Author: Jules

A simple tweak from Malin makes a huge difference to the Bekvam step stool.

Just a coat of paint and some gorgeous wall paper for a fresh new look. Love it.

See more of the wallpapered step stool. Also check out the play kitchen.

Korneel from Belgium made this lamp from watering cans some time ago and is willing to give it away for free. Check it out.

“It is a hanging lamp, made out of two PS Vallo watering cans. I bolted them together, and installed a lamp holder in each of then. As a result, the center of gravity was above the holding point for the wire, and the thing would not hang straight. I solved this with some ‘invisible’ nylon wire.

I made this item some years ago, since then I moved to my new house. I am not using this lamp anymore and I am willing to give it away for free (not including shipping).”

Related hacks:
– Pour lighting
– Add light to this watering can
– Lamp from thermo flask?

The Gorm is turning out to be ideal as pet cages. Here’s another one for rats from Robin.

“My husband and I made this 4-floor cage for our pet rat (who can be seen sleeping on the balcony in the pictures). It cost around $30 for the Gorm shelf unit (5 of the 20×20 size shelves and 4 uprights) and another $40 at the hardware store for the wire mesh, hinges, wood trim that makes the door, and hook latches.

The mesh is attached to the frame with 1/2″ wood staples. The hardest part of the whole project was making the door since we have no carpentry experience but we made good use of a Speed Square to mark out the angles and keep the corners square while we stapled the pieces together.

The ramps are made by sawing out one of the slats that make the shelves and reattaching them with little brass hinges. This means each of the ramps can swing up and be secured flat to separate the floors. We then glued down a few pieces of the hook-side of velcro and used them to secure felt strips to the ramps to give some grip. When they are dirty or torn up we can just pull them off and wash or replace.

We covered the floor with old t-shirts and towels which are easy to wash and keep little feet from slipping between the slats. I’d like to replace them with carpet scraps someday for a more finished look but they won’t be as easy to keep clean.”

See more photos of Robin’s rat cage.

Related hacks:
– Rats chill at the Kullen
– Gorm for parakeets
– Ikea home for chicks

Michele gave her boy a McQueen kitchen. It’s a fabulous alternative to the fairy tale play kitchens we’ve seen so far.

“I got the idea after seeing so many inspiring play kitchens on the Ikea hacker website. It sparked my creativity, and turned out to be a fun project to plan, easy to execute, and as you can see, the results are pretty good.  It all cost me about 95.00 Euros to make, not considering the recycled parts used (old bowl for the sink, an old faucet, doorhandles and fabric.).

I started with two simple Faktum (similar to Akurum) cabinets and two Abstrakt doors, cut a round hole (using a jigsaw) in the side of one cabinet for the sink, and flipped it on its side and connected it to the other cabinet. The bowl used for the sink is no longer sold by Ikea, and is great because it has a lip around the top that hides the uneven cutting job I did. I made a hole for the faucet with a drill, and added the burners (Panna – like everybody uses).

I then reinforced the two cabinets together by adding a rectangular panel behind both, covered with wallpaper and with a square hole cut into it for the window.

For the refrigerator I put shelves inside, added some metal baskets on the door (I don’t remember the name) and added a handle.  The oven door was quite difficult. It involved cutting the Abstrakt door in half without chipping the laminate covering. I then used a jigsaw to cut a rectangular hole for the window. This was actually not cut very well, but as it was covered by a wooden white frame (front and back, separated by a plastic sheet), you cannot see how uneven the cut was.  The most important cut in this project was done by a friend who cut a round hole inside the oven door enabling me to put a second hinge (Integral) inside. This was done by a column drill and was easy if one has the right equipment. I then added an opening/closing magnet for the oven door. I would still like to add a light inside the oven, when I find one that goes off automatically after a few minutes.

At this point I added the curtains and some Ikea products – the magnetic bar on the backsplash (Kroken), a couple plastic holders and brushes and stuff like that. I also bought a few, but not many, Duktig products to add to the fun. Needless to say, my 3 year-old boy was excited to receive his “McQueen kitchen” on Christmas day.”

Teresa and Caroline (thanks!) tip me on some cool hacks happening over at Apartment Therapy. Check out their dreamy bedside table, fresh and fun Latt table and a Lack window seat.

