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Top 10 IKEA hacks of 2020 and a few crowd favourites

Out of hundreds of submissions in 2020, I pick 10 of the most interesting, surprising and beautiful IKEA hacks.

2020 ranks as one of the strangest years in my 50-odd years. The pandemic brought the world together in a most tragic way and showed us that we’re more similar that we thought.

It is also a year where home took center stage. Creating a home that supported our lives and livelihood was more important than ever.

Many took to cooking, crafting, musical instruments and, not forgetting, IKEA hacking, for the first time in their lives. And found joy in these simple things.

For that, I’m thankful. That, in spite of everything, we kept creating and growing as individuals, families and communities. No virus will ever beat that.

2020 is wrapping up in a few days. Let’s look forward to 2021 and keep hacking.

Best IKEA hacks of 2020

Looking through all entries these year was fun and it reflected the times we lived in. We saw a lot of stay-at-home related hacks, even one for daytime napping. And yes, a bumper year for workstation hacks. So let’s start off with this genius one.

#1 Fold out home office desk in a PAX
Top 10 IKEA hacks of 2020 - fold out desk

Marc and his wife did not want a permanent work desk in the bedroom. They didn’t have a spare room but they have a PAX wardrobe and they were willing to sacrifice one drawer for a desk. And so they did.

#2 Keyboard stand that looks like a piano
Top 10 IKEA hacks of 2020 - keyboard stand

With just a few IKEA materials, Neil made a keyboard stand that looks like a piano. It looks miles better than the double X foldable stand. Read more.

#3 Gorgeous walk-through closet
Top 10 IKEA hacks of 2020 - walk through closet

A stunning green walk-through closet with the clever use of shorter 79″ doors on the taller 92″ PAX frames. This allowed for KOMPLEMENT drawers at the bottom and moulding at the top. The result? Classy. See the hack.

#4 Glam HEMNES dresser hack
Top 10 IKEA hacks of 2020 - hemnes glam

Erika didn’t even need a power saw to cut all those dowels. Not hard to do. But makes a big impact. See the tutorial.

#5 Craft desk organizer
Top 10 IKEA hacks of 2020 - craft organizer

This is one of the smartest transformation of the SKÅDIS pegboard. Katie fastened four pegboards on a plant stand and turned the pegboards into a movable organizer. Brilliant for craft supplies. See the tutorial.

#6 A BILLY room for the home office

Working from home is becoming a reality for more and more people. But not everyone has the luxury of a dedicated home office. In Carolina’s case, they carved out a spot in their living room with BILLY bookshelves to fit in a home office.

#7 Cheap plastic to rustic farmhouse
stig farmhouse barstool

This was one of the most surprising transformations of the year. Ana swapped out the cheap looking plastic seats on the STIG barstool for real wood and farmhouse style metal braces. See more.

#8 Full service dining room bar
dining room bar

Andie and Pat love to entertain and have gatherings both large and small, which inevitably ended up in the dining room. So, they wanted a full service bar to round up their entertaining. Combining two BRUSALI cabinets they made their wish come true. Read more.

#9 The expanded 2014 Secretary Desk
expanded ikea ps 2014 secretary

Charles always loved the look of the IKEA PS 2014 Secretary desk but he needed it to work harder to meet all his requirements. After some hacking, it now fits a large screen, a tablet, speakers and has a dock for his laptop. See it here.

#10 Super useful hallway unit
KALLAX hallway unit

Tony recombined 2 KALLAX units to make this tall handy version for his hallway. This has totally changed how he views furniture now. And that’s the genius of IKEA hacking. See it here.

Crowd favourites

It’s always hard to whittle a whole year’s worth of hacks down to 10. I love these too and so did IKEAhackers’ readers.

Hugo’s built-in closet under sloped ceiling
built in closet sloped ceiling

Took many hours and much precision to get the PAX closets and REINVSVOLL doors to fit beautifully under the sloped ceiling. See it here.

Yves’ KALLAX bench seating
kallax bench seating with plug points

Yves wanted a built-in bench seating to save space and to add cosiness to the kitchen. And he wanted powerplugs in there to power up the laptop when the dining table needed to be a work table. See the tutorial.

MO_USE’s unlikely light source
sauce bottle to lamp

Probably not a hack that will be reproduced by anyone, anytime soon, but I like how a damaged sauce bottle was redeemed and given a new purpose. Shine on, little one.

And with that I’ll take my leave for 2020 and I’ll be back in January with more IKEA hacks.

Till then, which are your favourite IKEA hacks of 2020? Did they make the list? Let us know in the comments below.

Happy Holidays to you and yours,

Jules

The post Top 10 IKEA hacks of 2020 and a few crowd favourites appeared first on IKEA Hackers.

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