Materials: VARIERA
While looking for a wooden plat rack to store my iPad, e-readers and Android Tablets, I came across this metal rack from Ikea. Only €4,95 and capable of storing up to 6 tablets…
Hi Everyone,
Here’s how to make one massive U-Shaped, very comfortable Sofabed using the already well established Ikea Manstad.
The Manstad is now discontinued, but you can buy second hand for around £250 (I got 2 for under £250 each)
[Note: You will NOT need to cut, drill, or bolt anything differently to the OEM specification - This is an EASY hack!]
How?
1) Buy two Ikea Manstad Sofabeds in matching colour (The later ones which allow the chaise longue to be positioned either end)
2) Follow the instructions, but instead of putting the chaise longue on only one side, place one on either side.
3) Enjoy your massive, comfortable, U-Shaped Sofabed!
4) Bolt together the remaining parts (2x sofa arms + sofa frame)
5) Enjoy your 2-seater sofa, which also has a pull-out double chaise longue, and can be used as a double children’s bed.
[Note: This hack may also work with the Ikea Friheten]
The base is made of BESTÅ cabinets:
2 * BESTÅ extension unit ($50.00, Width: 47 1/4 “, Depth: 15 3/4 “, Height: 15 “)
1 * BESTÅ extension unit ($35, Width: 23 5/8 “, Depth: 15 3/4 “, Height: 15 “)
Overall 5 cabinets to achieve a linear length of around 10 feet (118” 1/8).
The assembled base has been wrapped with a recycled pine wood enclosure (stained, varnished and polished) made of panels (LOWES).
Doors are 5 * BESTÅ VARA ($5, 23 5/8″ * 15″). Besta doors have been lightly sanded then primed. Pattern has been marked on primed doors then spray painted one color at a time using Valspar spray paint and using low tack masking tape to avoid ruining finish between color applications.
Doors have been finished with urethane (7 coats), wet sanded between applications. Last coat was sprayed to obtain a high gloss dust free finish. Voila!
Materials: RIBBA frame
1. Remove everything from the frame, including the glass. (Sometimes they’re glued a bit in the corners so be careful! Some GooGone will remove any residue left over.) You can throw out the mat or reuse elsewhere.
2. Remove the arm from the backing (it’s just glued on), so all you’re left with is the thin piece of particle board. There will be two small holes, but nobody is ever going to see those anyway. Put the board, holes down, back in the frame.
3. Cut decorative paper to size and place on top of the board in the frame. Scrapbook paper, wrapping paper, a scrap of fabric, something cut out of a magazine—almost anything will work!
4. Place the glass on top of the paper/fabric. And ta-da! That’s it. You have yourself a customized serving tray in less than 10 minutes.
Now, you could definitely get more involved than this. For instance, there’s little metal clasps around the outside of the frame that are used to hold the picture in and the back on. You could get a pair of pliers and remove those or flatten them. They’re generally pretty hard to see though once the board, paper and glass are all back in there.
I’d also suggest adding a few of those stick-on felt buffers (you usually put them on furniture legs so they don’t scratch up wood flooring) on the front of the frame for good measure.
You can see the full post and MANY more pictures here.
Materials: GRONO lamp, cord with lamp socket
I needed an affordable ceiling lamp, and I liked the look of the GRONO frosted square table lamps – they are about 4″ square by 10″ tall. They came with a small size socket and low watt bulb with a roller plug on the cord – el cheapo style. I think they cost about $5 or $6 each. For about $3 I got a plug with a standard size socket and replaced the original plug and socket. I cut off the plug end and hard-wired it to the house current. I made small square bases with a little lip out of Baltic birch plywood, and wall-ah! Ceiling lamp! This was in 2007. I don’t know if they still sell these lamps.
Materials: VITTSJÖ Nesting Tables
I spray painted the frame of the larger table in the set.
Drilled tufting holes into the MDF to be used as a base for my upholstering and tufting.
Upholstered and tufted using 2 inch foam, velvet, and buttons.
Used glass table top as lower shelf.
Materials: 1 x 5 Expedit x 2
We have a long wall that we wanted to turn into a mini library area. We’re really into the mid-century modern clean design aesthetic. We didn’t want to spend thousands on furniture and couldn’t find bookshelf with legs to save our lives. We also needed something with a fair amount of length to support all of our books and curios. So to IKEA we went!
We used the EXPEDIT 1×5 shelving unit since it gave us the length we needed. We bought two in the birch color with the intent to clad it in darker walnut to achieve a two toned modern look. We cut it apart and reassembled it by drilling new peg holes and lots of glue. We roughed all surfaces and used finishing nails, glue and bolts to attach the walnut. After much sanding, wood filling, staining and finishing later… we had a product that looked pretty nice!
There were a lot of hiccups along the way that included the orange paint we selected not adhering to the shelves, and we also chose the wrong size legs. Retrospectively the legs should have placed the legs further apart. :/
We ended up using green vinyl contact paper for the shelf interior which worked out fantastic. We really love color and our makeshift library is a bright one!
We created exactly what we wanted all for a reasonable price!