Children’s Latt table transformation
At a glance, the Latt table and seat tops look like fabulous art pieces but in reality, it is an Ikea Annamoa fabric under a piece of perspex. Simple hack but huge wow factor.

See more on AT’s ohdeedoh.

Frosta bedside tables Again, so simple but absolutely dreamy. Perfect for the bedroom.

See more of the Frosta bedside table.

Lack window seat
Great for catching up on your daily Vitamin D. Quite like what we’ve previously featured here and here. Also check out window seats from the Norrebo, Traby and Leksvik.

See more of the Lack window seat.

Making your own window seat? Get a bench cushion for your Lack.

Jenise’s first hack involves 50 lbs of shoes. Here’s what she did.

“When I moved across the country, I had 50 lbs of shoes freighted to me on Amtrack, and that was half of my collection. Since then, I have scaled back considerably.  Regardless, when I moved into my apartment that had the least spacious walk in closet (complete with orange shag covered A/C ductwork going through it), I was definitely in need of some serious shoe racks.

Being a rental, I didn’t want to spend a ton.  I was having a hard time staying under $100 with the typical bracket and shelf units sold at home stores.  Having no saw or skills in that arena, my husband and I needed pre-cut shelves too.  We found our cheap fix with the Ikea Babord, which is actually a freestanding two shelf wood shoe rack.  If I remember correctly, the Babord was ridiculously cheap at $5.

So we bought
(1) 3 Babord units, which tallied to 6 slatted shelves,
(2) the last 2 Ekby Tryggve solid wood shelves in the store (for my heels without boxes), and
(3) 12 50-cent brackets (unknown model) from Ikea.

The two wall brackets were from our local Ace hardware, which were cheaper and better quality than the Antonius units from Ikea. 

My husband rigged two of the Babord units to have only single shelves so I could fit my boots and large show boxes underneath.  The rest of the Babord shelves were attached to the brackets using plastic security ties. The 2 Ekby Tryggve solid shelves were screwed to the brackets like normal.  All in all, the total cost for my 8 shelf wooden shoe rack unit was around $30.”

Rebecca hacks her version of the recessed Bertby display cabinet.

“We moved to a condo with limited space and we needed a display cabinet for some of our collections. We already bought a Detolf  from Ikea but the problem is it has only 4 shelves, which is good for some of our larger pieces. We need a shallower cabinet with more selves for smaller items. We came across the Bertby DVD/CD cabinet and it seems perfect for our purpose. Inspired by another project from Ikeahacker, we cut a hole in the wall and mounted the Bertby recessed in between the studs to save more floor space.

Instead of using the Ikea furnished installation hardware, we secured the cabinet from the side to the studs by using screws. We added lights at both the top and the bottom so our display can shine. As seen in the top picture, it sits now nicely in the hallway. The width of the “Bertby” is 7.5″ and with it recessed in the wall, it protrudes only 3.0″, giving it a custom look. The second picture shows how slim it looks and with the “Detolf” close by, they really complement each other well. We are very happy with the results.”

It’s a bench but Melanie makes it do double (and triple) duty as a coffee table and some times computer table. I like that the “tables” are removable and can be repositioned to where you want them to be.

This is an Ikea hack I made some time ago. As I’m not a big fan of couch tables – and a very big fan of putting your feet up high when sitting on the couch. Though I write a cook blog, I am generally a creative and crafty person: I write, I sew and crochet and I occasionally build my own furniture.

My “coffee table” consists of an Ikea zebra bench (I think it’s out of range now, it was in the office department), a white version of Flort remote control pocket and 2 simple U-shaped tables made out of plywood from the hardware store.

For the U-shaped red tables, I went to the hardware store with the measurements of the zebra bench. There, I had sets of plywood cut in the exact right size, bought metal brackets, Spax screws and red acrylic paint – and built those U-shapes at home in an afternoon. Now those little tables can be removed from or repositioned on the zebra bench – and each table has the exact size for a laptop or an A4 paper plus some room for a cup or a glass.

After that, I cut the straight part off the Flort remote pocket so that all was left were the pockets themselves. Some stitches to prevent the fabric from unravelling and then I pinned it with lots of fixing pins to the short end of the zebra bench. Now the remotes have their home.”

