Eiffel lamp

Materials: Hyllis and perforated steel tape

Description: I used the 4 legs of HYLLIS in combination with screws, nuts and perforated steel tape like meccano for creating a floor lamp.

~ Peter Van Zoetendaal, Netherlands

Sawing the HYLLIS

Materials: HYLLIS metal shelves, saw, sandpaper

Description: When I moved into my apartment last year, the stove and the fridge ended up having this annoying gap between them. I thought it would be a pity to just to let it be and leave all this valuable storage/counter space unexploited, so I got busy going through the IKEA catalogue for something that would fit the gap just right.

I was lucky. Hello there, super-cheap HYLLIS metal shelves!

At 60cm deep and 27cm wide, it was like if I had ordered them to fit. And if I remember correctly, I paid 12 euros for them, but the price in the new 2011 catalogue has been reduced and they now cost only 8,95 in Greece. Total bargain.

Problem was, HYLLIS is tall. I wanted something that would act as a extension of the stove top, so I would be able to use the surface while cooking, letting pots and pans cool off and stuff like that. HYLLIS is 140cm tall while my stove only reaches 85cm.

So I grabbed my saw.

The shortest half is the one that used to be the bottom and the now tall half used to be the top. I sawed just over the third shelf, and the height of the top half turned out to be just perfect as you can see from the first picture of this post.

I only had to go over the legs with some sandpaper so I could pop on the plastic thingies that protect your floor from the metal, and it was ready!

See more here.

~ Pinelopi, Athens, Greece

Custom wall of shelving...cheap!

Materials: Hyllis shelves, plywood, four band-aids

Description: Hyllis shelves are about $15 bucks a pop at Ikea but are rather flimsy and pretty short.

For my bedroom, I knew that I needed to house about 1200 books on a 20 foot long wall and I also wanted to house two flat screen TVs (long story why I needed two) that were at the correct height to view from the bed.

The Hyllis shelves will go together rather easily if you want to stack them. For my hack, I used the shelves and 'overlapped' the shelving units a bit in height. It is easy to overlap the legs (vertical supports) of Hyllis and and one to four shelves in height to it. You just have to put a screw through both vertical sections and into the shelf...the screw will connect everything together. I purchased slightly longer screws than the shelves come with to make the shelf connections at the front and the back sides, and used 1" long drywall screws to hold the shelves together side by side. I also sunk one screw per shelf unit into the rear wall of my bedroom to add some stability.

To house the TV brackets, I had two pieces of plywood cut down to size at the hardware store. I made them the same size as one shelf 'opening' and inserted them where the shelf should have been, using the same holes drilled in the vertical supports that the shelves use. The plywood goes from the bottom of one shelf to the top of where the shelf below it should be. Easy as can be; this gave me a solid base to install the mounts for the screens.

The vertical supports have one end drilled with two holes in it (Ikea anticipates you to attach the shelves to the wall using these holes, I think). I added an extra row of shelves purely for decoration along the top of the unit using the extra holes. I Turned these upside down so you see the smooth surface of a shelf 'top' in lieu of the crimped shelf bottom.

I was left with one section of shelves that was a little bit too big to fit into the wall. Hyllis shelves are thin enough you can actually cut them easily with tin snips if you need to modify the width. When you cut them across you loose a little bit of stability because the shelves are folded on all four edges and the fold makes them rigid and gives the shelf its thickness. I had to insert small pieces of 1" tall scrap wood cut the same depth as the shelf to stiffen the shelf front to back. I installed the wood using the existing holes on the vertical supports. Note: the cut shelves are sharp...hence bandages should be on hand! The cut shelves are shown in the picture with the urinal on the floor; you can barely see that they are modified.

~ Dave Hopkins, Chicago

Double Up the Hyllis

Materials: 2 Hyllis shelving units, a good screwdriver

Description: The Hyllis is a nice piece of furniture to begin with, in my opinion, despite the awful name.Simple, honest metal and a few screws. Lovely. Also, the Hyllis is embarrasingly cheap.

The idea is simple - stock to units on top of each other. Save space, get a cooler looking piece of furniture.

You need a screwdriver that can make holes in metal.

1. Assemble one shelving unit completely, except for the plastic feet, and the shelve nearest to the ground. Lay it down on the floor.
This will be the top.

2. Put the long vertical pieces of metal in extension to the first unit you assembled, and decide how high you want it to be.

3. Drill holes so that you can assemble the two units, measure the distance to the pre-drilled holes so it will be even.

4. Screw in the shelf that overlaps the two units, through both the units.

5. Assemble the rest of the shelves in the lower part, and you're done.

My explanation is crap, look at the pictures and I'm sure you understand it right away. It's very simple.

Important: Make sure you know how high the ceiling is, and make sure there's room enough to raise the shelving unit to an upright position when you're done. I was only able to make it fit because the old house I live in has a bumpy uneven ceiling.

~ Lea, Copenhagen, Denmark

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 already have a huge Vika Gruvan desk, an overflow of bookcases and no extra room to spare. So this action-packed little corner was pretty much my only option.

I also had no cash at the moment (Hey, not all of us can be Tiffany) so buying brand new furniture was out of the question, all the Ikea items I used were bought on Craigslist. I think I spent less than $40 total including hardware.

Here's the steps so you too can do the jam:

First, I assembled the Helmer drawer unit. Then, using its height as a guide, I attached the L shaped brackets to the wall. (As you can see in the picture, I used some left over curtain brackets from another project to keep costs down.)

Next, I assembled the Hyllis shelving unit. Here is where I had to work some magic. The table top is wider than the shelves so in order to slide it in place without having to cut the table down to size I had to invert the Hyllis' legs. This seriously compromises its stability, so I had to anchor it to the wall. After that, I slid the table top in place and secured it to the brackets with screws.

Then I hung the mirror (No, I'm not -that- vain, I just need to look at my work!) and the Lack shelf. As an extra bonus I installed a wire/tool dispenser made of L shaped brackets and a steel rod (Costs $2.50 to make). Since I still needed more shelving I added the shoe racks underneath the table. I bought two of them and stacked them, going under and around the Hyllis unit, then secured them with screws.

And that's pretty much it.

Hey, it is not the sexiest of units, but it works for me. Plus it was $40 bucks. Beat that.

~ Sunny H., Chicago