When I built my first IKEA NÄSSJÖ RGB lamp, I had multiple trimmers and push buttons to setup fading speed, brightness and color. Now I replaced them with a remote control. I chose one of these common rgb remote controls that are shipped with every other cheap rgb lamp.
Check out my blog for detailed specifications and to get access to the code, pcb design and partlist. Go here.
The IKEA Expedit is a classic and versatile piece of furniture, and needs no introduction! My old black-brown 4×2 one was due for a makeover after years of use, and a few very noticeable scratches down one side. I decided to give it a refresh using another IKEA product: the Anno Sanela panel curtain. The grasscloth-like material was perfect for transforming my out-of-the-box Expedit into something with a custom, expensive look.
Materials needed:
- One 4×2 Expedit
- One Anno Sanela panel curtain in gray
- Mod Podge or other adhesive
- Foam paintbrush
- Scissors
- Measuring tape
Step 1:
Apply a thick layer of Mod Podge (or other adhesive) onto one of the short sides of the Expedit. Unroll the Anno Sanela panel and align with the edges of the Expedit, letting the excess of the panel curtain hang over the front. Press the material down onto the edge of the Expedit you coated with Mod Podge, making sure to smooth it out and avoid air bubbles or puckering.
Step 2:
Continue applying Mod Podge to the remaining two sides and pressing the material down on top of it smoothly. Work in small sections.
(Note: There will be a small gap at one end since the curtain panel isn’t quite long enough to make it around the three sides of the unit. That’s ok – just use some of the excess material that you trim away in the next step to cut some small pieces to fit that area and glue them down.)
Step 3:
Carefully trim the excess material off as close to the edge of the Expedit as possible using scissors.
Step 4:
Measure the width and height of the Expedit and cut two long pieces of each width and heigh measurement to cover the thick front edge. Those pieces should measure two inches wide. Glue those down with Mod Podge as well.
All the Mod Podge to dry and you’re all done!
For more information and photos, go to this post.
Materials:
· Akurum Wall Cabinet Frame 30” x 24”
· Härlig Door 15” x 24”
· Härlig Door 15” x 15”
· 2 sets of Integral Hinges
· Rationell Fully Extending Drawer 24”
· Filur 3-gallon Trash Bin with Lid
· Dustpan and Broom
· 2 Bästis Hooks
Description: My IKEA Hack was inspired by my need to hide my cat’s litter box away, like so many other hackers. My cat has the Clever Cat top-entry litter box, which poses unique issues when trying to create a cabinet to enclose it. As a top-entry litter box it is 15” high and you have to include enough space so kitty can still jump on top to enter.
Since this is my first hack, I wanted to try and keep the actual “hacking” to a minimum and be creative with materials. My starting point was the Clever Cat litter box itself, which has a 20” by 15” base and stands 15” high. I found the Akurum 30” by 24” wall cabinet frame, which when turned on its side (so it is 30” tall instead of 24”) would be perfect, allowing enough room for the litter box itself and head room for kitty to jump on top of it. I selected the wall cabinet frame because it had 5 sides, whereas the base cabinet frame only had 4 sides. I assembled the cabinet as the instructions indicated.
I had to get a little creative with the doors and drawer because I put the wall cabinet on its side. By rotating the wall cabinet, all the pre-drilled holes for installing drawers, shelves and doors were on the top and bottom of the cabinet. This set up was fine for the bottom door (Härlig 15” by 24”) which opens down like a drawbridge. The top though required extra effort. Because I didn’t want to cut anything, I bought a smaller door for the top half (Härlig 15” by 15” door) which left a large opening for kitty’s entrance. Unfortunately the pre-drilled holes in the top of the cabinet wouldn’t work for this door, so I measured where holes would need to be on the left hand side of the cabinet and drilled them myself to hang the door.
The final piece of the design was the drawer. Another challenge with this (and any) litter box is that it’s heavy to drag in and out of a cabinet. Installing a drawer (Rationell fully extending 24” drawer) allows me to easily pull the box out of the cabinet to clean and then move it back in again. But like the small door on the front, there aren’t pre-drilled holes to work from so those have to be measured, marked and drilled on your own. The drawer also had to be elevated slightly to clear the hinges from the large door on the bottom. Also be aware that the unit can lean or tip when the drawer is fully extended since the litter box is heavy. Anchoring the cabinet to a wall can fix this.
After that, there are just small additional things I did for the cabinet. I added a hook to the back of the small door for the scooper and a hook to the side of the cabinet for a dustpan and broom. There was also enough space next to the litter box to store a small trash can and the extra litter container. This self-contained litter station cost me about $115.
In designing a new workspace within a heritage building – an old church hall built in 1915 – I needed a cost effective way to create 2 separate spaces (existing coffee shop and new shared workspace), one that would have minimal or no impact on the fabric of the building itself.
