A lot of people love IKEA, others hate the store and everything they offer. I’m one that really likes IKEA furniture, but I have come across some lower quality stuff before. I would ooh and aah over something in their catalog, only to find the in-store sample to be flimsy or otherwise disappointing.
I do not visit IKEA lightly, at least not if I haven’t been there in a while. Yup, I’m one of those people that can spend a couple of hours walking through the maze of room and furniture displays.
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Sometimes I’m looking right at the furniture, other times I’m taking pictures of things I could adapt into DIY or woodworking projects. A tabletop organizer, for example, with curved sides and 2 shelves. I can relatively easily modify the design a little bit to better suit my needs. A couple of cuts in some plywood, and I’ll have one built.
Even if you don’t want to base an entire project off of IKEA furniture, you might find some design features to incorporate into your next project.
IKEA designers are very talented and optimize the heck out of everything they design. They have to, given the sheer number of units IKEA manufacturers. How long do you think designers spent on IKEA’s ALEX rolling drawer cabinet? How much work went into tweaking the size and shape of the drawer handle opening?
So why not take advantage of their work and incorporate a feature or two into your own furniture or accessory project designs?
Your source of inspiration doesn’t have to be IKEA, but IKEA builds each product in enormous worldwide quantities, and they’re not quick to discontinue anything. When they come out with a new piece of furniture, or furniture accessory such as a desktop organizer, you can bet that a lot of time and energy went into making sure the design is just right. What other furniture store comes close?
Do you have any other sources for woodworking or other DIY project inspiration, aside from typical sources such as magazines and forums?
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But it's me!
Agree 100% about IKEA. When I lived on the coast and had local access to IKEA, it was one of the best for inspiration. Love most of their items, but agree that plenty of it is flimsy, particleboard, easily racked stuff. But inspiration-wise, I can spend too much time wandering through the store. After years of having to schlep stuff from trips to visit family, we are supposed to be getting an IKEA in our area (Memphis) in 2016. So looking forward to it!
Andy from Workshopshed
There’s a whole website dedicated to modified Ikea projects called Ikea Hackers http://www.ikeahackers.net/
Tom
Check out this company that makes custom cabinet doors for Ikea boxes:
http://www.semihandmadedoors.com/
Really cool stuff.
Fazal Majid
I have that cabinet, to store 13×19 photo printer paper. It’s clearly inspired by architects’ blueprint cabinets, but those are frighteningly expensive (the cheapest one I saw, the Safco Facil, was almost $1000). The quality of the IKEA version is quite frankly mediocre (the bottom of the drawers tends to pop out if you put anything remotely heavy on it, and the slides are the opposite of smooth).
In India, they don’t have IKEA, but hawkers sell their catalogs in the streets of Mumbai nonetheless. People buy the catalog, then take it to their carpenter to have a copy made…
Fazal Majid
Come to think of it, a Craftsman 26-inch rolling tool cabinet would do the job as well and isn’t much more expensive. The finish might be a bit rough for an office setting, though, not sure about any sharp exposed edges.
Stuart
I’ve got 2 Alex’s (a little more on them here: https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/ikea-alex-6-drawer-cabinet/%3C/a%3E%29, and they’re completely different from a Craftsman cabinet.
The Alex has a smooth top, and is also more mobile than a rolling tool storage cabinet.
My Craftsman chest and cabinet do occasionally scratch me when I walk by – they’re not ideal for a close-quarters office settings.
While you could put papers down on top of a roller cabinet, it’s easier to do office-style work on the more solid top of the Alex.
Both of mine are in storage right now, but after an upcoming move they’re going to be moved back into my office space. I never used them for traditional office-related storage needs, but they held up well to holding some light tools, parts, misc. supplies, photo paper, and random other stuff.
schill
I’ve got two of the Alex cabinets that I use for printers. The drawers are good for 13×19 paper (as you describe) and the tops are large enough for printers that handle 13″ media.
Robert
Like you I use some of their furniture, some is great, others just average. A lot can be modified or copied too, I am doing more of that recently as my skills increase.
Michael
I got some good ideas at Lowes when I built my kitchen cabinets
John
I love going to Ikea for ideas but also for materials. I always check out the “as is lot” which I’ve really scored some amazing deals on. Like got a dresser that was $500 but as it was the display model was marked down to $99. They even gave it to me cheaper because the lock was broken. A little fiddling at home and I was able to fix it so it wasn’t even broken.
The good furniture they have are the solid pine stuff and like I said you can pick up some really good stuff in the lot that you’re going to end out refinishing / painting / hacking up anyway so its no big loss. I also highly encourage people to look at:
http://www.ikeahackers.net
which has even more ideas and uses for their stuff.
RX9
IKEA actually sells its own line of power and hand tools, named Fixa. While rather cheap, the quality and power of the tools tends to be lacking. What’s more, pretty much every model in their cordless line has an integrated-only battery configuration, which is a huge PITA.
For the price, Harbor Freight/HDX/Kobalt/Northern Tool is pretty much a superior option to the entire Fixa range. Fixa probably sells well despite this because it is aimed at people who apparently have never walked into an actual hardware store/home improvement center/tool shop in their lives.
That said, IKEA furniture itself is easy to assemble, lightweight and cheap. While I actually appreciate these aspects, every so often I have to make a modification to enhance the durability and/or functionality of a piece. Because the designs are rather simple, I don’t find myself inspired by much of what’s on offer there. In addition, if there is something nice, it’s often cheaper and quicker to buy the IKEA version and fix the defects rather than recreate it from the ground up.
One last point I’d like to make is that the term IKEA “hacking” seems to be nothing more than a trendy, dressed-up way of saying “carpentry”, kind of in the same way hip folks use the term “artisanal” rather than “homemade” or “handmade”.
woodwork.guide
IKEA furniture really awesome. I have experienced with some of other band furniture but those are not enough suitable for house and decoration . I want to make my kitchen cabinet with IKEA furniture. That is why i want to thank you for sharing your post.