Ikea happenings

http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2008...happenings.html

Hey, hey, how's your Monday? Thought I'll kick the week off with some news.

Ikeafans has a new look!
If you noticed the tabs at your top right hand corner, you would have found the IKEAhacker forum, which is hosted on IKEAFANS, the fantastic site run by Susan Martin and gang. They recently relaunched their website with a cool new look! It's more functional now and easier to find the info you need. The forums, the heartbeat of the site (and treasure trove of Ikea information) continue to grow, now with over 75,000 members and all the stuff you could possibly need to know about Ikea. Don't miss the galleries and its whopping 11,000 photos!

Bemz has slipcovers to be won!
We ran a contest with Bemz a year ago and if you did not manage to win then, here is your chance again. The Swedish company that breathes new life into IKEA sofas and chairs have launched the "My Home, My Way" contest at the Bemz blog, It's a Cover-Up.

The entries so far have been pretty good. But if you think your sofa is the one to beat them all, do hurry up and snap a fab photo and send it in. You could win a 5000 Swedish Crown* shopping spree at Bemz. (*5000 Swedish Crowns (or SEK) is approximately equivalent to €500 / £400 / US$700 / CND$800.)

I'm one of the judges too. :) Here's how to take part.

Ho ho holidays at Ikea

http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2008...ys-at-ikea.html

I've always thought Ikea carries some of the most interesting holiday decor and items. This year, they deliver yet again. I've just had a quick browse of their holiday catalogue and it looks fabulous. Whether you want the ice maiden crisp white winter look or warm and cozy tingly feeling, they are all there.

Here are some I like.

And this last one that looks pretty much like one of our previous hacks. ;P

Browse Ikea's winter collection.

The art of cooking utensils

http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2008...g-utensils.html

Michelle gives her laddle, skimmer and spatula the love they deserve by framing them in a Ribba shadow box. I love the idea - it's a fab way to show off your cooking utensils when not in use, rather than stashing them in the drawer or cramming them in an Ordning. Well, provided they are all shiny with no crusty burnt marks on them, er, like mine.

She says, "I recently moved into a new condo that has a tiny kitchen with extreme lack of counter space. I used to store cooking utensils (laddle, skimmer, spatula, etc) in the Ikea Ordning. But unfortunately, there isn't anymore room for it on my counter so I thought of a way to hang the utensils instead.

I used a Ribba shadow box with the Lansa black door handle. I had to change some the hardware (shorter screwn, washers, and botls) for the Lansa in order for it to securely fasten onto the board of the Ribba shadow box. I also painted the board that came with the shadow box the same color of the wall (light grey).

Below my utensil holder, I've also used the Kroken magnetic knife rack for my spices. The containers for the spices came from Canadian Tire.

This solution has been a big help in kitchen. Hopefully it'll help a lot of other people who have little to no counter space."

See more of Michelle's arty cooking utensil holder.

Complete your spa bathroom with a wooden shower mat

http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2008...ith-wooden.html

A little while ago we had this Platta flooring for the bathroom. So hey, why not use it as a shower mat to complete the spa look? That's what Eleazar did.

He's been having it for a few months now and it seems to be holding up. Before you try this you should be aware that the Platta deck has tannic acid which may leak out and stain the floor and grouting.


See more of Eleazar's Platta wooden shower mat.

Nick's butcher block work top

http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2008...k-work-top.html

Nick, an automotive technician in Wilton CT USA, was looking for a work surface top for his toolbox. Shopping around, he found a stainless steel one for almost $800, a butcher block one for about $500. For $129 he bought a Numerar countertop at Ikea and only had to cut it for depth. And now he has a butcher block work surface.

Make a slim and sexy entry way table

http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2008...-way-table.html

I'm loving what Monica did with a Lack wall shelf and Vika Fintorp legs - an absolutely gorgeous entry way table.

She ways, "My husband and I needed an entry way table (a landing strip by Apartment Therapy terms) and didn't have much more than 10, maybe 11, inches of depth to work with which made things tough and hard to find a good white console table. We're in the process of re-doing our entry way and going to wallpaper but came up with a really clever way to construct our own entry way table using a Lack shelf ($14.99) and two of the taller Vika Fintorp legs ($10 each).

Probably not a lot of instructions needed on this one, we attached the legs first, then installed the shelf with legs using the Lack mounting bar. One clever trick we found was to figure out the correct placement with the legs and slowly lean the table back, load a sharpie in each of the holes on the back of the Lack shelf and it marked the correct spot to hang the mounting bar."

Stark hall unit as a room divider

http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2008...om-divider.html

Galloni Michele from Italy modifies a Stark hall unit to serve as a landing strip divider.


Galloni says, "I modified it by adding an aluminum frame (1.5 x 3 mm) around the unit. The two legs are connected to the bottom via bolts before mounting the legs in place. The frame is connected to the Stark by wood screws, except for the left side, for which I used silicone. The hacked Stark is mounted to the wall by drilling on the right beam three holes shaped like an inverted V and hanging it to three wall screw. For safety reasons I have added an additional support screwed to the wall on top."