Materials: Nexus Yellow Brown cabinet cover panels; drill, jig or circular saw, tape measure
Description: This half bath in our 1950s house was utterly dull and style-less. I was going to redo it with conventional painted drywall but then I got the brilliant idea of paneling it with the 3x8 Nexus Yellow-Brown kitchen cabinet cover panels that I'd scored in the AS IS department of IKEA awhile back for $10 each!
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We had five panels, which sounds like a lot but it wasn't quite enough to do the whole room. So I decided to do half tile and half paneling, with a sill on which the panels could sit to give it a very finished look.
We had to build out the walls a bit and sheath the studs with cement backerboard for tiling. I did the tiling first (cheap 3x6 tile from Lowe's!), then we hung the panels. The room is 8' and we tiled up a little higher than 4' so that we'd have some wiggle room cutting the panels. All cut edges are in the corners, which weren't exactly plumb so we had to carefully mark each inside corner cut to get the right fit.
I recommend scoring each cut with a very sharp utility knife before sawing to minimize splintering.
Panels were screwed into place with finish screws and I filled the holes with wood filler and then actually cut tiny pieces of veneer and glued them over the filler. This was a bit fussy. If I had to do it again, I'd use the color hard wax filler sticks.
Last, I caulked the corner joints with a silicone caulk in a color to match the wood after carefully masking off each joint. I left the vertical joints in the middle of each long wall and above the doorway and window uncaulked since they were straight and had finished edges.
~ Kathy
Materials: IKEA EFFEKTIV
Description: The modularity of Ikea's office furniture makes it far more useful than the typical bathroom vanity cabinet. Cabinets and tops combined with Ikea Capita or Utby legs allow open shelf storage for out of sight but plugged in and ready to go hairdryers, curling irons,shavers etc.
~ Mark J. Marcinik, San Francisco, California
Materials: Bekvam
Description: Put off by outrageous prices for bathroom vanities and an awkward space to fill in my ensuite bathroom, I turned to Ikea Hackers for inspiration.
Not to be disappointed, Karen from SFO gave me the great idea to use the Bekvam butcher block as a base for my shaker style vanity with above counter sink.
The materials list and cost is as follows:
- The Bekvam cart: $59.99
- Cabinet door from as-is section at Ikea: $5
- 1 piece of 20" x 48" x 3/4" pine lumber from Home Depot: $11
- 2 hinges: $4
- I used left over paint and stain I had stored in my workshop for the finish.
So total cost for the vanity was 80 bucks. The sink and faucet ran me about $325 at a local bathroom supply liquidator. The manufacturer of the sink and faucet is called "Rubi".
In a nutshell I used the basic frame of the Beckvam for the counter top and legs. I disassembled the shelves that come with the bekvam and used the wood to create the detail on the sides where the lumber meets up with the bekvam structure. I did the same in the front face where the door meets bekvam. The result is a smoother transition from the existing structure to the add on components (lumber and door).
For the finish I used a very durable oil based melamine paint (2 coats). I stained the counter top and sealed it with 2 coats of varathane and buffed it with paste wax for added protection from the water.
~ Jeremy, Montreal, Canada
Materials: Lillangen, Bjorken,
Description:
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Both cabinets got ring pulls and a coat of turquoise paint on their fronts. I also used the Bjorken medicine cabinet, hanging it horizontally,and creating a solid front for it and painting and adding pulls to match the sink base.
You can see more about my hacks and bathroom renovation here on my blog.
~ christie
Materials: Rektangel vase
Description: The REKTANGEL vases are used as glassblocks in the design of a distinctive loft located on the first floor of a historic warehouse and monument on the Brouwersgracht in the center of Amsterdam. The apartment is designed by Marloes van Heteren of SOLUZ and Remco Wilcke of CUBE architecten.
In the architecture a contrast has been sought between preserving the historic beams and floors, and minimalistic new additions. The new additions such as kitchen and bathroom would be clearly identifiable as such in terms of materiality and form. Letting in daylight and transparency was also very important in the design of the open floor plan.
The bathroom is the central element in the house situated at the intersection of public and private. The rounded translucent bathroom-wall consists of nearly 1,000 very special glass blocks; IKEA rektangel vases. The vases are painted white inside and arranged together with strong transparent glue. The use of two different sizes creates a very nice pattern. During the day the sunlight gets in the bathroom an at night the bathroom wall acts as a subtle light-object in the apartment.
See more of the Rektangel glass wall.
~ Marloes van Heteren (SOLUZ architecture, design and advice), Amsterdam
Materials: Billy, Billy Morebo, LILLANGEN, Capita, ANNO STRA
Description:
We have a very small bathroom (barely 4,5 square meters) and where sick of looking at the old plastic-and-glass thing that held our towels. So we went out to Ikea to get some ideas.
First we introduced a new carpet matching the tiling. Than we looked for a replacement for the ugly glass rack. The space is really tight and has the connectors for a washing machine in the middle, we needed some way around that.
We settled for a 40x106cm Billy shelf with a Billy Morebo door to keep out the dust.
We found two Lillangen top opening wall cabinets that would fit neatly over the door, so we bought them as well.
We have a big rattan clothes basket and wanted to make the door look in the kind of same look. The Anno Stra curtain was the closest thing we could find, so we fitted it inside the Morebo door.