Related hacks:
– Modular coffee table
– Retractable Lack coffee table

Cave Lion fashions a fantastic Billy Cat climbing shelf. It looks pretty easy to do too. Looks fun!

“I made an Ikea hack of my own a few weeks ago and thought you’d like to share it too. The shelf is made from a 40cm wide Billy shelf and it cost only 15€ (the shelf was a bit damaged at the store but it suited our purpose fine) and 5€ for the carpet (so that it’s not slippery). We also added a few corner irons and bolted the shelf to the wall so it wouldn’t fall when our cats play in it. …

40cm wide might be a bit too small for most cats but not for this breed. The shelf fits in the tiniest area, providing our cats access to the top of a closet with minimal damage to the walls of our rented appartment. The pics propably say more than a thousand words about how the shelf was altered, but I must say that we did use a lot of glue on the boards so they wouldn’t flip (in addition to the corner irons).”

See more of Cave Lion’s Billy Cat climbing shelf. (It’s in Finnish but you’ll get the picture.)

Related hacks:
– Stolmen cat gym
– Living room cat tree
– Simple cat ladder
– Stairway to cat heaven

You may also be interested in this ready made cat tree condo scratcher.

Bo salvage a ceiling lamp and converts it into a bedside lamp.

“I had this old ceiling lamp that I don’t remember the official Ikea name for and I think its been discontinued. And my bedside shelf didnt have any nice place for a lamp but i liked the dome shape of that ceiling lamp. Problem was if you looked at it from any other angle than it was supposed to be looked at – from below ….

It just wasn’t as domey and cool, all of the innards were exposed. So I cut a large hole and put a small plank in one of the shelves to recess the lamp fitting. Replaced the cable with one that had a switch. Painted it matte black to match my Hopen bed. And job done.

There’s also an air ioniser with a fan in the back of the shelf near the base wich is made from left over stuff. But that’s another story.”

Matthijs, inspired by the simplicity of the LackRack(.org) hack, decides to create something a bit more practical for everyday office use, made by three stock Ikea products plus some regular stuff from the local hardware shop.

For instructions please click here. The page is in Dutch but it is pretty self-explanatory.

Ikea is the new mini. Mini doll houses that is. I love these two Ikea doll houses and the dolls too!

Variera is the room

Chris throws out the veggies on the Rationell Variera shelf insert and brings in the minis. The Variera pattern makes a terrific “textured wall”. And the toy kitten is just too cute.

See more at Chris’ Call of the Small blog.

Lekman doll house
Ana sets up home for her doll in the Lekman box.

“Doll House made with Lekman box and some acrylic sheets. Made for a PukiPuki Bjd (Ball Joint Doll), about 1/12 scale. Also used an electric system for the lightnings. The steps are covered underneath with aluminium tape to give them a mirrored effect. The back and bottom were sprayed with white lacquer for remove the translucent effect.

See more photos.

Nicole cuts the Ingo down to size for her kids.

“We really wanted a kid’s art table, but we werent satisfied with the kids tables sold at Ikea… way too small for 2 kids plus art supplies. Instead, we sawed the legs down on a cheap Ingo table to coffee table height…which is perfect height for the Ikea kiddie chairs.

We painted it with oil based semi gloss for a durable finish. Super easy hack and ends up being a lot cheaper alternative to the existing kid’s tables that are currently on the market in this size.”

Me on the Hobbit trail
I’m off to New Zealand for a 2-week holiday. I’m looking forward to sites like the one of the left, and lots of juicy lamp chops. In the meantime, I won’t leave you with “hackless”. Posts will come on as usual from Mondays to Fridays.

Ikea hasn’t invaded New Zealand yet (hmm… is that a good thing?) so I dunno if there are any IkeaHackers in Kiwiland. If you live in NZ and hack Ikea, drop me a note here.

Since we are on the subject of thesis, here’s another one from Carmen, a recent graduate from the Ontario College of Art & Design Advertising programme. For her project, she whipped up a repurposing catalogue and some cheeky ads too. Now, why didn’t I have so much fun at school?

