Double Lack

Materials: 2 lack table

Description: For the first table, cut the four legs (about 10cm less), for the second one, cut just one leg. That's all, you can nest them as you wish.

~ dunoon, brittany

Coffee table advance

Materials: Malm Storage Unit, Galant Monitor Stand

Description: Only a little hack ;)

The Malm Storage Unit is perfect to hide things like the TV guides, bottle opener, the reserve of sweets, ... but they are not big enough for a coffee table. So I have expanded it with a Galant Monitor Stand and 3 short table-legs. To stop the stand from slipping I used double-sided adhesive tape (the black under the table-legs).

~ Ingo, Cologne, Germany

Upholstered Lack coffee table

Materials: A lack table, a Vyssa Slummer kids mattress, some wheels, wood and a board from the hardware store, a little Velcro and some synthetic leather

Description: This first step is optional: I shortened the legs of the table, inserted wood in the hole that it created and screwed some wheels onto that.

I took the mattress out of its shell, cut it to the right size and put it on a board I had cut to the right size at the hardware store. With the help of a staplegun I wraped it with the synthetic leather. I used Velcro to attach this to the table.

The result: an unpholstered table that is really comfortable to put your feet on but is firm enough serve as a table (even glasses aren't a problem)

See more of the upholstered Lack coffee table.

~ Jenn(ifer), Kiel, Germany

Billy Built-in with a top

Materials: Half Height Billy Bookcases

Description: I love built-ins, I can't afford built-ins so I made my own out of 5 Billy bookcases.
Step 1) Assemble bookcases! Easier said then done.
Step 2) Screw bookcases together, pulling the middle section out 3-4 inches. Creating some interest!

Step 3) Cut MDF into three sections, glue and nail to top
Step 4) Attach chair rail or crown molding to the face (a chair rail is much easier to work with than crown)

Step 5) Fill seams and gaps. Once dry sand
Step 6) Paint, we chose Martha Stewart's Talc color to match the white Billy bookcases, not an exact match but pretty darn close.

See more of the Billy built-in with a top.

~ Ashli c/o Maillardville Manor, Vancouver, BC

LaivaPax Coffee Table

Materials: Laiva TV Stand, Pax Wardrobe door

Description: I picked up a Pax Fevik wardrobe panel in the as-is section for $5. A couple months later, I picked up the Laiva TV stand for $20. I used some 1x3 lumber to make a support frame to raise the Pax panel a few inches above the Laiva. With the lumber and hardware used to make the support frame, the total cost was less than $35.

That cost went up a bit after a recent IKEA visit, when I picked up a Dioder light set on sale for $30, giving me a glass top coffee table that lights up from with.

More details and photos can be seen at on my Flickr page.

~ Larry Mac, Richmond VA

Mirror, Mirror....

Materials: Ikea Lack Coffee Table, Mirrors, Measuring Tape, Permanant Mirror Glue

Description: Here is a picture of my Ikea Lack coffee table. The color palette in my loft is black, grey and white since I have concrete floors and ceilings. I really wanted something that wouldn't break the bank and would catch people's eyes when they walked in the door. The mirrors were a perfect solution.

The table at Ikea was $39 and I bought the beveled mirrors at Hobby Lobby on sale for $3 each. I first laid all the mirrors on the table top to measure their position and then I used a $4 tube of mirror glue to adhere them down. Make sure you use a permanent glue that is mirror friendly because some can eat away the back of mirrors over time.

See more of the Lack mirror table.

~ Shaunie

Vacation Inspired Coffee Table

Materials: (2) x Billsta table tops, 1 pack of (4) 6" Capita, 1 pack of (4) 8" Capita
NON-IKEA - (4) 2"x 1/4" sunken machine screws, nuts, and washers

Description:
On a vacation to Sweden (yes, the motherland of IKEA) I ran across a coffee table that I'd been looking for. Unfortunately, the price, not to mention shipping back to the US, was way more then I would ever spend.
Once back home, fruitless internet searches failed to find what I was looking for. So, I started looking online for parts. I ended up on the IKEA site and found several parts that would work.

Here's what I did:


Click to read more>>

Modern couch

Materials: LACK tv unit, KLUBBO coffee table leg, cushion material, fabric, screws, wood pieces, L shape brackets

Description:
1. Arms:

Use wood glue to secure two pieces of 4X6X21.5 and one 2X4X21.5 together for the creation of the arms. Sand edges then place thin layer of foam filler to soften the top and surroundings of the arms. Lastly upholster both arms.


