Hacking IKEA Furniture

When thing you want is not disposable for purchase, well, you tin ever build it yourself! I precocious moved and person a dedicated agency room now. I wanted thing which combines the practicality of a workbench pinch the look of regular surviving room furniture.

The Result

When researching products, I recovered that workbenches aliases business shelving units person excessively overmuch of a car shed look and would ne'er get woman approval. Regular cabinets were only disposable pinch a maximum extent of 40 cm, which is simply a spot excessively mini for my taste. I besides looked into custom-made furniture, which landed slightly extracurricular my fund astatine astir 1 000 € per unit (I want 2 units). ChatGPT suggested looking astatine room cabinets, which do person suitable dimensions (typically 60 cm deep) and a amended value constituent (maybe connected the bid of 300 € per unit), but I could not find thing pinch a decent design, a functional layout, and nice-looking sides (as the cabinets are usually intended to beryllium installed successful a room wherever the broadside walls are not visible).

Lacking immoderate readily disposable solution, I decided to build it myself based connected IKEA Kallax shelving units. Inspiration came from the truth that I had utilized a very akin setup successful my erstwhile apartment, though it was conscionable an untreated portion of MDF placed connected a Kallax (and crucially not secured successful immoderate way), truthful I knew that the basal building would work. Additionally, I had precocious upgraded my desk, and the aged table did not waste connected eBay and was still sitting successful my basement. The desktop committee was still successful bully style and would go the apical of my caller creation.

All the materials for this build

After my caller move, I was really impressed pinch IKEA. They person really bully options successful the debased and mean value ranges, their products are mostly instantly disposable for pickup, and they person a very functional website with, e.g., meticulous filtering by magnitude and moreover integration pinch Apple AR. These are each areas successful which I felt different furnishings stores were measurement behind.

And IKEA has immoderate incredibly inexpensive options, which is awesome if you want to do immoderate modifications, because if you make immoderate mistakes, it is not the extremity of the world. The basal 2x2 Kallax is only 40 € successful black, and if you return it successful white, it is moreover cheaper astatine 30 €. One point I noticed is that they made the felt pads hexagonal alternatively of round. I presume this is because hexagons perfectly tile the plane, allowing them to prevention worldly and trim waste.

The Build Process

For materials, I sewage 2 Kallax 2x2 shelving units positive inserts pinch drawers and doors from IKEA, MDF boards trim to size and screws from the hardware store, and ornamental foil and rubber mats from Amazon.

As I mentioned above, my aged table was besides still successful the basement, truthful I wanted to usage the desktop arsenic a activity aboveground for the workbenches. The table was 160 cm × 80 cm, truthful my dada helped maine trim a 60 cm conception from each end, resulting successful 2 bully pieces of 80 cm × 60 cm and a scrap portion from the middle. The trim edges will beryllium placed against the wall, truthful they will not beryllium visible.

Cutting the desktop surface

First, we utilized my dad’s mini information saw, which did not activity that well, truthful we vanished the first trim by manus pinch a Japanese saw, which took astir 30 minutes. Exhausted, my dada searched for and recovered a caller (apparently sharper) leaf for the mini information saw, which worked a batch better, and the 2nd trim took only a mates of minutes. Power devices are really a game-changer.

I made immoderate drilling tests connected my aged unit, which will beryllium replaced pinch what we are making now. One point to support successful mind is that IKEA panels are mostly not solid, truthful if you want to drill into them, you cannot put arsenic overmuch load connected immoderate screws arsenic with, say, a portion of plywood. Indeed, if tightened excessively much, a screw tin break done 1 broadside of the panel. Testing this beforehand allowed maine to get it correct connected the last build.

Drilling tests

Next, I put immoderate self-adhesive ornamental (furniture) foil connected the edges of the MDF boards and measured, pre-drilled, and countersunk each the holes. I utilized a insubstantial template to quickly people each location and ever drilled done 2 matching pieces truthful the holes would align perfectly.

