Walk in closet from kitchen wall panels

Materials: Ikea kitchen wall panels Description: I didn’t want to have bypassing sliding doors for my bedroom closet and thought one door would save space. My house is old but didn’t have much in the way of good salvageable architectural details. I bought some Ikea kitchen cover panels (look for them in the damaged area, [...]

A vintage suitcase laptop table

Materials: Dave laptop table Description: This is my second luggage project. I love to upcycle old luggage into tables, so it seems. This guy was given to me in his original pre-loved state by a wonderful man I work with during the holidays when he heard I was into ‘the luggage’. He had used it [...]

Say hello to my little (speaker) stands!

Materials: Ikea Shoe Rack (Lustifik) Description: First and foremost I have to qualify/justify why I made these speaker stands (before the audiophiles out there cry blasphemy and take me for a fool not understanding the need for a $300 USD stand with zero resonance and spikes/cones for legs) 1) I needed to space out the [...]

Rusty room divider

Materials: Expedit 2×4, Expedit 4×4 Description: It all started with placing two Expedit units on top of each other; I ended up with something very colourful. There are way too many stages in this project to explain it all in 5 pictures. If you’d like to see more, go here. 1. As I wanted to [...]

Pretty Kitty Potty

Materials: Lack and Anno Stra screens Description: I was looking for a way to provide kitty potty privacy and also take away from the “look, this is where my cat poops” decor of the living room of our condo. So, I took two Lack tables, and one roll of Anno Stra window screens, as well [...]

LACK of style

Materials: 2x LACK shelving units, 2x LACK small shelf, 1x LACK large shelf, 2×3 GRUNDTAL spots and dimmer Description: The inspiration came from a trendy furniture store where they had this white furniture in front of this blue-green wall. As it was way over my budget, I had to improvise: enter the Ikea LACK shelves. [...]

From bland Ikea dresser to kiddy delight

Materials: Rast chest of drawers Description: This started life as a paint job gone horribly wrong. Eventually, after I hid the thing in the closet for months, I decided to give it a second try. I sanded down the whole thing to get rid of the bad shellack job (not mine), then gave it 4 [...]

Super swank wall-o-shelves dresser

Materials: Expedit bookcases, Lekman bins Description: We had two of the big daddy Expedit book cases and were using them with Lekman bins as a dresser. As you can see, it’s not so hot looking to be able to see all of your clothes and such through the plastic, so we decided to make fronts. [...]

Tableformer

Materials: Lack, Broder Description: My son finally deserved a desk. He’s a Transformer fan, and I had some Lack shelves to be recycled. The structure is made of Broder rails and cantilevers, the desk itself with the shelves, silver and red, in perfect “transformer style”. The height of the working surfaces can be changed following [...]

Jeweler’s Jam

Materials: (1) Helmer drawer unit on casters, (1) Vika Amon table top, (1) Hyllis shelving unit, (2) discontinued Ikea shoe racks, (1) Lack shelf, (1) Kolja mirror. The only extra hardware needed were some standard screws, drywall anchors and four small L shaped brackets. Description: I design jewelry and work from my bedroom, where I [...]

Tension Rod Hanging Lamp

Materials: Tension Rod, Ikea Hemma Lamp, Zip Ties, Light Bulb Description: 1. Using zip ties, secure the wire from the Hemma Lamp to the Tension Rod. 2. Hang the tension rod in the desired area and zip tie to cord to the wall post or to brackets. 3. Plug in and…let there be light! ~ [...]

Wall mount computer workstation, pc desk

Materials: Ikea: VIKA AMON tabletop (150 x 75cm), EKBY BJÃRNUM bracket, EKBY JÃRPEN shelf (119 x 28cm), MALM nightstand (white), 2 x DIODER multicolor LED-strips. Non-Ikea: HP Touchsmart600 (computer), Vogel’s Wallmount, 2 x Aluminium decorative strips (100cm), One ordinary shelf bracket, 2 hinges, Enermax Crystal aluminium keyboard Description: First I made a frame with 4 [...]

Magic fabric

Materials: 6.5 yards of Majken fabric Description: I folded the fabric directly in half and cut down the fold, making the two panels. To hem each side, I used Stitch Witchery. I followed the steps on the back of the packaging to adhere the 1/2″ hem on each side. No sewing machine for this project! [...]

