EFFEKTIV standing desk

Materials: EFFEKTIV filing cabinet, wood boards, table legs

Description: The base of this hack is an EFFEKTIV filing cabinet with castors. I added some table legs and wooden boards to create a standing desk with a monitor support to get it up to eye height.

The height of the table legs depends on how tall you are. I used 30cm legs to get the desk board to a height of 126cm (I'm rather tall at 6'9") and 10cm legs for the monitor support.

The particular table legs I used have M10 screw threads at the bottom. I drilled a hole for each leg into the top of the EFFEKTIV and fixated the desk on the filing cabinet with hexagon bolts and washers. I did the same to fixate the monitor support on the desk board.

The two lights are JANSJÖ, the basket for the cables and power strip are no-name from the hardware store and Bluelounge CableDrops keep the MacBook's power and monitor cable from dropping off the desk when detached.

See more of the Effektiv standing desk.

~ Thomas Borowski, Germany

Bathroom business

Materials: IKEA EFFEKTIV

Description: The modularity of Ikea's office furniture makes it far more useful than the typical bathroom vanity cabinet. Cabinets and tops combined with Ikea Capita or Utby legs allow open shelf storage for out of sight but plugged in and ready to go hairdryers, curling irons,shavers etc.

~ Mark J. Marcinik, San Francisco, California

Flat LED lamp

Materials: EFFEKTIV door aluminium/glass No:901.094.54

Description:
* medium density fiberboard with white color on one side 40x80 cm
* LED Light chain approx. 3m, with white LED
* Hot-Glue Pistol
* small electric switch (it should fit into the frame of the door)
* two component epoxy glue

1) Cut out a hole for the switch. The lever should be on the outside, the body of the switch on the inside.

2) Fix the switch in the hole

3) Cut the cable of the light chain. About 1.5m away from the plug.

4) Fix the cable onto the switch, if you are not sure how to install the switch properly call your friendly electrician. Current is dangerous and should be handled careless.

5) Put the light chain on the fiberboard (white side) but leave a 5cm wide boarder

6) You can fix the led chain in every layout you want with your hot glue pistol.

7) Lay your door on to the fiberboard, the LEDs should take place between the the two parts.

8) Fix the door and the board with the two components glue together.

9) Drill two holes with 4mm even placed on the backside of the aluminium frame.

The holes are used to hang up the light just as a picture with frame

~ Peter Zeintl, Austria

Half-pint Effektiv holds computer and subwoofer for media desk

Materials: Effektiv cabinet, custom birch plywood table top

Description: Last year, we installed a large set of Effektiv cabinetry in the family room: shelving for games and books and drawers for videos and toys, etc. Two standard Effektiv wall cabinets across the middle created a 67" wide space for a desk, but Ikea has no good option for tables or desks 67" wide. So, we made a 67" wide birch-plywood "media desk" using this cut-down Effektiv cabinet for support. "Media desk" means that the cabinet contains and hides our media computer and the subwoofer part of the audio system. It also hides a large pile of cables, with the help of a Galant cable organizer.

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Pottery Barn inspired desk transformation

Materials: Effective Desk and wood file cabinets

Description: I was inspired by a desk set at Pottery Barn that I couldn't afford. I used my old (red/brown) Effective Desk and bought two solid oak file cabinets off craigslist for $75.

before

- I painted the Desk Top and the cabinets Benjamin Moore's Timid White
- I removed the Ikea legs and hardware from the desk and braced the back corner with some braces I fashioned from metal plates and $2 banister inserts from Home Depot. It is solid!
- The Desk Top just rests on the cabinets at either end.

I love how it turned out.

See more of the Effektiv desk transformation.

~ Nicole, BC, Canada

Back painted glass backsplash

Materials: Effektiv, Inreda

Description:
Our kitchen does not have a full splash and no matter how careful I am, I have spilled stuff all over the walls. I used to put a piece of cardboard paper around the stove everytime I cooked to protect the most affected area. We like the look of the trendy back painted glass backsplash but it is too expensive to have it custom made. We noticed that Ikea carries a lot of extra glass shelves for book cases and cabinets. All of these shelves are made of tempered glass; its resistance to high temperature and shock made it ideal for use in the kitchen area. The extra shelf of the Ikea “Effektiv” and “Inreda” series have a height of 14 inches so they fit well in between the granite and the cabinet.They are both priced at a steal of $10 a piece.

I googled the internet trying to find a paint that bonds well with glass. I found an outfit who sells glass primer paint online but you have to get it by a gallon and we only need a couple of ounces. We ended up buying from Michaels the Delta Permaenamel paint and Surface conditioner which is specially formulated for glass. We cleaned the surface really good, applied the Surface conditoner and painted it with two coats of Permaenamel. After the paint cured in ten days, we adhered the glass to the wall using a clear non corrosive silicone.

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