Big congratulations and a round of applause to thedesignguy for winning the IKEA Hack of 2010!
His hack the Pax sliding door room divider was a clear favourite from the start. At some point, G.V.M's Bedroom dress boys almost overtook it but at the last lap, the Pax sliding door room divider pulled away to win big, with over 28% votes. The dressboys garnered 19% votes, with the Ultimate twin highchair at 16%. For me, every hack in the Top 10 list is way excellent and you did awesome.
This year, I am also super happy that we crossed the 5 thousand votes mark, hitting a grand total of 5,283 votes, up from last year's 4059. Thank you, thank you, everyone who picked your favourite and made your choice known.
It’s time again to select the best of the best. I had a really good time looking through the year’s archive and reliving the hacks I received over the course of 12 months. Some were brilliant, and I agree, some were borderline hacks. Nevertheless, thank you for sharing your hacks with me, whether they made it to the site or not.
Now on to the good stuff – my list of 10 favourites. It was a tough list to make. But after weighing them over and over, I’ve finally nailed my 10. And here they are, in no particular order.
The designguy’s Pax room divider
This was a clear favourite the moment it was posted. A studio turned into a 1 bedroom with the clever use of the Pax sliding doors. But it’s not just the construction but the lovely styling and how everything just fits. Plus, love the Reservoir Dogs mural. See more.
The bedroom dress boys
G.V.M. wowed us with this simple construct. Plain jane Bertil chairs were sawed and nested against the wall. Simple yet striking. Useful and beautiful at the same time. See more.
The one-legged lamp
One of the most innovative things I’ve seen done to the leg of a Lack side table. I like how the light rises like a flame and the textile electrical cord completes the torch imagery. I wish Charles would have covered the messy electrical socket, which is such a distraction to an otherwise awesome hack. See more.
The ultimate twin high chair
Cuteness aside, this is genius. Very innovative use of the BJURSTA dining table to hold two toddlers. And the best thing is, when adults need to eat, the holes can be covered. See more.
The best BESTA TV unit
Jerome went all the way when it came to finding a fit for his TV. It took a lot of work and precision but just look at it – it is worth every minute he spent on it. The TV appears seamless with the BESTA unit, as if IKEA made the tube box. What I like? The amount of detail that goes into this. This is hack love. See more.
The spring back bankers’ chair
This also received plenty of raves. Andrew salvaged 4 laminate bent IKEA legs and two seats from antique banker's chairs and out came this beauty. I love the form of this springy little thing, which looks like it is ever ready to lovingly hug my back. A perfect example that hacks need not be ugly. See more.
Kelley’s glam VIKA desk
Kelley’s table top is a piece of art – lovingly burnt to bring up the wood grain. While I’ve seem many desks and work tops, this one does it for me. Elegance, without going over the top. See more.
Torked out Ribba backlit frame
Simple to do, but what an impression it makes. Michael gives us this wall decor that gives ambient light and makes plain walls exciting. See more.
Benno headboard and room divider
I like this headboard from Jake, as it was the first hack I saw using plants as a headboard and a room divider. It was also great use of the Benno DVD tower. The plants also give out oxygen at night. Brilliant. See more.
The Lack lounger
Another one from Charles of the One Legged Lamp. This time a bench made entirely out of Lack coffee tables. Love the eye-popping colour and the ingenuity of a Lack coffee table sandwich that became a bench. See more.
Which deserves to the IKEA Hack of 2010? This is your chance to tell us. Vote below.
Voting will end 26 January 2011 at midnight (EST time).
Martina's Hamster Haven led right from the start. The Chicken Home put up a fight but in the last few days of the poll, the Ham pulled away and took home the trophy. The Hamster Haven wins at 28% of votes, with the Chicken Home coming in second with 21%. Thank you, thank you everyone for joining in the fun and voting. For her effort, Martina wins a gift card from Amazon.
I want to thank the good people over at AT who voted Ikeahacker as the best Home Tech Blog of 2009 in the Homies. Wow. What an honour to be on the same page with insanely cool sites like LifeHacker and CoolHunting.
After the last 2 years of listing 20 favourite hacks, I've noticed that votes concentrated on around 10 hacks while the rest received minimal votes. So with much reluctance I decided to trim my fat list down to 10, again. A shorter list was much harder to do than I thought. It was a delight going through all the entries in 2009 but agonising in having to omit some really good hacks. Probably, your favourite is missing in the list too. Do drop a comment if your favourite is unlisted. I'd like to know your pick.
And with that, here goes my 10 personal favourites (in no particular order). You guys vote to decide who takes the cake as the Ikea Hack of 2009.
Crafty pod with sewing machine Two Billy bookcases makes one great craft pod. Closes to hide the full shebang of crafty things. Opens up to reveal loads of storage and even space of a sewing machine.
Philip and Cat's shoe room The ladies (and some lads, me think) went wild oogling Cat's shoe room. While not in the league of the likes of Imelda but for us hackers, it's plenty of storage.
Expedit room divider The Expedit also makes an impressive room divider. What's most fantastic about this room divider is its flow. Yeah, we're talking chi, baby. John added just the right curves to the Expedit and turned it from square to sexy.
The heated Poang I like the concept of seatheating in an Ikea armchair. Definitely one of the freshest Ikea hacks I've seen this year. The idea of heated seats may not be new but as far as hacks go, it's new ground.
One flew over the chicken coop This is one hack that totally took me by surprise. Never have I imagined Ikea being used as homes for chicken. Turns out the stuff from Sweden is not just good for us humans but pretty swanky for chicks too.
Rocking Emmabo I loved this the moment I saw it. I looks way, way better than the plasticky-what-have-you cover that comes with it. Ikea should come up with this for 2010 Summer. Seriously.
Hidden wall cabinet If Anthony didn't tell me, I wouldn't have guessed that a medicine cabinet is cleverly hidden behind the wooden frame hacked from a Nexus cabinet door. Simply gorgeous and so simple.
Thank you all 3144 of you who voted for your favourite Ikea hack of 2008. The poll is closed and we have a winner! Pinot and Dita's fabric wall art is your favourite hack of the year, garnering over 20% of the votes, with Steffen's coffee table train a close contender at 14% of votes.
I am also very, very happy that for the first time since I started Ikeahacker in 2006, I am able to give a gift to the well-deserving hacker of the year. Thanks to Geoff from Grippiks.com, who runs an online store specialising in decorative accents for Ikea furniture. Woohoo!
Congrats Pinot and Dita! You guys win up to $100 worth of your choice of accents from the Grippiks store. Happy shopping and we hope to see more hacks from you.
Ikeahacker had a bountiful year in 2008 and I received some really fabulous hacks. Continuing with tradition, I'll shortlist 20 of my favourite hacks of the year. You guys can then vote for the one you think deserves to be called the hack of 2008.
Pinot and Dita's fabric wall art It's only little cut outs of Ikea fabrics but the end result is gorgeous.
Helmer, the 24 core Linux cluster I still have no idea what this thing does but Lifehacker voted it the top mod for 2008. So it must be doing some thing right.
Sliding countertop Magda slides out extra countertop space when she needs it, slides it in when she doesn't. There's also a dedicated one for the coffee machine. Nice.
Eugene's compact banquette In 2006, Andrew's daybed turned banquette was the hack of the year. Will Eugene's kitchen cabs turned banquette repeat history?
and Happy Chic Colours
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