DJ Stolmen Studio

Materials: STOLMEN, LACK, EXPEDIT , SIGNUM, KOMPLEMENT (Shoe Rack) Description: It took me 2 weeks to design this Stolmen DJ Studio. I have downloaded the tool from IKEA site and used it to design and visualize what I’ve wanted. 1. I installed 4 STOLMEN Post without drilling. 2. I place the EXPEDIT Shelving unit with [...]

Contemporary display shelf

Materials: Expedit 2×4, glass inserts, legs, drill, shelving brackets Description: Here at Salon Vivid, we are remodeling our salon, and wanted product display shelves to match the contemporary feel we are trying to achieve. Not being able to find exactly what we were looking for, we decided to get creative! We purchased the 2×4 Edpedit [...]

PS Spraka (Spice Mill) Hack

Materials: IKEA PS SPRAKA Spice Mill Black Qty 3 Description: Inspired by the modern design aesthetic of Marcel Wanders‘ New Antiques Collection and Front Design Group’s IKEA PS SVARVA Lamp, I realized that there is really Great design in Ikea’s latest Collection. So I decided to apply my own spin and create a coffee table. [...]

From Butcher Block to Vanity for Two

Materials: Groland Butcher Block Island Description: When we moved into our condo, the one not so great feature was the tiny master bathroom – 45 sq. ft. total! In order to shoehorn in a 2 sink vanity (and not break the bank in doing it), we decided to make our own. (1) After assembly of [...]

From Butcher Block to Vanity for Two

Materials: Groland Butcher Block Island Description: When we moved into our condo, the one not so great feature was the tiny master bathroom – 45 sq. ft. total! In order to shoehorn in a 2 sink vanity (and not break the bank in doing it), we decided to make our own. (1) After assembly of [...]

Beam me up Scotty

Materials: Ikea Mobile+Ikea cable light parts Description: An old IKEA mobile is Transformed into a light by the simple addition of wires and two IKEA 12 volt cable lights. ~ Vlasis Albanis, USA

Book up top, rail below

Materials: Ekby Valter brackets, Dignitet curtain rail system Description: Spanning about 5m, this is a practical book shelf at head height with an integrated rail for clipping photos, postcards or basically any signiciant tosh lying around your flat. I used 7 Ekby Valter brackets spaced at about 0.8m centres. Timber was supplied from my local [...]

Custom Command Center

Materials: Akrum base cabinets (two 30″ with large drawers, two 18″ with cabinets), two lengths of Langan countertop (96″ and 49″) Description: As a photographer, designer and artist, I was in need of a desk solution that would accommodate all my computer/camera equipment and peripherals, plus tons of storage for materials and supplies, and with [...]

Ikea Bekvam step stool chic

Materials: Bekvam stool, oilcloth, primer, paint, staple gun Description: Step one: Use sugarsoap to remove any grease/stains etc. Step two: Prime it using two coats Step three: Paint with two coats of paint (here Dulux brilliant white) Step four: Trim material to fit top (I’ve used Cath Kidston oilcloth) Step five: Turn stool upside down [...]

Stefan Rocks

Materials: 2 Stefan chairs Description: The chair is made from two Stefans, one cut in half and a 85mm slice of the other inserted into the middle of the first one. This makes the chair wider and more suitable for a rocking chair with arms. The front legs and rails of the second chair are [...]

Big-Screen Bonde

Materials: Bonde TV Bench with hutch and 3 bookshelves with 2 doors, saw, drill, palm sander, stain, polyurethane, fabric from Jo-Ann, double-stick crafing tape, window film from Home Depot Description: I recently upgraded from an old small television to a new huge one, and I needed a new entertainment center to put it in. I [...]

Hopen and Malm: Lights, Camera, Action

Materials: Hopen Wardrobe Doors (2), Malm Bedframe (1), Indoor/Outdoor Potlights (2) Description: My old bed frame was broken so I replaced it with a MALM frame which nicely matched the dresser and bedside table I already had from the HOPEN line. However, I found the finished look to be too simplistic which is where the [...]

Ikea leftover’s garbage can with auto open

Materials: Bolmen Garbage Can, Blanken Corner Wall Shelf, Deka Curtain Wire w/ Clips, Ikea Knob from Dresser, Grundtal Rail Ends & Rationell Variera plastic rail guide. Description: So when we moved to our new home I encountered a problem that I couldn’t find a garbage can that would fit under my sink, there wasn’t an [...]