My solution: 4 standalone shelving units from the Besta range, each mounted on MDF (for added stability) and industrial castors, used as storage on the workspace side, then clad on the back with ply and the same mouldings and VJ/panelling as the rest of the building. The 4 units slot together (the mouldings overlap) and can be moved around as required. I added some vibrant wallpaper to liven up the coffee shop side of the space.
I first added 2 wooden boards at the FJELLSE headboard to make it sturdy. Then I wrapped 2 layers of sponge at the headboard as cushioning. The other 3 side frames were also lined with a thin layer of sponge. Fabric was used to wrap up the frames using staple gun.
Voila! I have a low-cost comfortable chaise lounge in 4 hours:-)
Hello, this is my wall-to-wall Expedit-based desk. It was pretty simple but it turned out quite nicely, so my girlfriend convinced me to submit it here. I don’t have any “making of” pictures though since I hadn’t planned on posting it when I was making it.
When my girlfriend and I moved into our new apartment, we had a large office space and we wanted a really big desk to fill it. The space was about 12.5 feet (380 centimeters) across, and we wanted a wall-to-wall desk that we could share.
I knew I wanted to use Expedit 2×2 storage units for a good chunk of the desk, because I love storage. I wanted the shelves to face out from the desk though. It seemed like most Expedit desks have the shelves facing in towards the center since that is how the standard Expedit desk mounting bracket is designed to be used.
I just used some double-wide L brackets from the hardware store to mount the Expedit desktop pieces onto the sides of the Expedit 2×2 units. Because the brackets are being screwed into what is basically particle board, I used wood screws with large threads and filled all my pilot holes with wood glue before screwing the brackets into place. The wood glue will dry into the particle board to make the screws much sturdier. The screws are holding up a surface that is load bearing, so I wanted to make sure they wouldn’t tear out.
Originally both desktops were going to be mounted flush to the tops of the 2×2 storage units (for aesthetic reasons) but my girlfriend wanted her side of the desk to be a little lower. It ended up working out though, because it allowed me to use the standard Expedit desk “leg” piece, which would otherwise have been too short.
I also wanted smaller shelves on my side, which would be about the size of the ones in the shelf inserts, but open to the back so I could run cables through them. Yes, I am very particular about what I wanted in my desk 
I used the two half-size dividers from the rear Expedit unit to make them. I drilled 3/8” holes into the vertical dividers in the front Expedit, and into the left side of the frame so that I could put the extra dividers in using the standard Expedit wooden dowels.
We ended up liking how it came out, hopefully you will too.
I took most of my inspiration from the ‘OCD-Friendly Expedit TV Bench’ featured here.
I wanted to find a way to clean up the nest of wires behind my Lack TV stand and give it a fresh look.
I started off with replacing the legs with 6″ Capita legs.
Then I drilled two holes with a 3″ hole saw. This is where I planned to route my cable to the boxes inside the stand.
I bought some self-adhesive vinyl wallpaper in matte blue and began to cover inside the sides and base of the stand.
There’s a local millwork that had some scraps of backing board they were able to cut to size for me. I fastened this to the back of the stand using wood screws.
I fastened the Signum cable organizer using small cable staples. These are the small clips you would typically use to fasten cable to a wall along the molding.
The surge protector is held in place on the back using double sided 3M tape that’s used for securing picture frames. I decided to use this because it has Velcro on one end to allow for easy removal.
I routed all my cables through the cable organizer and used some Velcro straps to keep some of the cables together. I used both holes in case I didn’t have enough slack for a certain cable.
Once everything was done in and in place, I was very happy with the results. Now I can clean underneath the TV stand without worrying about a mess of wires.
We had two KLINGSBO end tables for about a year, but the glass tops showed fingerprints, dust, and water rings far too easily. Also, the stark black and glass look didn’t match with our warm cozy living room style. So I spray painted the underside of the glass with bronze Rustoleum paint. The result is really lovely and makes the tables look more “luxe” and expensive! They definitely show less dirt. You could use any color you want to match your room, and of course, you could also paint the black metal tables. I recommend putting thin layers of paint so you can decide whether you want a more or less opaque look. Also, we use round braided SOARÉ placemats on the table shelves underneath which covers up the black flower motif and further softens the pieces.
The Rast has been hacked again and again, and with good reason: It’s a solid-pine piece furniture, cheap (at $35), and bland enough to beg a personal touch.
So, when I was looking for a dresser for my bedroom, I needed something that was shorter and narrower than my footboard, and rather shallow, since my space is limited. I looked all over the internet and what I found was disheartening. Everything was either too tall, or the drawers were too deep, or the piece looked like it was made of little better than cardboard.
Enter the Rast, stage left!
Two Rasts side-by-side would fit perfectly in the space at the end of my bed, and would be just slightly narrower than my full-sized footboard.
Ikea Hackers and other bloggers have featured a number of Rast hacks, and I primarily used three to accomplish mine.
