. Such a tabletop doesn't currently exist that would match the other one I chose.

Putting two small Vika Hyttan tables side by side wouldn't work since my computer would be in the middle of the table and the legs would be in the way.

So, I decided I wanted to combine two small table tops to make a workspace that would be the size I wanted.

To do this, I enlisted the help of my father who is much less inept with tools than I am. He also has a drill.

1) We put the two table tops upside down on the floor side by side.
2) We installed the leg first on the join as shown by marking where the holes should be with a pencil and then drilling the holes. We placed the leg the way we did in order to have as much support as possible in the middle of the joined area. You have to be very careful in this step to make sure that the tables are properly lined up.
3) We installed the brackets I bought from Home Depot the same way.
4) We double checked the tabletops were positioned together perfectly and then tightened all the screws.
5) We had a couple of cold brewskis and admired our work.

Because the table tops are so thick, in order for downward pressure to break the join it actually would need to pull them apart first which it's far too solid to do, particularly with the added support of the leg across join. Although I wouldn't dance a jig on the table it is perfectly solid and doesn't move around at all.

I also think it looks great, and functionally it's amazing. Perhaps one day Ikea will release a wider/thinner version of the Vike Hyttan and render this hack obsolete, but for now this makes for a pretty cost effective, attractive, and functional office set up.

~ Tom, Toronto, Ontario

Stainless steel coffee table

Materials: Drill with a phillips head attachment, Vika Hyttan table top length 47 1/4 width 23 5/8 price 99.00 (located in the desk section), one pack Grundtal legs. I used 16 1/8 price 25.00 or less depending on height you choose (located in the bathroom cabinet section)

Description: Wanted a new coffee table. Ended up at Ikea, but did not like any of their tables, so we decided to make our own using a stainless steel desk top. This is what we came up with.

Stainless steel coffee table cost 125.00

Turn the table top over and mount the legs at each end making sure you center them properly. I like the look of the legs mounted at the end but its up to you.

I like this table its sturdy, doesn't wobble

~ Marc Soto