Elegant Engan catbox

Materials: Engan 2 drawer 2 door, catbox, motion sensitive light Description: I followed the basic instructions but skipped the part about the drawers instead opting to use one of the side panels from a drawer to join the two drawer fronts together. Once attached using the 2 provided L bracket that were supplied + 1 [...]

My PERFEKT Wine Cabinet

Materials: PERFEKT Storage System Description: Vino anyone? I love wine, but often had no place to store several bottles (My kitchen is about 90 sq ft). I used a portion of the Perfekt storage system to create a cute little wine cabinet in my kitchen. I removed the drywall and portions of 2 X 4s [...]

Billy Morebo for the toilet

Materials: Doors Billy Morebo, Ikea textile, glue gun, scissors Description: During renovation of our toilet we decided not to use standard sanitary door and purchased two doors Billy Morebo from Ikea.We decorated them with Ikea textile and added several pictures with the same textile on walls. More pictures of result and process see on our [...]

Dudero – made into a real dude!

Materials: DUDERO, black paper, a fake mustache, white chalk, scissors and a knife. Description: We bought the DUDERO – but we found it too plain and boring. So after pasting on a fake mustache, which made it look like Freddy Mercury, we decided to make the lamp into a pirate. See the result! ~ Rowan [...]

Inverse Regolit

Materials: Regolit, Januari Description: I was always a big fan of the simplicity of the Regolit lamp, so I’ve designed a very basic and clear lamp. It’s a combination of the pendant lamp Regolit and the table lamp base Januari fixed with cable clips. The result is this smart Bauhaus inspired lamp. ~ Daniel, Stuttgart, [...]

Kitchen island on wheels

Materials: STENSTORP kitchen island NOK 3.250,-, 4 wheels ca. NOK 1200,-, drill, hammer Description: A couple of years ago I bought a STENSTORP kitchen island. Because we have little space, I wanted to have put wheels on it for more flexibility. We did the makeover this winter and it works so well! My sister is [...]

Hiding computer nook cables and equipment

Materials: Kassett Description: I cut the handle opening to a larger size to accommodate the cords and cables and allow for more ventilation. Place everything in the box, close lid. Here is a picture of the before mess and the after. After See more of Mel’s quick clutter buster. ~ Mel, Mississauga, Ontario

How to change an old “ODDA” into fine art piece

Materials: ODDA bed side table, paint, silver polish… Description: After having seen some nice designs on classical furniture, I tried to do the same on an old Ikea bed side table I found next to the bin! After a little sanding and an undercoat, I traced the drawing, then painted details and finished with a [...]

Hacking my template

Firstly I want to thank you for your feedback and help when I asked for it. In many ways, your comments gave me a clearer view of how to improve Ikeahacker as well as chart a direction for it. Thank you, thank you! I feel re-inspired. In response to that (I wouldn’t want you to [...]

Convert 2 Vikare beds into a bunk

Materials: Vikare children’s bed Description: After the twins grew out of their baby beds I swapped the beds for two Vikare beds. It was not a comfortable solution as the room is very small. So I decided to build a bunk of the two beds. I took away the shanks and replaced them for four [...]

Customizing Expedit storage boxes

Materials: EXPEDIT shelves + DRONA box Description: This is just a small hack but was useful for our newly painted room – sage green. In the room we have a single 4 box Expedit shelf in a very small space. I had bought Drona boxes to go with the shelves but they come in limited [...]

LED-Pimped Vika Lauri

Materials: Vika Lauri, Dioder Description: – Setup your Vika Lauri table – affix a string of white or multi-color Dioder LEDs to the inside, metal lip with the provided sticky tape – conceal wires along the same inside edge and mount control box also using sticky tape ~ Kevin Freitas, Tacoma, WA, USA See more [...]

Quick Tassa Natt sconce hack

Materials: Tassa Natt, Screw driver, Pencil, Ruler (optional for tracing or making designs), Scissors, Sheet of 8 1/2″ x 11″ white paper (regular printer paper is perfect), Markers (permanent for teens or adults), (washable for kids), Candelabra style, 25 watt bulb (get a pack for cheap while you’re at Ikea). Description: I am submitting my [...]

Lack cross-shelf

Materials: Lack shelves, Dioder multicolor LED light strips, angle brackets, circular saw, drill, screwdriver, paint, caulk Description: We wanted a shelf or table unit to fill a narrow vertical space adjacent to the bed. My wife conceived the fusion of two Lack shelves in an uneven cross, mounted off the wall to make the shelf [...]