She says, “For my final thesis project, I did a made up advertising campaign about repurposing and Ikea was my client. During my public grad show, and many portfolio interviews, everyone told me I should do something with it. So I figured, why not ikeahacker.

My campaign does not necessary uses Ikea products, but it promotes repurposing, by having a repurposing workshop in the Ikea stores, and a show room showcasing those repurposed projects. After a ton of research and surveys, Ikea is actually a really sustainable company, and sadly not a lot of people know that. By having this campaign/thesis It allows people to be aware of Ikea products and their part of being sustainable.”

See more of Carmen’s Ikea repurposing campaign – thesis project

Not quite a hack but Carmen highlights the situation in Haiti and how Ikea tents were used as temporary shelter by the La Maison des Anges in Tabarre, Port au Prince.

She writes, “Basically, as you know several orphanages found themselves in the streets after the earthquake and for 5 or 6 days, 40 kids at La Maison des Anges in Tabarre, Port au Prince, slept in Ikea play tents in a courtyard, before they got proper Red Cross tents.”

The rains are about to pour but the debate is still going on …

whether tarps or tents will provide the protection from the elements.

Carmen adds, “Frankly, I’m at a lost on this subject, for I think neither tarps nor tents will provide the protection Haitians need against heavy rain and tornadoes and cyclones during the rain season.

From what I’ve read, they won’t be able to distribute enough of both on time. Their beef with tents is that it takes more space to set them up and they already have a problem with that. I still think tents are a tad better than tarps! All of it is heartbreaking. If you want to take the time, relief web situation reports are telling.

Just so you know, all but 3 or 4 of the kids at La Maison des Anges have foreign parents and should be home before the rain starts. They are working hard on making the main house habitable, they should be ok. Unfortunately, it’s not the case for most people. I also like Habitat for Humanity which has done long term housing work in Haïti.”

If you wish to donate a tent, you can do so here.

Over at Apartment Therapy, the good folks came out with an idea on turning the humble (and cheap) Tullsta into a designer Tokujin Yoshioka Panna chair. Batting, moving blankets and a staple gun may be all you need to replicate your own. What do you think?

Fancy some reading and a glass of water before turning in but have no space for a nightstand? Here’s a simple solution from Angela.

“It’s not so much a hack but rather a creative misuse of an Ikea product. When I remodeled our bedroom last year, I realized that there wasn’t enough room left for nightstands.

However, we do tend to get thirsty during the night and I just love to read a couple of pages before falling asleep. To solve our problem …

… I bought a Lillholmen toothbrush cup with holder in the bathroom department and fixed it to the wall. In order to hold my books and reading glasses, I found a beautiful wall basket in the small storage department. Problem solved!”

The blue bag halter dress must have inspired some to put the scissors to the hardy bag. Here’s a raincoat featured on the Ikeahacks group on Instructables. (We have some amazing projects there, don’t forget to check it out.) And now, we have snow boots!

Megan faced over two feet of snow in Pittsburgh and no snow boots for Superboy. That’s when Ikea hacking creativity kicked in. The boots are not what you’ll wear on a regular basis but for the little emergency, it did the trick.

“Unfortunately, my son’s snow boots and pants were left at his nursery school.  My husband created waterproof snow boots/leggings out of an ikea bag and packing tape.  The key was using the bottom corner of the bag for the toe (these are over my son’s sneakers) then wrapping around his legs and securing with tape.”

Here’s one from Jackie of Lovehome.co.uk. Notches up the “organisationability” (well, you know what I mean) of the wooden magazine box.

“At Lovehome.co.uk, we’ve come up with a cute way of hacking Ikea’s wooden Knuff magazine storage boxes (£2.99 each) to make them both pretty and practical. Perfect for neat-freaks everywhere who like to organise and reorganise their magazine collections without resorting to annoying sticky labels.”

See more of the Knuff chalkboard magazine box.

Linda adds zest to the Samtid.

“I bought a Samtid lamp with a white shade that didn’t looked good in front of my white wall. So I decided to hack the lamp. The new shade is made of transparent polycarbonate 1mm thick. I made it a little bit bigger than the original. I fixed the shade with bolts and nuts. For the colour effect I bought felt, added buttons and wrapped it around the shade. I made some more felt wraps in different colours to change! That’s it, very easy and fast hack!”