Martin Cooper

I was wandering through the “As-Is” section at IKEA and saw the discounted HEKTAR floor lamp.  I was inspired to pair nature with the simple industrial look of this lamp. Turned out to be a versatile piece that maintained its elegant form with added function. Especially if you are a plant parent.  Related: DIY Seed-starting shelves IKEA items used:  IKEA Hektar Floor Lamp With 3 Spot Lights Other materials: 3/4″ Conduit Hangers Grow lights 5-star knob with 1/4″ x 1″ stem 1″ x 8″ x 24″ hardwood plank  Wooden Trays (can be made or purchased on  WMBH etsy store )  Tools:  (only necessary if building trays) Phillips Screwdriver Cordless Drill Jigsaw 120 Grit Sandpaper 3 tier plant stand instructions: Step 1: Building the Wooden Trays   Measure and trace three circles on your plank of wood.  Cut out the circular trays with a jigsaw. Sand the edges to get to a perfect round shape. Alternat...

I needed new nightstand and all of the linen-wrapped nightstands I saw online were all much more expensive than I wanted to spend.   Related: Fabric wrapped IKEA RAST chest of drawers IKEA items used:  LACK side table x2 Photo: IKEA.com Other materials and tools:  2×2 @8ft 1×5 @6ft 1×3 @6ft Miter saw Circular saw Drill Wood shims Wood glue Kreg jig and Kreg screws Ring pull hardware Joint compound Textured wallpaper 3″ wood screws Drawer slides Brad nailer Brad nails 2′ metal ruler Speed square Mini level 2’x2′ plywood at 1/4″ thick Sandpaper block Linen-wrapped nightstand instructions:  Fill hollow legs: One of the big problems with trying to use LACK tables is that the legs are hollow. So in order to use them to build anything, you need to fill them with wood.   1. Cut off a few inches from bottoms of LACK table legs until hollow cavity is exposed. Make sure all legs are same length. 2...

I had two old LACK tables that were left over from a house remodelling.  Both the IKEA LACK tables took a couple of hours to upcycle. The comics were a free gift from the thrift shop and the Mod Podge cost 8 dollars.   The tiles and grout were left from a bathroom makeover but had a value of 20 dollars.  The thing I like most about the hack is the personalization. The tiles make the LACK look beautiful and different, completely change up the table. The comics upcycle was great because it can be done as a project with your kiddos.  IKEA item and materials: White LACK table Grout Glue Mosaic tiles Comics Mod Podge Hairpin legs Upcycle with tiles Place the tiles to the table with glue. These small mosaic tiles fit really well with the LACK size. Add the grouting to the surface and make sure it goes into all the spaces between the tiles. Then wash the grout left on the surface away.  The hardest part about this hack w...

Hidden storage in the kitchen island for, not one, but two foldable tables. We built the house and used IKEA cabinets in the entire house — kitchen, baths, laundry.  We liked that we could install them ourselves. Because we have an open format kitchen, we have no formal dining room. So, we decided to make hidden storage in the kitchen island to store two 5-foot tables to use when we have large number of guests. This whole kitchen is IKEA kitchen cabinets . For the island, we used metal brackets to extend the island for seating and cover up the box with IKEA cover panels. We used a small piano hinge for the door to the hidden storage area. Once the cabinets for the kitchen island were installed, it didn’t take long to build the “hidden storage area”.  It was really pretty simple. FINISHED KITCHEN THE DESIGN This is a typical Island made from IKEA kitchen base cabinets .  The Hide-A-Way is added along the back of the base cabinets. We used metal brackets ...