Tullsta’s new legs

Materials: Tullsta, old chair base Description: The back legs on the Tullsta chair quickly began to weaken and threatened to break if someone sat down too quickly.  We had an old rocking chair from the 70′s; orange, worn and ugly. But I was very lucky because it had an excellent base which was easily mounted [...]

Gorm Propagation Station

Materials: GORM shelving, shop lights, heat mats, hooks, duct tape, power squid Description: This is our propagator for starting seedlings in the basement. We chose GORM shelves that make a total width of just over 4′, since standard shop lights are 4′ wide. After assembling the shelves, we added some screw in cup hooks to [...]

Table vase

Materials: VIKA FURUSKOG 2000×600 Description: Flower vase in the table as if flower comes out from VIKA FURUSKOG. Used Mayonnaise bottle lid on the under surface of table with screw. Drill a hole in table and lid. Fill water on the bottle. Screw bottle. Only 5 minutes. ~ Tomokazu Hayakawa, Tokyo,Japan.

From Sweden to Morocco

Materials: Erslev rug in light green Description: I created a stencil by tracing a Moroccan tile shape onto a piece of card stock and cutting out the negative space with an Exacto knife. I placed the stencil on the rug starting in the top left corner. I used a washable white fabric paint and a [...]

Two Expedits, one original Mix

Materials: 2 expedit 2×2 , some piece of wood Description: I ask myself how to create an original 2×4 Expedit shelving unit, less expensive that the original one. So i try to join 2 small Expedit. (In France, Expedit 2×2 is 20 €, Expedit 2×4 is 55€) To do what you see in the photos, [...]

From Kitchen to Home Studio

Materials: Ikea Ordning Dish drainer Description: The hack is really simple. I needed something useful to create a litlle home studio, but what I found in specialized shops was too expensive. For this hack, you just need the Ordning Dish drainer but you have to reverse the position of the railings. We have lots of [...]

Leksvik goes cool

Materials: Leksvik bookshelf Description: We took some IKEA fabric and nailed it behind a Leksvik bookshelf. No one can see our boring wall anymore and it looks very cool. ~ xenu, Germany.

Akurum cat cabinets

Materials: Akurum 21″ base cabinets w/ drawers, Abstrakt doors, Svep handles Description: My wife and I have been wanting to hack Ikea for a long time, in an effort to wrangle our cats’ litter and food (not only to keep the house cleaner, but also to keep our dog from grabbing late-night litter snacks). Knowing [...]

Workstation Stolmen Hack

Materials: Stolmen, Expedit Description: Poles and brackets are Stolmen, Storage unit is Expedit. Desktops and Shelves are from my workshop. Very adaptable and solid. ~ Charlie Priced

Ikea Kitchen Squad ready to shock and awe

If you know people with a dingy kitchen you may want to let loose the Ikea kitchen squad on them. Ikea Kitchen Squad is a TV show in the UK featuring an undercover group of designers, planners, service experts and installers who fly in to save the day for teary and weary homeowners. Previously they [...]

Pop-up Paper Ikea House

Materials: Images of IKEA products Description: A while ago I designed a pop-up paper house using exclusively Ikea products: all the furniture, obviously, but also all the accessories, sheets, framed artwork, towels, lights, even the floor treatment came from their store. My idea, of course, was to become rich and famous. I would show Ikea [...]

Time to tweet

Valery is an illustrator who does a really sweet work on the Piro wall clock. “Basically, I purchased the PIRO wall clock from Ikea since I really liked its design. Also, since the frame is made out of wood, I thought it would be easy to tint or paint to personalize the product even more. [...]

Kura Bed Tent Planetarium

Materials: KURA Bed Tent, Solar System Set Description: Using the KURA Bed Tent I attached planets from a solar system set my son had. I used a needle and thread to stitch the planets directly onto the tent. The planets glow in the dark so at night in the darkness of the tent, they look [...]

Stora bed bracing

Creaky beds are no fun. So Ben cranks up the cables on the Stora and stops the squeaks. Ben says, “My son has a Stora loft bed.  We like it, especially as he has high ceilings in his room.  However, even after tightening up the bolts several times, the frame still creaked and moved too [...]

River view and storage cabin bed

Materials: Malm/ Mandal? plus Expedit, Traby and Snack. Plus large screws. Description: The aim of my latest hack was to give myself lots of storage and a better view of the river from my bed. An expanding family meant storage in my small flat was ever decreasing and I had bought a very low, superking [...]

