Modern Decoration

Wednesday, 27 March 2013

Lack TV riser

Materials: 1 Lack shelf, 3 pair Besta wooden legs, glue

Description: Take 1 Lack shelf and glue the six legs right on. The back of the shelf is still raw, but it works for me.

~ Tom

Carpet turned to Entertainment Centre backing

Materials: 1 x VINDE Carpet, 2x BENNO DVD Tower, 1x LACK Wall Shelf, 1x LACK Regal, 6x CAPITA Legs

Description: My wife is tired of cleaning the carpet everyday and we decided to change it but we don't want throw it away. I thought it might be good to use it as wall carpet with the wall mount TV to hide the cables :)

1st, I mounted the LACK shelf as the same height of the BENNO DVD Tower.
2nd is the carpet using wall plugs, screws and washers then mounted the TV (I made a small cut on the carpet for the cables)
3rd the BENNO DVD tower
4th finally the 6 CAPITA legs to the LACK Regal but I removed the 2 dividers so I can put the amplifier.

See my other hack: DJ Stolmen STUDIO

~ DJ MX3, Dubai, UAE

Tuesday, 26 March 2013

Grundtal Hanger Airport Extreme Mount

Materials: 4 Grundtal Hangers, Ikea item no. 300.612.47, Drill and bit for wall anchors, Screwdriver, 5 tacks, Template (posted in this link), Spirit Level, Fasteners (wall anchors) for the Grundtal hangers

Description: I looked for retail mounts, but I had a real problem with spending $40-$50 for the available plastic mounts. However, the Grundtal hangers 300.612.47, that I had installed on the inside of the coat closet looked ideal for my purpose.

They looked great and fit perfectly in the channel around the Airport Extreme. The Grundtal hangers also allowed space behind the router for wires and airflow.

Instructions:
Place the template on the wall. Allow for room from the to let router slide into the mount. Place a tack only in the center. (download template here.)

Use the spirit level to straighten the template on the wall.

When level place a tacks in the center of each of the four circles in your template.

Remove tacks and template from wall.
Use the four tack holes from step two to locate where to drill the holes for the fasteners.

Install Grundtal Hangers.

Wire up router and Slide it in position.

All done.

See more of the Grundtal Airport Extreme mount.

~ David Goodier, Maryland, USA

Wedded Hemnes Shoe Cabinets [Twined and Painted]

Materials: IKEA Hemnes Shoe Cabinet

Description: Greatly inspired by the Twined Hemnes Shoe Cabinet Hack conducted by Paulo from Canada and ScrapHacker.com.

I wedded the two newly purchased Hemnes happily.

I took out one of the cabinet leg, so instead of having four legs and an ugly gap in between, we now have a three legged cabinet with no gap in between and a top board that is just a little over hanging on both sides.

I am a tool rookie, so pardon me for some of my terms.

YOU WILL NEED:
- Two Hemnes Shoe Cabinets
- Electric drill (battery well charged)
- Different size drill heads
- Ruler
- Pencil

OPTIONAL IF YOU'D LIKE TO PAINT IT
- Paint brushes (one big one small)
- Unwanted jars to hold paint
- Masking tape
- Cotton buds (to stop paint going into drawer pull holes)

ON COMPLETION
- A massage
- Heat rubbing cream
- A place to stretch aching body parts

~ Grace Wang, London UK

Kura Firetruck Bed

Materials: Kura Bed, 1/2 in MDF sheet, 1/4 in panels, 2x2, lights, switches, 120-to-12V adaptor, IKEA style screws and bolts, paint., reflectors, hose and faucet...

Description: We decided to buy the Kura bed to make a Firetruck bed for our toddler, trying to keep the original bed as intact as possible for when he outgrow the theme bed.

Steps :
1- Paint the blue sides of all panels Firetruck red with a roller.

2- Assemble bed, omitting the 3rd from bottom panel and the ladder steps - to avoid monkey climbing! (stored under the bed for future use)

3- Cut a MDF sheet in the desired form for the side of firetruck; we used the ladder sides to support the cabin "door" and left about 12-14 inches at the end to allow easy entry for a toddler. We decided on a partial side for the ease of bed making and putting a sleeping kid to bed. To design it, I printed the Kura bed image repeatedly on a paper and drew right on it until we were happy with the look of it!

4- To support the side, use the ladder and we made and "F" out of 2x2 and used the actual holes for the ladder step to anchor it to the left. We drill into the frame to anchor it down. We tried to limit the number of holes drilled and we used bolt and screws with similar IKEA hexagon head shape for the look. Note that kids will climb on it, so secure it well! Cut the window. We didn't put a door because I was afraid of fingers stuck in it... But with a door, the side would be sturdier as an horizontal 2x2 could be fixed to the ladder holes on both sides of the bed.

5- Created a thick but hollow panel to put the headlights and flashers in. Wires run on the wall side of the frame of the bed and connect in the overhead control panel.

6- Create a triangular shape out of 2x2, top is a 1/4 and overhead inclined control panel is the same as the side (1/2 in MDF).

7- We both know electronics so we decided on functional lights and switches. We opted for light only, no backing sound nor siren because we value our sleep! ;) Go with LED since they do not heat...