2. Base:

Take apart LACK TV unit and use the top for the base of the couch where you will be sitting. Secure both arms to the LACK unit. Then place it on top of the KLUBBO coffee table legs and secure.

3. Back:

To upholster you need to find the shape of where the arms and cushions will be and exclude it. Staple fabric down and fill cushion material for the upper half of the back. (The entire back will not be cushioned because it will be pushed against the arms and seat cushions ... so avoid that portion when upholstering).

You can also create a tufted look by stapling down the areas you want and placing buttons there.

4. Securing:

Place back and secure it to the base with screws. I recommend to use L shape brackets found at Home Depot for a more stable result.

5. Cushions:

I used two 4X22X24 inch foam for the seat cushions found at thrift store, but you can use any material you like for this portion and just upholster it. I believe you can find this type of thick foam at crafts stores.

6. Lastly make some pillows to go with it and enjoy :D

~ Ayako Nakamine (Micci Do), Salt Lake CIty Utah

Alex Credenza

Materials: Alex Drawer Unit (40196241) & AVSIKT Roll-front cabinet (#00158439)

Description: I have for a long time wanted to have an old style credenza with modernist influences. I though the Alex file cabinets were very elegant and often overlooked so i wanted to utilize them for this hack. The Alex file cabinets were however, too tall to make a sleek and modernist credenza, so in order to make it work i had to chop off the two bottom drawers and shorten the height of that product all together. Then, once that was done for both cabinets the fun began.

The AVSIKT Roll-front cabinet was perfect for my purposes since it had a beautiful roll front with a metallic finish - the roll front is actually really sturdy so even when i decided to flip the AVSIKT Roll-front cabinet so that the roll front was on the top, it can still actually hold pretty heavy objects (including a flat screen TV if necessary).

With the AVSIKT Roll-front cabinet, however, the depth and "height" was smaller than the Alex cabinets, therefore two pieces of plywood (1/2 in thick) had to be placed on each side. This actually helped strengthen the credenza, however, it did require me to veneer the surface once all the pieces were attached.
Once the pieces were secure to each other using wooden screws, I veneered the plywood pieces with a nice Maple veneer and gave it a couple of light clear coats to preserve the natural color.

The final touches were getting the legs from Home Depot (or your local hardware store, they cost about $2 a piece) and mount them on the bottom and painting them black. I opted for an arrangement of 3 legs in a triangular fashion on each side - I think that works best since the piece is quite heavy (actually, it is really heavy so lift with partner if possible).

I was happy that my vinyl record player fit the compartment in the AVSIKT Roll-front cabinet and i build a little shelf with the spare drawers parts from the Alex cabinet - underneath it is the speaker and wiring, all hidden from sight. I have many pictures of the process but can't supply them all at the same time on the site, if needed please let me know and i'll share them right away!

~ Mark Soares, Connecticut

EXPEDIT board in IKEA sale corner to a nice coffee table in my home

Materials: 1PC - EXPEDIT Board AUS$19, 2 Pack of EKBY BJÄRNUM Bracket 9, 2 Pack of $15.00/2 pack, 8 Pcs screw nuts that suit the thickness of the board (Not included with bracket), 4 Pcs of metal nuts from EKBY BJÄRNUM Bracket

Description:

1. Turn the board upside down.

2. Attach EKBY BJÄRNUM Bracket with the screws in to each corner of the board (flat chrome side face out).

3. Screw in the metal nuts that come with the EKBY BJÄRNUM Bracket to the hole that appear on one side of EXPEDIT Board to cover it up.

~ Kanya, Melbourne

Lack Torrone Table

Materials: Lack coffee table, wood glue, wrapping paper, shellac

Description:
1. Lack coffee table was built as per instructions.
2. A one inch border was measured out around the table and marked with graphite pencil.
3. A corresponding rectangle was cut from a super snazzy wrapping paper.
4. We used burlesque star Angie Pontani's tutorial for Torrone table as the inspiration for our project.

4. We glued down the wrapping paper with a very thin mixture of Gorilla Glue and waper and painted it on to the table. Then, we pressed down the wrapping paper very slowly so as to remove all of the airbubbles.
5. We then applied about 5-6 layers of shellac.

~ Jessica and KC Harvey-Taylor, Sacramento, California

"Minibar" Ikea Style

Materials: Expedit, Dioder, Hutten, Rill

Description: I wanted to have a small bar inside my living room.