Doodle on my time

Oops, broke Father Time’s face? Just replace the Rusch clock face with an art piece. In Claudia’s case, a piece of doodle by her kid, Topastro. Her kid’s not quite Picasso yet but give him some time (no pun intended) and you’ll never know. Anyways, you get the idea and the possibilites here are endless. [...]

Ikea Hacked OFFI Woody Table

Materials: Frosta Stool, Stainless Steel Bowl, Wooden Table Top, Chalkboard Paint Description: I knew if I could make a similar looking table to the Offi Woody Chalkboard Table, IKEA would be the place to have the bentwood legs I needed. Just my luck when I came across the FROSTA stool. First, I was lucky enough [...]

I need your help to make Ikeahacker better

After almost 4 years of managing this blog, I am going to say I need help. The volume of hacks has grown and honestly, I’ve not been able to keep up with it. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy receiving all your wonderful hacks and be amazed at your creativity. That has not changed. [...]

Macbook vertical laptop stand

Another one from Shelemka. Good for stowing away your Macbook when not in use. “I made this vertical laptop stand for my 13″ Macbook Pro using 7″ x 10″ Anordna glass shelves that I bought when Ikea was clearing them out (I believe they’ve since been renamed to Lillangen), some 1 1/2 inch screws with [...]

Stainless steel desk tray for your work station

Shelemka made this catch all stationery tray from the Ikea Boholmen rinsing basket (discontinued, I believe), 4 Kosing knobs, and 4 -1/4″ x 1/4″ rubber washers.

From rugs to runners

I like the clean simplicity of Clara’s hack – a long runner from Ikea rugs (which reminds me that I need one for my entryway) and little patchwork accents completes the look. The rugs in question is the Signe, which goes for only $2.99 each. Three of these would set you back less than a [...]

Have a cocktail on an Ivar bar

When Steve sent me these photos of his Ikea bar hack, my first thoughts were, “Where’s the Ikea?” On closer scrutiny, yes, it’s there, hidden under layers of Home Depot panels. A few years ago, I moved into an apartment with built-in bookshelves, and didn’t need my Ivar system shelves any more.  So I built [...]

Nordby TV bench turned into towel rack

I’ve definitely never thought of using the Nordby TV bench as a towel holder. But Susanne sure did. She says, “It did not involve much ‘hacking’: just turned upside down and hung with two solid brackets on the wall.” If you read German, she writes about her TV unit turned towel holder here. Click here [...]

A little Trofast experiment

Tobias experiments with an alternative to the Trofast frame. The original is made from solid pine but this could be just a sturdy (since Tobias can stand on top of it). If need some thing cheap to go with the tubs, which cost only $2 – $5, this may fit your budget. “I’ve always been [...]

Lack spring table

If you’re looking to add a splash of colour for Spring, here’s an easy and cheap way to do it. Sandra shows us how on her Lack bedside table. I took a white Lack side table I had and some post cards (from postal free), glued them on the table and bought a glass piece [...]

Lack retro media cabinet

I’m loving what Jeff in LA did with the Lack shelving unit. The sliding doors and hairpin legs are just perfect. He says, “After discovering your site and seeing some of the other lack media cabinet hacks, I thought I’d send some photos of my own. Yeah, I know, I need to do something to [...]

Kitchen pantry from scratch ‘n dent cupboard

Edward turns a pile of as-is wood into kitchen storage. “I recognized a pile of wood in the scratch and dent area as a cupboard, which I think was from the Akurum series. Our tiny kitchen was desperate for some extra space, so I bought the wood, for I think $5, a set of Vika [...]

Kid’s play storage

Well, you’ve built your kid a play kitchen. It’s only a matter of time, you’ll need to add a cabinet to it. Sergio builds one from 2 Rast bedside tables. Nicely done. Ikea should consider a grown-up version of it. The tables are stacked one on top of the other, with the bottom one turned [...]

Kid’s play storage

Well, you’ve built your kid a play kitchen. It’s only a matter of time, you’ll need to add a cabinet to it. Sergio builds one from 2 Rast bedside tables. Nicely done. Ikea should consider a grown-up version of it. The tables are stacked one on top of the other, with the bottom one turned [...]

Get into the details for your home office

It’s the details that make the whole ensemble work. Matching the colour, lifting the bookcases. Small touches, but nicely done. Take a look at Jennifer’s home office. 1. Expedit shelving – 2 vertical, 1 horizontal. My hubby went to Home Depot and got unfinished furniture legs, took a door to the paint department to match [...]

