declutter your jerker desktop

i have yet to join the wireless bandwagon so i love this de-cluttering hack from van mardian. a few readers [thanks! aaron, kath, nicole] tipped me on this, so i'm guessing that this is going to be a favourite for many.

see van's decluttered ikea jerker desk, the source of desk envy.

what's the secret?

van says, "actually, everything is mounted underneath using mdf pegboard and some wire.

the pegboard is suspended using these shackles and small wooden dowels. if i ever need to make changes, the pegboard can be easily removed simply by removing the five dowels."

brilliant! van has very, very good pictures and instructions on hissite. there are also currently 8 reader submissions of their versions.link.

projection tv entertainment center

arthur was searching for an entertainment center for his super sized JVC projection tv. they were either too small, too large or not tall enough and they all cost in the neighborhood of around $2,800.00.

so, he hacked his entertainment center two billy book cases and two lack shelving units instead.

"to fit our available wall space, and to fit just right around our tv, i cut the two lack units down to 56 5/8 inch and filled in the cut end with a white-faced board cut to fit. because the units have a thin masonite skin reinforced with very thin corrugated paper, i also placed a piece of 1/2 inch plywood on top the lower unit, painted to match and trimmed with a piece of plastic edge trim used for edging sheet rock to give it a finished appearance, and the strength to hold the heavy tv.

i attached the upper lack unit to the wall at a height just above the tv. The lower unit is supported by eight of the 6 inch, adjustable, stainless steel legs sold by ikea for use with the units when used horizontally, but stands about 4 inches out from the wall to accommodate the depth of the tv. the billy bookcases are secured to the wall so as not to tip over, but are located 4 inches out from the wall to hide the side of the tv. i used a PVC 1"x4" (available atlowes) as a spacer between the bookcases and the wall to keep them at this distance.

total cost of the project, including the stainless steel legs and tax, about $280.00, a savings of over $2,500.00."

double up your work space

dan and erin needed to fill their guest room / office with some thing that...
1) wasn't expensive and
2) looked good

so with a tape measure in hand, they spent 4 hours at the college park, maryland ikea and left with 2 vika amon 4' 11" table tops, 4vika curry legs, 1 malm 2-drawer chest, and 1 set of 6" capita legs.

and here's what they constructed.

"we put the two vika table tops end to end, and installed the vika curry legs at the furthest opposite ends. two capita 6" legs split the middle seam, and sit on top of the malm chest. the chest supports the seam at the middle, and creates a storage space underneath.

i also installed the summera pull-out keyboard tray, but the vika tops are so hollow that it's already starting to strip out. in all, we spent $120, and the desk really has helped our new office/guest room.

we plan on finishing off the room with a 5' vika amon table top used as a headboard, and hanging the lack shelves above the desk area horizontally for more mementos and storage."

Updated! February 25, 2009
Reinforced double table
Beth was looking for an idea on how to enlarge her current desk without spending too much and gave her better access to her file drawer when she came across the hack above. But after reading the comments, was worried about having enough support along the seam. This is her solution.

She says, "My solution was to add 2 cheap legs to support the back, and screw the Capita legs into a 3/4" thick slab of plywood. This gave a lot of support to the desktop, and the plywood thickness made up the difference between the end of the leg and the desktop (legs were 12" long at the fully adjusted length and I had more space than that, but the next size up would've been too long). I then ironed on some edge banding to cover the front of the plywood slab to finish it off!

Products used:

- 2 Capita 4" legs

- 2 Vika Amon desk tops

- 1 Erik Drawer unit

- 4 Vika Fintorp 70cm legs

- 2 Vika Curry Silver legs

Materials Needed:

- 1 12x16" plywood slab (3/4" thickness)

- 1 roll Black/Brown edge banding (bought from Home Depot for Mills Pride Cabinets)

- screws

Add fun with fabrics

Add fun with fabrics
Ana used a Hokus quilt cover to theme her daughter's nursery. She says, "Since I didn't like the Hokus curtains that matched the set, I bought a second quilt and sewed sections of it on the bottom of my own curtains.

I also cut strips of the little lines that divide each section and sewed it along the bottom of a white crib skirt from Pottery Barn Kids.

To integrate the theme into other parts of the bedroom, I cut four individual 'characters' from the extra quilt and put them on photo frames. Cute and inexpensive!

Make space for baby!

Brittanie and hubby lives in a relatively small apartment and with the new arrival of their baby boy, finding closet space wasn't easy.

Her solution? A bookcase closet space.

"We got a small bookcase from Ikea and drilled holes into the sides of it. We then slipped a curtain rod through the holes and created a small closet type setup for our baby's room. We can take out the shelves as he gets bigger, but for now it's incredibly wonderful to have. We use the knobs on the outside to hang his bath towels. Simple, but perfect for us."

Salad bowl lamp

Salad bowl lamp
Roberto combines a Janauri lamp and Blanda salad bowl for a cool looking shade.

To drill a hole in the Blanda salad bowl, Roberto recommends using the same tools proposed for the Boholmen: the FIXA 2-piece tool set which is sold separately.

See more of Roberto's salad bowl lamp.

Shoe rack monitor stand

Shoe rack monitor stand
Fr33z turns a shoe rack into a monitor stand. "I needed a stand for my TFT screen so that I could put my keyboard underneath it when i needed my desk space to work/solder/etc. So I bought myself aBabord shoe rack and chopped half of it off. The result is a nice clean, transparent monitor stand with space underneath for my keyboard and mouse."

Shoes

We finally got our act together and cleaned up the bedroom.

Best new feature is our set of shoe cabinets! (Two Akurum wall cabinets from Ikea)

Extra shelves make plenty of space for the shoes. This is also further proof that shoe obsessions are based in chromosomes and not gender identity: more than 50% of those are mine.

Would have never thought that wall cabinets would install this easily. You just screw the mounting rail into the wall, and place the cabinets on the rail. This way, they can slide left and right so they will be centered perfectly. Love love love it.

Billy finds new purpose as a pantry

Michael comes up with a neat solution for his small dining area. Great use of space.

"The kitchen in our new house was too small," says Michael, "so we converted this set of Billy bookcases (with extenders and doors) to a pantry. Note the chairs and legs on the custom table top. The connecting shelf and trim was from cheap particle board shelving you can get at any hardware store.

Fniss gadget organizer and charger

Ariel made a gadget organiser and charging station from the Fnisswastepaper basket.

It's pretty easy. All you need to do is basically cut a piece of plywood to "stop" the top and form a base for your gadgets to rest on. Then, cut a hole in the plywood and drill a hole in the Fniss for your cables.




See instructions for gadget organiser.