So I decided I take a 2x2 Expedit in white, sawed a "Hutten" down to only 6 bottles, they fit now perfectly inside the Expedit. Painted them white for a better match.

Used Rill at the base of the Expedit for easy moving.

For the nice lighting I used a white backboard from a hardware store, lifted it about 1 cm and montaged a Dioder for lighting.

~ Daniel Ottenberg, Cologne Germany

Golden Gate Coffee Table

Materials: Lack coffee table

Description: Decided to hack my Lack coffee table after seeing a cool jukebox table in an art gallery that was _way_ out of my price range.

I used: Lack coffee table, contact paper from a local shop, and a wall decal of the Golden Gate bridge.

1. Distress the coffee table. This was a happy accident-- I first tried modding my table by covering it with contact paper for a couple weeks. When I decided I didn't like the contact paper and peeled it off, bits were left behind on the table leaving a cool distressed-wood effect.

2. Add the decal. In this case, I used a Golden Gate bridge art decal from Target-- you could also use a Blik sticker or any other sticker designed to go on walls.

3. Show off to your friends.

Simple hack, discovered half-by-accident, that converted my rather bland Lack table into a one-of-a-kind art object.

~ Nabil A, San Francisco

Tray table

Materials: Ikea Stockholm tray, Hutten wine rack, paint, double adhesive tape

Description: In Sweden it's very popular with tray tables (= Brickbord). The price is about 100 EUR/140 USD or more. My tray table cost 25 EUR/34 USD. (I already had the paint and the tape)

Instructions:
Paint and assemble your wine rack. (I left out the middle shelf). Attach the tray with some double adhesive tape, and put some magazines on the shelf. Done!

See more of Rebecca's tray table.

~ Rebecca, Sweden

Fireplace/media storage/shelving from IKEA Kitchen

Materials: Akurum cabinets, doors and wall panels; Ekby Järpen floating shelving,

Description: My new loft was basically three blank walls and 15-foot floor to ceiling windows. It sorely needed a focal point, so I designed this combination fireplace/media storage/shelving unit to give it some excitement.

I hired a contractor to build the framework for the fireplace and media center, which forms the base of the unit. A frame consisting of 2x4s was placed lengthwise across the length of the floor. Four Akurum wall fan/refrigerator cabinets were screwed atop the framework, then screwed together. The 2x4 framework formed a base for the cabinet, which was covered with a Perfekt door panel, ripped to length.

The fireplace is essentially a box formed by four 2x4s, approximately ten feet long. The box was mounted to the wall and ceiling, then covered with large Perfekt door panels.

Finally, I ran the electrical wiring for the lighting and the electric fireplace before installing the Ekby floating shelves. I drilled holes in the shelves to route the wiring for the Grundtal lighting disks (I hate seeing wires on the surface of shelving), then mounted the shelves to the base, which had been screwed to the wall.

Finally I built the firebox (more 2x4's!) installed the fireplace, covered the firebox in natural stone tile, and flanked it with mirrors to give the room some depth.

The cabinets hold multiple electronic components, including a whole-house music and lighting control system, as well as the typical odds and ends you find in a living room.

The entire project took about 2 weeks to complete, and cost approximately $7,000, including contractor labor.

~ Vince Edd, Seattle, WA

Lilliberg Futon

Futon ready!

Sofa again!

Materials: Lilliberg 3 person sofa

Description: I bought a Lilliberg 3 seater sofa frame by itself because it was on sale. I had an old metal futon that was falling apart so I used the hinges on the futon to turn the Lilliberg sofa into a Lilliberg futon.

First I shortened the legs by a few inches because I like lower furniture but also the futon hinges would add a few inches to the height of the sofa.

The futon back and bottom needed a wooden frame to be attached to the hinges. I cut four pieces of 2x3 and attached them to the hinge using various L brackets I had laying around. Then, with the frame extended, I drilled holes to attach the hinges to the futon frame so that the 2x3 supports would lie flat on the lengthwise beams.

I also added 1x3s lengthwise to support the middle of the futon. These were attached with small brackets to the 2x3 supports. The Lilliberg back and bottom come attached with several small metal hinges so I removed those so that each piece was independent and could be screwed to the wooden frame of 2x3 and 1x3s.

The futon folds up very easily and is nice and solid because of the additional wooden frame. Lowering the Lilliberg by cutting off a few inches made the sofa the right size because I added extra padding. I topped it with two regular futon mattresses which were a bit longer than the Lilliberg but I could get it in there by scrunching the mattress.

See more of Bobby's Lilliberg futon.

~ Bobby, MA