To get some more space that would be accessible from the bathtub we mounted 4 Capita legs up the Billy shelf and glued a glass plate from the old rack on top.
So here are the results. We are really happy this turned out, our small bath has suddenly a lot of space.
~ Tarwin, Munich, Germany
Materials: Bygel Rail, Blanken Shower Shelf, Bygel metal "S" hooks
Description: Not really a hack, more of a Hackea, I used to have one of those cool shelves in the corner of my shower on an extension pole. But it was getting rusty. Leaving rust on the soap. Not wanting to replace it with something that would rust out again in 5-6 years, I started searching for a replacement. I found this corner shelf at Ikea, but had no idea how to hang it. I tried hanging it with those 3M Command hooks
, but the weight was too much when the shelf was loaded. Then I thought about the Bygel rail system at Ikea. I use it in my other bathroom. But they don't make a Bygel to go around corners. But not deterred, I bought one rail, bent it 45 degrees around a pipe, and hung it on the wall above the fibreglass wall of my tub/shower. Add a couple of "S" hooks, problem solved!
~ Rob, Burien (Seattle), WA, USA
Materials: LACK, Kee Klamp fittings
Description: Floating bathroom shelves from Kee Klamp
fittings and Lack shelves. Kee Klamp fittings look like a great alternative to Stolmen posts, especially if you don't want post that go all the way to the ceiling. 
See more of the floating bathroom shelves.
~ Chris Pollock, Rochester, NY
Materials: Edland
Description: I used an Edland Chest of 2 drawers
~ Ferdy, Brescia, Italy
Materials: Edland bedside table, sink, plumbing
Description: We have a bedroom and a bath in the same space. We wanted to make the most of a small space and stay within our tiny budget. I felt in love with Ikea Edland bedside table and find it just perfect for a boudoir-feel bathroom.I put 2 coats of clear satin waterproof stain on it to avoid water cased damage.
We cut a hole on the top of it,and put the sink on, attached a drain pipe, and had a plumber install the faucets. Voila!
See more of the Edland sink.
~ Kata alias Joie Vivre, Budapest, Hungary
Materials: Vika glasholm (2X) glass clamp fittings for wall/floor
Description: So here's the problem, bathroom shower cabins are expensive (very expensive)
And most of the time too small for my taste, so i went looking for a walk in shower system only to discover these were ABSURDLY expensive.
So the next best idea was to make something myself and just go DIY.
When searching for hardened glass i stumbled upon the Vika Glasholm desks.
These puppies are 10mm thick (compared to the standard 6 or 8 mm for pre- or custom built showers, and they can carry 50Kg according to Ikea.
So then I got online to search for some glass clamps and I found some cheap too (not an easy task).
Put 1 and 1 together and voila there you have it, one big shower.
For this hack people might want to use the simple frosted glass version but we liked this one just a bit more.
In my opinion not REALLY a hack but just used in a different fashion.
~ Rubin, Eindhoven
Materials: Blanda Blank
Description: When my husband and I remodeled our bathroom a few years ago, we wanted to make the most of a small space and stay within our tiny budget. He found an old drinking fountain assembly at a salvage shop, and thought we could retrofit it to accommodate a larger bowl of some sort. Voila, the 14" IKEA Blanda Blank serving bowl.
He drilled out the bottom of the bowl, mounted it to the drinking fountain wall bracket, added some necessary plumbing and we were in business. After four years it's still as good as new!
~ Pernille
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Happy New Year and from the bottom of my heart, thank you for being a part of Ikea Hacker. It's been a great year filled with some wonderful hacks. My annual list of favourites will be out soon and you'll be able to vote for the Hack of the Year. But ... I am open to nominations, so, if you have a favourite which you want to see on the list, let me know in the comments below. ~ Jules
Materials: Jokkmokk
Description: We took my old Jokkmook table and used it as the vanity in our new bathroom. The table was about 6 years old. We sold off the old chair and cut the table so it would fit in the angled corner. The sink is from Overstock.com.
Here's a link to the installation.
~ Catherine
Materials: Enje roller blind, hacksaw, scissors, acrylic paint
Description: Washroom windows are always a challenge. We wanted some privacy, of course, but I love natural light and did not want to cover up the window with opaque curtains or blinds. So we bought a white IKEA Enje roller blind. Enje roller blinds are great because they provide privacy but still let in a ton of light.
Our project involved a two-part hack. First, we had to cut the roller blind as it was a bit too wide for the window. We measured the inside dimensions of our window frame as the blind mounts inside the frame. We then removed the fabric from the roll and cut it to the right width. We drew a faint pencil line along the fabric and carefully cut along the line with a pair of sharp scissors. We then used a hacksaw to cut the metal rod that the curtain rolls onto as well as the metal piece at the bottom of the curtain. The rod is easily removed from the hanging hardware and the metal piece at the bottom of the blind has removable little caps on the ends, so even if your cuts are a bit rough it won't be noticeable.
After we hung up the blind, we thought it looked a bit plain, so I decided to decorate it with some paint. I drew a tree design with pencil and filled it in with brown acrylic paint. The paint took to the fabric really well. We still get lots of natural light during the day and it looks great at night too.
See more of the nature inspired roller blind.
~ Steph @ BirdHouse Family, Canada