8- Decorate with bike reflectors, a real hose and faucets (attached to the internal "F" support made in 2x2), 1/4 thick wheels and front grill painted. I started a Firetruck sign for the door, but its not painted yet. For the glossy finish, my husband polish the hell out of it!

Total cost around 150-200$ without the bed and labor. The sturdiness was kept so it will be able to be turn as a bunk bed too later... Not a cheap as a plastic firetruck bed, but it was fun to build and it might be used until he move out?

~ Caroline Côté, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Turntable Desk for the Turntablist

Materials: Micke Desk (top only), Utby Legs, Besta Storage Unit

Description: My wife had a Besta sliding storage unit that she was using for her crafts drawer. Long story short... we are having our first child and things in the house had to change and transform into something a bit more space conscious.

So that leads me to the hack. Like I said we had the Besta storage unit already so I had to measure up from that to get the ideal height for the turntables, it worked out that legs just under 4" would work well with a 1" (roughly) desk top.

Every table top seemed to be too large in either one direction or the other until I ran across the Micke desk. The first thing I noticed and loved about this desk was that it had a hole directly in the center of the table where cords could be directed (for turntables this is a huge bonus). Now all I needed was a way to prop it up to the right height. Most of the legs that IKEA sell wouldn't just screw in to the bottom - so I had to find a set that had a flat piece to screw directly into the bottom of the table top. I ran across the Utby legs in the warehouse section (I did not see these in the showroom). They ended up working perfectly! Also when I picked up the desk from the warehouse they had it on sale for only $40!

I screwed the legs directly into the bottom of the table top at 3 inches from the fronts and backs and 6 1/2" in from the sides. This gave it the appearance of "floating" while still remaining very sturdy.

I'd say it's a wicked setup for turntables if you are a scratch DJ like myself and have your decks turned 90 degrees. The only draw back to this hack is that there is A LOT of waste. I feel bad just throwing the remaining desk parts away so I will most likely store them and figure out another hack to use these parts. (That desk top was just too perfect and only $40!)

~ Sean Herman, Denver, Colorado

Gorm shelves into a fantabulous cat house

Materials: Gorm shelving unit (x4)

Description: Our 3 cats were in need of some extra space. They seemed to be outgrowing their small-ish enclosure and it was increasingly difficult to have to take them out and let them loose indoors since I was developing a bit of an allergy to their fur.

We had a narrow space behind the house which was roofed and enclosed by grills (e.g. bars on windows - quite common here in Malaysia), but was effectively still "open to the elements" and therefore quite airy. This was initially planned as an extra "wet-kitchen" for us, as well as a place for the washing machine which we didn't want running inside the house. However, we barely used it for anything other than washing so decided we could locate the cats there. They would be safe from access by the public/strangers but still effectively be outdoors.

My wife and I were considering various options; from having a new enclosure tailor built, to thinking about what could be modified to suit the purpose. In searching for inspiration online, we came across the chicken coop hack here on Ikeahackers (what luck!) and decided we could probably use something from IKEA as a starting point.

One trip to IKEA and we had it! The base enclosure is made of 3 large (55cm deep) Gorm shelves, tied together with bolts. We put heavy plastic netting around the entire thing, making sure to bolt the netting underneath the vertical beams of the shelf so as to hold them tightly in place. On the side, at about waist level, we fashioned a door using leftovers and offcuts of the basic materials we used in the rest of the build; this is nicely hinged and has a latch, and is used for retrieving/placing the cats from/to the enclosure, or for us to place food etc. The entire left side of the enclosure opens up for us to access litter and main water and food containers.

On the top we attached a smaller Gorm shelf (33cm depth) sitting horizontally to form a "penthouse" for the cats. This is accessed via a purpose built "staircase" through the centre unit of the base/bottom enclosure. The side of the penthouse opens up for us to access or to be left open when we want more air in/out. So far we found the cats to really like being in this top compartment. There enclosure rests against a wall, restricting visibility outside. The penthouse sits just above this wall, so I think the cats like being there to enjoy the nice view they get of trees and birds flying around.

The access door on the side has proven to be really useful, and was well worth the extra effort to build it. The solid hinges are really appreciated each time we open the door - feels very reassuring and "proper" (these are the chunky kind with nylon washers for smoothness, think they are used for normal doors). We attached a knob from some other IKEA build that didnt need it, and also added a latch to close and secure in the evenings. Each evening my wife really loves propping the door open and sitting on a stool outside the enclosure; taking the cats out in turns to cuddle them.

This was a 2 day build by me and my wife. We used mostly tools around the house and mainly had to buy netting, lots of screws, cable ties, in addition to the 4 Gorm units used. Looking at it now, we're really happy with it; it provides plenty of space for the three cats, and given the space constraint we had really is much better than anything we could have bought ready made. Is it better than having a tailor/purpose built enclosure? Time will tell I suppose!

Whats left now is to finish the wood. A bit confused as to what to do to seal/ finish/protect it, especially from termites. Appreciate any input and comments anyone has, on the build and especially on this front.

~ Cat-fanatic, Malaysia