Simple But Effective Occasional Table

Materials: Lack Shelf, Vika Adils Legs

Description: A very simple hack. I didn't like the Malm occasional table (or the $130 price tag) so I built one for $34. I combined the 74" Lack Shelf with 4 Vika Adils legs. I have the low headboard Malm, for the high headboard the Vika Kaj legs would be better.

Freestanding it's not the most stable but behind the headboard its solid as a rock, it is about 1/2" lower than the headboard which provides a nice lip to keep items from falling on your head.

~ Matt Hannan, Wheat Ridge, CO

Norden Table becomes Interactive Art Table

Materials: Norden table, paint, clear varnish, plastic pipe clip, permanent maker

Description: The plain wooden Norden table in our kitchen started to look boring after a while, so we decided to repaint it and to turn it into an interactive art guestbook.

We first painted the table white, then sprayed stencil portraits of our friends on the surface. Finally, we applied three layers of clear varnish to seal the table for everyday use.

On the side we mounted a plastic pipe clip to hold a permanent maker. The idea is that all our guests may write their name and some personal greetings on the table, just like in a guestbook.

See more of the Lack art table.

~ Kane, Braunschweig, Germany

Marius Industrial Stool

Materials: Ikea Marius stool, an old wooden plate swing, srews and spray paint

Description: Get a one of a kind industrial stool!

1. Spray the old wooden plate swing in your favourite color and let it dry.

2. Remove the old plastic seat and screw your new wooden seat on the metallic stool legs. The Screws have to be a little bit longer than the original ones.

Finished!

See more of the Marius stool upgrade.

~ Renaade, Germany

One Leg Lack

Materials: Lack table top +18" diam. wood reel + 3 screws

Description: Rescued from a Brooklyn sidewalk, the life of a wood reel and a Lack table top continues together, in my bedroom.

~ Matteo Minchilli, Brooklyn

Granas gone rustic

Materials: Ikea granas table, applaro patio, glue gun, skill saw

Description: I went to ikea as-is to find a computer chair and ended up stumbling upon 2 pieces from a patio chair, being only $1.90cad.

I have an old Granas table in my living room, and the gel in between the glass and the metal was starting to fade. I decided it was time to spice things up a bit.

Before

I took the glass off the table, and then proceeded to measure it out to fit the coffee table. Surprisingly it was the perfect width, but the ends were a bit too long, so a skill saw was used.

Bit of sanding, and a hot glue gun allowed for this to be the finished product.

~ cody, toronto

Four Lack table base coffee table

Materials: Lack side tables, piece of Pragel, flower pot, glass top

Description: What I've tried with this hack is to copy a square coffee table that I've seen in shops but that is way too expensive for me (around 1.000 euro with the size and the glossy white finish I want). Its design is minimalist: a glass top resting on a wooden cube. The cube is placed in the center of a thick square 110x110 cm. board that acts as the table base.

I've used 4 Ikea LACK side tables for the base and screwed below a piece of PRAGEL counter top to reinforce the structure. This is the final result, with a total cost of around 250 euro.

These are the steps I followed to build the table:

Step 1
Bought 4 Ikea LACK side tables. I got the glossy version, that is three times more expensive than non-gloss, but even so they were cheap (13 euro each). I set the four boards of the tables forming a square and joined them with tape. Screwed them underneath in pairs with four small metal sheets. Warning: LACK tables are mostly hollow, so you have to ensure that screws go through not-hollow areas. Now I had a square base of 110x110 cms and 5 cm thick, ideal for the looks of the table.

Step 2
The original table is supported by four wheels, but I preferred a more stable approach for my base. So I glued below the base a piece of PRAGEL counter top table that I bought in the as-is Ikea section. This way, the LACK tables are 3.8 cm elevated from the floor, and strongly fixed together. I used general-purpose mounting adhesive and 4 screws to fix the LACKs to the counter top.

Step 3
Now I had to make the wooden cube. To keep proportions, the dimensions of the cube had to be around 25 cm. of side. So I bought in a DIY store (Leroy Merlin) this 26cms flower pot.

I filled the pot with wood pieces 25 cm. long, glueing them with mounting adhesive, to make the cube solid enough to support the weight of the glass.

Step 4
I attached the cube to the structure with mounting adhesive and 4 long screws going from below through the PRAGEL table top and the LACK tables, screwing into the cube's inner wood.

Step 5
Now I turned the table to its final position, to glue the glass top to the cube. I ordered a 110x110 cm glass 1 cm. thick, with rounded corners. The cost was 135 euro, therefore the glass has been by far the most expensive part of this 250 euro hack. I used mounting adhesive specific for glass surfaces, mirrors and the like.

It took several days for the adhesive to dry out.

