Today I am here to share an IKEA hack that I recently completed. I was working at Ida Red and really needed some more stylish hanging space for all of their cool, unique t-shirts. They had plenty of rolling racks (boring and not stylish) and they also had plenty of space for folded shirts. They were using a couple of Ikea’s Expedit bookcases to store the folded shirts. You know, the ones that look like this.
While it held a lot of shirts, the space often looked disheveled as people would sift through the shirts to find their size. So, I converted this folded shirt space into hanging shirt space.
I removed all the shelves on the inside of the bookcase leaving the thick outer “shell” in tact. I wanted to make sure the new rack was stable so I added (2) 2X12 boards towards the top and bottom of the piece. This also added shelf space and a beautiful wood tone to the piece. After that, Tim installed a galvanized pipe and the rack was ready to go!
Although most people don’t put much effort into their closets (because no one sees them), I think this would be a really beautiful rack to have even at home. Do you have a closet that looks like a space you actually want to hang out in? If so, I would love to see it!
that looks fantastic! i’ve been wondering if removing shelves from my expedit would upset the structural integrity, but… nope! i’d love to have that in my shop (if i ever get a shop!)
This would be great for renters or homeowners who need more closet space fast. If I were to try it I would put both shelves above the hanging bar so I don’t have to stoop down every time I want to grab a shirt. But shoes on the very bottom shelf, maybe some baskets on top… this would be great!
errr never imagine that the bookcase can be so cool.. and actually i have one at home with black color.. ermm start thinking.. (furthermore my solid wood closet has been destroy by termites recently… ) ermm very good idea..
Love the hack!
Ok, so my dressing room is FAR from complete and these photos suck but I love it just the same so I decided to share! My husband and I have separate offices and since I rarely (aka not once) used the office I decided to convert it into something more useful to me!
I love having my shoes out on display, I actually had them on shelves in the office before converting it to a dressing room!
http://domesticjenny.blogspot.com/2010/11/oooohhh-pretty-and-so-close-to-done.html
What would we do without IKEA? More specifically what would we do without hacking IKEA?
loves it. a great tweak on an ikea basic.. thanks for sharing!
Kara-
This is great! Makes me want to get off my rear and clean my closet!
Also, I wanted to pass the Versatile Blogger Award on to you! If you’d like to accept, you can visit my post for the award rules here: http://westermanfam.blogspot.com/2011/02/award.html
Congrats!
Shelley
This is a great idea! I may need to try this when my husband and I re-do our master closet….You could even skip buying the ikea shelf and just use a bunch of 1x8s, huh?