The first, from The Turquoise Home, I used for trimming the drawer fronts and sides, and for adding baseboard to the bottom.
The second, from Take the Side Street, I used to model my tabletop.
The third, from Nik here on Ikea Hackers, I used as a guide for connecting two into one solid piece.
All three of these hacks offer wonderful step-by-step instructions.
For my hack, this is the basic method I followed:
Materials:
2 Rasts
~40 linear feet of 1″ pine lattice trim
8 linear feet of 9/16″ x 1-3/16″ pine trim for the top
8 linear feet of 9/16″ x 3-1/4″ primed pine baseboard
21/32″ x 17-1/4″ x 6′ Knotty Laminated Pine Panel
1/4″ thick plywood, scrap or small 2′ x 4′ piece
6 new drawer pulls
4 3″ corner braces
wood filler
1 sample pot of paint (I used Behr Silky White)
primer (I used Kilz)
Floetrol
wood stain, 8 oz. (I used Minwax in English Chestnut)
Minwax semi-gloss polycrylic protective finish, 1 quart
Drill, screws, nails, hammer, nail setter, fine-grit sandpaper, saw, wood glue, foam paintbrushes, rags, miterbox, etc.
Method:
1) Before assembling the drawers, I trimmed out the drawer fronts with the lattice trim using wood glue and brad nails.
2) Then I filled the pre-drilled holes for the included drawer knobs with wood filler; sanded the drawer fronts; and primed, painted, and poly’ed them.
To minimize my brushlines, I mixed my paint with Floetrol, painted in thin layers, and used disposable foam brushes. I covered my whole piece of furniture in 3-4 coats of Minwax’s polycrylic (which won’t yellow like polyureythane will) to protect the paint and the stain. That might be overkill, but this piece of furniture will be used every day and I’m not always very careful.
3) I assembled my drawers, following the Ikea instructions and using wood glue everywhere, then drilled new holes and attached my new hardware.
4) Then I assembled one of the frames of the drawers (without using wood glue so that I could take it apart later) to see how it went together. I assembled the other, using wood glue, and leaving out the vertical side-piece that would have abutted the other dresser.
5) I removed the center vertical board from the first dresser that I assembled and drilled all of the holes all the way through to both sides. I sawed off the thin lip on the back of the board where the dresser’s backing would rest and be nailed in. I didn’t want that lip getting in the way when the backs from both dressers were to be attached to the single center board. Then I attached the drawer runners to both sides of the board, and reassembled the first dresser, using wood glue this time.
6) I used a combination of wood glue, the pegs included for assembly, and the 4 corner braces to secure the top, front, and back pieces of the second dresser to the center piece, joining the two dressers into one. (See steps 1 and 2 from Nik’s hack.)
7) I added the lattice trim to the sides, creating a “frame” that would fall above the 3-1/4″ baseboard and below the trim at the top. (I planned for the bottom of the trim to be even with the bottom of the top boards, and even all around.) I used scrap lattice to build out the area below and above the frame in order to have something to attach the baseboard and trim to, which would bring them even with the lattice trim frame.
8) I used scrap wood, and pieces sawed from the one unused center vertical piece to build out the front pieces on the bottom, to bring them even with the front of the vertical pieces. (Step 1 of the Turquoise Home tutorial.)
9) I used scrap lattice trim to build out the front edge of the top boards, to bring them even with the front edge of the vertical pieces. (Step 3 on the Take the Sidestreet tutorial)
9) I measured the pieces I would need for my baseboard, cut them with my miter box, and attached them around the bottom using wood glue and screws.
10) I turned the dresser down on its face to attach the two pieces of composite board on the back with wood glue and nails.
11) Then I made sure all of my screws had been countersunk below the surface and all of my nails on the lattice trim had been set below the surface with my nail setter, and used wood filler to fill all of the holes.
12) I sanded everything down, primed, painted, and poly’ed the whole dresser frame, except the insides and the top boards (which would be covered with my new, solid pine top).
13) I measured and cut the pieces of trim for the top lip, mitering the corners, and stained them before attaching them to the dresser frame. (Fewer chances to spill or drip that way.)
14) I had had the guys at Home Depot cut my laminated pine board to my measurements, 13″ x 50-3/4″. These measurements gave me just enough over-hang over the top of the trim I used, but if your trim is thicker or thinner than mine, you may need different measurements.
15) I built the top up with the 1/4″ thick plywood so that it would clear the tops of the vertical boards, be even with the tops of the trim, and offer a more stable surface for attaching the top board.
16) I stained the top board and attached it to the dresser using wood glue and screws.
17) I gave the top stained trim and board 4 good coats of poly, inserted the drawers, and called it a day!
I hope you’ve enjoyed my Rast hack, and that maybe it’ll inspire you to do your own, just as all the others inspired me!
