Creating a DVD wall with lighting

I love what Eric did with the Anno Stra panel curtains. Indeed a bright spark! Lights between the DVD towers, who would have thought of that?



Eric shares:



A CD or DVD wall with lights made of:

6 Benno DVD towers



3 Anno Stra Panel curtains

5 Grundtal Spotlights (2 sets needed)

2 panels 250cm x 25cm (98" x 9.8") for top and bottom

2.5m (8.2') round wood (from a broomstick)



I cut the panel curtains on the long side to get 2 curtains out of 1.

Each curtain is now 23cm (9") large. I fixed the Benno DVD tower on the 2 long panels with 24cm (9.4") space in between for the curtains.

The spots are installed on the bottom panel between the DVD towers. I glued a piece of round wood at both ends of the curtains and fixed one end at the top panel. The wood at the lower end acts as a counterweight to keep the curtains tight.

A trim Lack stereo shelf

This is a nice hi-fi set up from Christopher. Reminds me of how Dad use to stack his amps. Cool. I like.



He says, "I just finished my own Ikea hack, and I wanted to share.



I've got 2 Expedit shelves to hold my records and smaller items, but I wanted a coordinating shelf to hold my stereo. As we all know, the Lack system goes very well with Expedit. Unfortunately, my stereo components are just over 16" wide, and would look odd on the 37" wide shelves that come standard on the Lack bookcase. So here's my solution:



1. Buy a Lack bookcase. Using a slice of pizza, bribe your neighbor to help carry it inside. Unpack the box.



2. Measure and cut shelves to desired width. In this step, accuracy is of prime importance. If the shelves are not cut square or identical, your book case will not go together properly. I used a circular saw with a sharp blade. In this case, I cut the shelves exactly in half, but in theory, they could be whatever width you like.



3. Since the shelves are mostly air inside, there is nothing to screw into when you assemble the unit. So I used some blocks of maple cut to fit exactly inside the shelf. I mashed the cardboard in to make room for the wood blocks, and used Elmer's Ultimate glue to firmly attach the blocks inside the shelves. This step is important, as well, since this is what holds the left side of the bookcase to the right side of the bookcase. Cutting corners on this step will cause catastrophic shelf failure, and could lead to property damage and/or serious personal injury.

4. After the glue has dried, the parts are ready to assemble. Use appropriate size drill bits and drill holes in the wood blocks that match the original holes in the particleboard. Assemble the bookcase as originally intended.



5. Load it up with your stuff, knowing that nobody will ever know that you hacked it.



6. As a bonus hack, I used a part of an old bed and 2 leftover plates from a universal LCD TV mounting kit to make a bar across the back of the turntable area to attach the lights, since the Lack shelf is too thick for the clamps that hold the lights on.

Making an Effektiv TV stand

Sarah needed a TV unit in her bedroom and found the Effektiv wall cabs perfect for it.



She says, "My husband and I bought a Malm bedroom set, and needed something that would work as a TV stand since the bed is so low. We had really limited space (due to the layout of the room) and everything at Ikea is around 42" long. We ended up buying an Effektiv wall cabinet, added the doors with frosted glass, and some capita legs, which brought it up to the perfect height, and perfectly sized for our 32" flat screen!"

Spin it with some colour

A dash of colour adds some zing to the Expedit. Steve's Expedit vinyl station is definitely looking hot.



He says, "I've put this together over the last few weeks. It's an Expedit bookshelf that's modified for use as my turntable listening station. I ordered fire engine red contact vinyl from Ebay and covered the inner shelves (my skills from years of gripping skateboards came in handy). The lights are Ikea Dioders (I still have to clean up the wiring) and those are 6" Capita legs on the bottom. I'm pretty happy with it.



The only thing I'd do differently the next time around is to use automotive grade vinyl rather than contact paper vinyl. The heavy automotive vinyl is a little more difficult to cut but it'll hold up better over time and is available in many different colors.







See more of Steve's vinyl station on flickr.



Related hack:

- Hack a DJ console

***

Totally unrelated to Ikeahacking but I've just started a mini site where I post up things I find interesting, intriguing or catches my eye. It could be an item from a designer friend, stuff I pick up on my travels or at my local flea market. I won't be posting there regularly, only when I find something interesting that I offer to Ikeahacker readers at a good price. I'm very happy to post this first item which is a wall decal from a designer friend, whom I really want to support. Hop over for a peek.

Hack a DJ console

Pim Hansen builds his own DJ console from scratch, with the help of a few choice Ikea pieces.

He says, "After roaming Ikea for hackable pieces of furniture for my new DJ console I had to conclude building it from scratch (out of MDF) was the only option. I would have had to buy to much Ikea items (and spend double the money) to come to the same result. Conclusion after the build: I'm never going to paint MDF again.



I found a couple of useful Ikea items I did use though:

The Vika Curry table leg, which is only $5.00 a piece. I used a pair of them as (dirt cheap) speaker stands:

Circular holes were drilled in the top 'shelf', the Vika leg rests on the second shelf, it isn't fixed in any other way. This construction doesn't create any vibration (or feedback) from the speakers, it's simply a nice and cheap solution. And a couple of Lampans (not found on website) to complete the console:

The console was partly inspired by Djfurniture. When I have the space I'd like to copy a hoerboard or this console or save myself some money and hack an Expedit.



Click to see DJ Ikea console instructions.