Hang your TV on a pole

Gerry wraps a TV round the pole. Sexy than this 2-pole version I received in 2006. Guess with the sleekness of LCD TVs nowadays, you can do away with the extra pole. “I wanted a TV stand to mount my 32″ LCD. I fabricated the two rails that attach to the TV from steel shelf [...]

Asker hanging liquor bar

Here’s one from a contributor who rather not be credited. He says, “I used Ikeahacker for ideas a lot when I moved, and thought I ought to at least contribute what I came up with.” Thank you! Constrained for space and renting (so not wanting to make big holes in the wall) I decided to [...]

Knife drawer with glue and wood!

Laura shows off her chops. I can’t imagine what all the knives are for. (A ninja? Heh.) I only use one to cut everything, from apples to zucchinis. She says, “Ikea recently discontinued the little knife-holder plastic inserts for their Rationell drawer divider… just when I was redoing my kitchen and wanted to put all [...]

Sliding panel curtain door

I love this idea from Rafaela – replacing the curtain panels with fabric of your choice. Would be great as a room divider, wardrobe doors or to shield away a messy work station. She says “I did a panel for my closet door using Ikea fabric. I love Ikea’s fabric and I wanna to do [...]

Besta room divider for a loft

Dividing up the room is a key to good use of space. It also does double duty as storage. Kevin does just that with the Besta in his loft. It’s for clothes storage and to screen off the bedroom section of the loft. The only problem was the original Besta configurations didn’t fit, being either [...]

A Hol for kitty

We’ve also seen this hack before. But again, this is using the smaller Hol. Small space kitty solutions, eh? The Hol disappeared for a season but seems like it’s back. Whether permanently, I don’t know. If you’re thinking of hacking a Hol cat box, get it quick. With it going for only $30 a piece, [...]

A cute catbox . . . finally!

Krista joins the many Ikea hackers who finally found a cute solution to a messy problem. It is a more compact version of this PS litter box hack and offers a side entrance, instead of making kitty climb up through a hole in the floor of the cabinet. If you don’t have much space at [...]

Mondrian coffee table

Lee had the idea for a long time but finally got round to designing and ordering supplies for the hack. Basically it is a Lack coffee table with a tile top. Quite a Mondrian, isn’t it? Related hacks: – Mosaic Lack coffee table – A touch of glass for the humble Lack side table – [...]

Another Bekvam

This was done earlier, now, Elena does her version of the Bekvam. “The first one was simply painted, partly with stencil and partly free hand,then coated with varnish. The second one was a bit more complicated, I first started … with Ikea stencil but it didn’t work out too well, so I preferred covering it [...]

Hackea: Lack bar cart

This one’s for the green saint. Say cheers to this easy bar cart which you can put together in half an hour. Thanks to Typhanie. “I’m sure someone has done this hack before because it’s really easy but I’m still proud of what I did. This can be a bar cart or a bedside table.” [...]

Mikael unwired

Beth gets the wires out of sight on her Mikael desk. She says, “I just did a nice little ikea hack and thought I would share. It’s involving the Mikael computer table on casters in the all white color. I was beyond tired of being able to see the nasty tangle of computer cords hanging [...]

The many faces of Rickard

Emily has been hard at work modding the Rickard chair for her thesis. I like Citizen Cane, a nice mix of old and new. Pretty solid ideas, I must say. She says, “I’ve been hacking away at the $19.99 Rickard task chair. I’m working on my MFA Design thesis exploring ways to extend the useful [...]

Bekvam steps up

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.

Vallo pendant lamp

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 [...]

Gorm rat cage

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 [...]

“McQueen” play kitchen

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 [...]

How to zest up a children’s table and bedroom side tables

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 [...]

Simple wall shoe rack using Babord

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 [...]

A recessed Bertby display cabinet

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 [...]

Bench and coffee table in one

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 [...]

Cat climbing shelf in one compact Billy

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 [...]

Bedside lamp and shelf

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. [...]

19″ server cabinet from Lack with Vika Curry legs

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.

Make your own Ikea doll houses

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 [...]

Super easy kid’s table hack

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 [...]

Fwd: Hello!

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 [...]

Ikea tents in Haiti

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 [...]

Do a Panna?

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?

Toothbrush cup nightstand

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 [...]

Ikea snow boots

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 [...]