one day event: travelling apothecary

is your life blighted by the shame of ikea-mania? do you crave cheap chairs? seek solace in simple sofas? or dream of bookcases called billy?

then, you've caught ikea-nitis. but fear not, mr crispin jones offers you a cure, a chance for a fresh start. his patented failsafe diagnostic machine and electric lady cure will put an end your vile desires quickly and permanently.

you can see mr jones at the travelling apothecary, a one day free event on saturday, 16 september, 10.00–18.00 at the british library piazza, 96 euston road, london nw1. (you lucky londoners!)

the event features a selection of uk's most talented young designers, who will host stalls peddling cures for modern-day ailments in the best wild west medicine-show tradition. ailments treated include 'network addiction', 'litter guilt', 'fantasy flings' and 'home makeovers'.

the latter, of which i am terminally but blissfully afflicted. so, kate, while thanks for the tip, i won't be taking the meds. :) link

tags: ikea, travelling apothecary

designer guys does ikea

more tube inspiration from julie (thanks again, girl!). they don't use ikea often, usually preferring more high-end stuff, but in this episode, the designer guys gave this kitchen - part located in a basement and away from the dining area - a gorgeous bistro inspired kitchen and dining makeover.

only the wall cabinets, shelves, wine shelves with butcher block counter top, and antique doors are from ikea. but it goes to show, if you pair your ikea well, it can come off looking like a million bucks. the reds and browns are simply gorgeous.

drool worthy. link.

other tube inspiration:
> space for hacking

tags: ikea, kitchen, designer guys

cheryl's cozy room divider

one of the things i love about ikea is its flexibility. in my apartment, some of my furniture and spaces has to do double (or triple) duty.

cheryl faced a similar predicament. her living room has multiple personalities as a sofa and telly lounge, dining space and also work area. she also has 2 computers and wanted a room divider to hide the storage shelf and at least 1 computer.

it's a simple solution but i think she did the job beautifully.

"i used dignitet and deka and mounted it unto the ceiling. this is usually used for odd shaped windows, such as bay windows. i bought a lightweight fabric which was also on sale at ikea. cheap and cheerful divider, practical and space saving as well. perfect."

am loving the colours - the white and brown hues. as yummy as marshmallows in hot choc.

also see
> cheryl's splashback frame
> vince's sliding door room divider

tags: ikea, dignitet, deka, room divider, cheryl ng

a splashback frame

so, cheryl of berkshire, uk, experienced ikea's screwy customer service, but this is a case of a wrong thing turning out right.

"our little 'magnetic board' is a result of unwanted parts we got from ikea," cheryl writes, "they made a mistake in our kitchen unit (we ordered 2 stainless steel splashback, but got only one). returning just that one splashback would be far too troublesome and we decided to keep it.

The metal clips that holds the splashback is from kolja, the round bathroom mirror. we thought it looked unsightly and found other ways to secure the mirror to the wall. however it looks ok holding the metal splashback, not very noticeable.

using magnets also from ikea, the splashboard now funtions as a fancy notice board and a 'picture frame'. a great way to change the picture/art if I get tired of it!"

also see
> cheryl's cozy room divider
> holly's wall of frames

tags: ikea, kolja, frame, cheryl ng

this hol hides a subwoofer

couldn't log into all google sites the last few days. i still can't. i think google blocked my IP address or something. and it was so frustrating not being able to blog. now i know what a blogaholic i am. :)

anyways, back to business. kalle tipped me on this clever hack that lets you hide your hi-fi subwoofer in an ikea hol storage cube. alas, the site is in french.



this is karma coming back at me for not paying attention in french class. so, monsieur christian if you're out there reading this, je suis désolé. and please translate the page for me. i remain votre petit étudiant, jules. link.

tags: ikea, hol storage cube, subwoofer

work highs and lows - this height-adjustable jerker takes them on

the ikea jerker is one popular work desk, if not the most popular. hey, it even has a shrine dedicated to revealing its all-consuming glory.

the original ikea jerker

but, favourite desk or not, it still may not meet your needs. to the tee. for instance, hans from sweden wanted a height adjustable jerker. now, that's an idea for ikea.

hans writes: "i've always wanted my ikea jerker computer desk to be height-adjustable. to make it easy for me to work standing or sitting down in front of my computer.

i bought a cheap adjustable desk from my office and lopped my ikea jerker legs off with a hacksaw. i then placed the jerker desk on top of the adjustable desk's legs (after i detached them from the desk). after that i took some wood screws and secured the jerker desk into the steel construction of the adjustable desk i bought."

jerker at low and high levels

best thing, it goes up and down at the push of a button. no manual cranking. is that cool or what? if you noticed, hans also attached 2 non spotlights under the top shelf to light up the desk for night time computing.

more than the desk, i was intriqued as to what he did with the "leftover" legs of the jerker table. then he let me in on his handy side table.

jerker with new adjustable legs
and side table from old jerker legs

"i took the 'leftovers' of the jerker legs, a piece of wood and some spike band and made a crossbar behind it. i re-used the side tables that should be on jerker and just put 'em at the sides of the legs. didn't do any calculation of the weight of the printers or any fancy math. i just took a chance. and it worked."

brilliant, hans!

more pictures of the jerker hack process here.
more pictures of finished height-adjustable jerker here.

other work desk hacks:
> have legs will combo
> vika wonderful

tags: ikea, jerker, height adjustable work station, hans zetterberg

did someone hack the ikea catalogue?

okay, i digress again. but this is too funny.

ted tipped me off on this bit of news that has been circulating in canada and the internet.

it seems, if you flip to the first photo in the 2007 catalogue you'll see a photo of a young family lounging on a bed with a dog.

click to ... erm .. enlarge

"the dog, which appears to be a greyhound or whippet, seems to have one distinctly human male characteristic, prompting some to suggest the image had been tampered with by a mischievous employee using a program such as photoshop," reports ctv.ca.

according to ikea's canadian office, that's not the case. "the picture has definitely not been tampered with," debbie mcdowell, corporate communications manager for the swedish retailer's canadian office told ctv.ca.

she said the photo was shot in sweden, where the catalogues are put together. "we saw this particular photo when the prints came through here in canada. ... but we can definitely say this is a picture of a dog's leg, and it is not something else."

what do you think? the ultimate hack? :)

link

tags: ikea canada, catalogue