Step 6
To make the top embellisher (to hide the adhesive showing through the glass), I cut a square of thin wood 27 cms. on each side. I painted it glossy-white, and attached it to the glass with double sided tape.

Step 7
Final look of the table

Note: Initially, my plan was to order the glass with some holes in the center to be able to screw it to the cube, but the the guy from the glass shop advised against it saying that the holes would seriously weaken the glass.

Before starting to use the table, I wasn't too sure about the stability, being the top glass just glued to the rest of the structure.

But now that we've been using it for a month (the normal use of a coffee table, placing drinks, some bowls with food, dishes, bottles...not too heavy stuff) I can tell that the glass hasn't moved at all and so far it has worked fine.

~ Claudia G.

The Chattanooga Choo Choo Table

Photo: IKEA.com

Materials: SVALBO table

Description: My darling has recently started fulfilling his life long dream of model trains. He acquired a train set at a train show, now what?? We came across the SVALBO table at Ikea (pix, right), it was the PERFECT size, it just needed some tweaking to accommodate all the wires and add some storage.

We drilled one hole for the wires and I build drawer frames, which was a challenge and three drawers for added storage for all the little extras he has.

~ C. McCabe, FL

Lack Bottlecap Table

Materials: LACK sidetable

Description: With a couple years of college bottlecap collecting, some super glue, and resin, my boring black table turned into a high-gloss bottlecap decor.

I followed this instructable.

~ Sara Kowatch, Cincinnati, OH

Over Sofa Table

To friends and readers in the US, happy happy July 4th! ~ Jules

Materials: Fabian / Lack / Ekby / Assorted Screws / Stain

Description: Underwhelmed by the selection of over sofa tables on the market, especially for the price. (Including Ikea's Stockholm table.) Opted to hack my own! Two Fabian wall shelves. Four Ekby Stodis brackets. One Lack wall shelf.

Placed the two Fabians perpendicular and braced with two of the supplied metal Fabian brackets. Attached two Ekby brackets for increased stability. Attached two more Ekby brackets to the Lack top.


Then attached Ekby / Lack piece to the Fabian shelf. Voila! A new over sofa table that cost around $25.00.

One tip: choose screw sizes carefully lest you screw through the Fabian shelves. After assembly, we stained the table. In retrospect, we should have stained before assembly but we first wanted to see if this even worked. Presumably, this hack can be altered style and color wise to meet your own tastes. Enjoy!

~ Michael Beatrice, Los Angeles, CA

Man Cave Table Hack

Materials: Dalfred stool, used dart board, 1" hole saw (I think it ws 1"), screwdriver

Description: My friends and I play darts at least once a week...and after about 6-9 months of playing, the board needs replacing because of all the abuse they take. Instead of throwing them away, I've found spots throughout my bar at home to store them... but since I was running out of space, I decided to do something about it.

One a recent trip to Ikea, I came across a Dalfred stool that looked pretty cool... and thought that it would make a great base to fashion a table out of one of the boards.

I put together the stool per the instructions, until it came time to mount the top of the stool (the part you sit on) to the metal bracket that attaches it to the spinning center shaft. Taking a 1" hole saw (I think it was a 1"), I carefully drilled a hole almost all the way through the dart board from the back in the center, until the metal mounting plate sat flush. 5 screws were used to mount the plate to the board (just used the ones that came with the stool), and then the bracket just popped onto the spindle...

Now that my friends have seen this table, they're all wanting one for their game rooms at home! The few things I like best about this table is that it goes with my bar room motif, it's a great little table that can be easily moved to where it's needed (and height adjusted if need be)...and the darts have a place to stick around while we're inbetween games/shots.

One thing I didn't mention was that I removed the metal grid work that defines all the separate scoring areas. I only did it because the grid was coming up in a few spots...but I think it looks good without it being that it's a table. Plus...there was a chance that leaving it in would result in a spilled beer...and we just couldn't let that happen.

~ Thomas, Ohio

EXPEDIT sofa table/bar/computer desk

Materials: EXPEDIT 2x2 bookshelves, extra EXPEDIT panel, HUTTEN wine bottle rack, INREDA stemware rack, LEDBERG 3-piece light strip set

Description: It's a pretty straight-forward hack that was made to hide the back of my sectional, provide more storage, a bar and a seating area where I can use my laptops.

I connected two EXPEDIT 2x2 with the side panel of an EXPEDIT 4x4 using the safety brackets that are used to tie furniture to the wall.

To create the bar area a stemware rack, a wine bottle rack were cut to size, painted black and installed. To have the bar lit, the LEDBERG 3-piece light strip was used. Strips were installed and connected in series by soldering electrical wires between them.

A bench is used for seating and can be pushed inside the opening when not in use.

~ Phong, Irvine, CA