For the apical part, I besides utilized the corresponding MDF portion to transportation the holes into the tabletop and pre-drill location arsenic well.

I besides sewage immoderate 3 mm rubber sheets, which I trim to size utilizing the MDF boards arsenic templates (basically, the much templates you tin usage and the little you person to measure, the amended — foreshadowing). I did not pre-drill the rubber sheets. The thought is for the rubber sheets to sorb immoderate vibrations, arsenic I scheme to spot my 3D printer and pen plotter connected top.

One annoying point was that I sewage the screws from the loose hardware conception alternatively of buying boxes, and immoderate of them required otherwise sized bits, though the screws were different identical.

Different screws from the aforesaid bin

Final assembly past happened upside down. I placed the desktop board, 1 rubber sheet, 1 MDF board, different rubber sheet, and past the Kallax shelving unit. After I screwed these layers together, I screwed different MDF committee straight to the bottommost of the Kallax. After each the pre-drilling, the assembly went very quickly and smoothly and was the astir nosy portion of the build.

Previously, I utilized a loose MDF committee connected apical of the aged Kallax unit, but really screwing the tabletop to the guidelines makes a elephantine quality successful really unchangeable everything feels.

State truthful far

One discuss is that while the desktop is 60 cm deep, the Kallax portion is still only 39 cm deep, truthful immoderate retention abstraction is lost. On the different hand, I placed the Kallax person to the beforehand separator of the desktop, truthful thing successful the unfastened shelves tin benignant of overhang a spot astatine the back.

I besides had these 2 MDF boards, which I had already utilized arsenic shelves successful the erstwhile unit. My original scheme was to instal much shelves successful the caller units, truthful I ordered much MDF boards pinch the aforesaid dimensions from the hardware store, but whoever trim these astatine 8 a.m. apparently did not person their greeting java yet, because they were 355 mm wide alternatively of 335 mm (and they had the incorrect thickness), truthful they did not fit. Unfortunately, I only noticed overmuch later, erstwhile I had built the remainder and tried a trial fit.

Anyway, that is why location are only the 2 boards that I already had. To make them a spot nicer and lucifer the caller colour strategy (black), I besides wrapped them pinch the deco foil.

Now for the horror: installing them. I had assumed that I had made the holes successful the MDF boards symmetrical, but that was not the lawsuit (I deliberation I had antecedently made the holes successful the support first and past made the holes successful the committee to fit). I past tried to measurement the pin locations, but I measured them incorrectly, truthful the support grounded to fit.

For the 2nd attempt, I inverted my clamps and utilized them to assistance the support to the nonstop tallness I wanted it at. Then, I could people the location of the holes without measuring anything. This worked great. I filled the incorrect holes pinch filler and will screen them pinch immoderate achromatic paint. Thankfully, they are hidden by the installed shelves anyway.

I emotion clamps

And by the magic of doing everything twice, I now person 2 fantabulous workbenches:

Final results

Cost Breakdown

Here is an approximate costs breakdown for 1 unit:

This was decidedly very budget-friendly, though I person not included immoderate costs for the desktop, arsenic I would person taken it for recycling if not for this task (I asked 80 € connected eBay, and nary 1 wanted to bargain it).

Conclusion

I americium ace happy pinch really this task turned out. I noticed a mini magnitude of lateral vibration aliases wobble if you push it around, truthful adjacent time, I would deliberation astir really to reenforce this axis a bit. It is not an issue, however, and it does not hap erstwhile the portion is pushed against a wall. In each different way, it feels ace coagulated acknowledgment to the added weight. Especially screwing successful the desktop gives it a wholly different emotion compared to conscionable a loose committee sitting connected apical of a cabinet. I besides tested the aged unit, and a Kallax tin clasp my afloat assemblage weight erstwhile I beryllium connected apical without a problem, moreover though IKEA does not complaint it for this magnitude of weight.

My full scheme for the full project

Anyway, I deliberation it turned retired awesome and I americium happy to spot and usage it each time successful my office!