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Oct 8 2015

ikea vittsjo hack

Posted by hayley
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When did the term “hack” morph from meaning something bad (someone breaking into your computer) into meaning to make something easier and/or more awesome? Life hacks, recipe hacks, cleaning hacks… Just one search on Pinterest for Ikea hack will reveal hundreds of ideas on ways to make inexpensive furniture look custom chic.

In the new mancave that I’m designing for Handsome, I have a very specific problem to solve that requires a very specific piece of furniture (more on that in another post). Having not found anything that would suit my predicament, I thought I’d try my hand at a hack.

Say hello to Ikea’s Vittsjö side table. Normally, this piece is a black metal frame with a clear glass top and dark laminate bottom shelf.

ikea lack hack | greyhouseharbor.com

That setup wasn’t going to solve my issue, so I hacked a new look.

I started by having the good people at Home Depot cut down a sheet of 1/2 plywood.

Here’s the cut specs:
1 piece (top) – 19 3/4″ x 20″
1 piece (bottom) – 19 3/4″ x 19 3/4″
1 piece (front) – 19 3/4″ x 19

On the bottom shelf (19 3/4″ x 19 3/4″), I used a jig saw to notch out 5/8″ into all four corners so that it would sit flush with the ledge support.

ikea vittsjo hack | greyhouseharbor.com

On the front piece (19 3/4″ x 19), Songbird and I drilled four recessed screw holes with the kreg jig along one of the long sides.

ikea vittsjo hack | greyhouseharbor.com

Apply a line of wood glue along one short edge of the top piece (19 3/4″ x 20″).

ikea vittsjo hack | greyhouseharbor.com

Turn the edge with glue to overlap the edge with the Kreg jig holes. Screw together and let dry.

ikea vittsjo hack | greyhouseharbor.com

ikea vittsjo hack | greyhouseharbor.com

Here you can see how the top piece overlaps the front piece a little better (screwed in from underneath). I wanted the table to have some character, so initially I taped out this retro design prior to staining.

ikea vittsjo hack | greyhouseharbor.com

Unfortunately, when I stained it (with Minwax Dark Walnut), the tape lines bled some.

ikea vittsjo hack | greyhouseharbor.com

So, I went back with a thin paint brush and white paint to crisp up the design.

ikea vittsjo hack | greyhouseharbor.com

After letting the stain and paint dry overnight, I coated all the wood with 3 coats of semi-gloss polyurethane for durability.

ikea vittsjo hack | greyhouseharbor.com

On the frame, there are 6 solid metal brackets that would normally support the glass top. I used a 3/8″ metal drill bit to make holes in them. When you drill, put an empty box below to catch all the tiny metal shavings – don’t want anyone stepping on those, ouch!

ikea vittsjo hack | greyhouseharbor.com

ikea vittsjo hack | greyhouseharbor.com

After the poly is dry, insert the bottom shelf first; it will stay in place without additional securing. Then align the top/front piece flush with the metal frame and screw in through the bracket holes underneath. You may want 2 people for this to keep it square while you attach it.

ikea vittsjo hack | greyhouseharbor.com

My very own Ikea hack! So proud. Just wait ’til I show you how genius it works in solving my design problem. More to come!
ikea vittsjo hack | greyhouseharbor.com

Tags: diy, furniture, ikea hack, mancave
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Oct 6 2015

a surprise for handsome

Posted by hayley
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This was our bonus room.

bonus room before greyhouseharbor.com

We used to have the craft table up here and the space served as our combined office/entertainment/catch-all room. At first it was nice to always be working/crafting/gaming together, but then it got crowded and seriously messy. (Photo from 2013)

bonus room before greyhouseharbor.com

It’s also where all our guests slept budget-style on a blow-up air mattress. Five star experience when you stayed with us!

bonus room before greyhouseharbor.com

The thing is, it’s an awesome space with 10′ tall ceilings and abundant sunlight. It just had been neglected and underutilized for far too long.

bonus room before greyhouseharbor.com

Not to mention,  I already stole the green desk for the studio downstairs; thus sabotaging Handsome’s work set up (if that’s what you want to call this labyrinth of electronics). Don’t even get me started on that hideous office chair.

bonus room before greyhouseharbor.com

Handsome and I are very different people when it comes to surprises.

I love them and he.
does.
not.

Which stinks because I equally enjoy planning/implementing a surprise and being surprised. But Handsome likes to be prepared, mentally and physically, for any given situation. So, I have adopted a sneaky compromise.

You see, when Handsome travels for weeks at a time or deploys for months on end, I have a distinct advantage in the surprise department. I don’t feel obligated to tell him about the “special projects” that I work on while he’s away. Then when he comes home, I get a little of that surprise factor and he’s usually so glad to be back that he doesn’t mind that I’ve kept fun secrets. Most of the time the big reveal is just stuff I’ve built or rearranged for the house. But in our pre-kid days, I even managed to purchase the actual skiboat that he learned to water-ski on as a child (and held true affection for) from a family friend and shipped it 800 miles to greet him!

I digress.

With the kids and I relocated to the new studio, it was high time our favorite guy get a space all his own. So I decided the bonus room would be my next target for a surprise makeover. The look I set out to achieve was “sophisticated mancave.” The new space had to function comfortably as his office, the guest room, family hang out and provide storage solutions for currently homeless decor and books.

Today I wanted to share a few of my inspiration photos (all courtesy of Pinterest, duh).

A masculine workspace was a must. I like the industrial look that’s all the rage right now, but I also didn’t want it feeling overly rustic.

bonus room inspiration greyhouseharbor.com

Both this room and the one below have grey walls, chunky crown molding, and a dropped detail molding. Definitely liked that. The muted palette and book display in this one are cool, but overall it’s too mid-century chic.

bonus room inspiration greyhouseharbor.com

Handsome doesn’t have trophy heads to mount, but I wanted to incorporate items that do reflect his interests and hobbies. A leather pull-out couch for overnight guests would be nice and a grey/brown color scheme to finish the look. This particular room is a little too gothic.

bonus room inspiration greyhouseharbor.com

Bookcases were key to getting all his books and mementos displayed in an orderly fashion; looked up several ideas for how to style all that stuff.

bonus room inspiration greyhouseharbor.com

I also wanted to camouflage the TV into an eclectic gallery wall similar to this, with a furniture piece below for additional storage.

bonus room inspiration greyhouseharbor.com

So I started with a blank slate: white walls, builder grade carpet, no moldings, basic window trim, and zero furniture. I couldn’t post any of this in real time (while Handsome was gone) because he reads the blog and would find out! But now that the room is finished and he is enjoying it very much, I’ll be sharing a few posts about how his new sophisticated mancave came together.

Just keep in mind that while the posts will only take a couple weeks to write, in reality it took me several months and a village of help to pull it together!

Tags: bonus room, mancave, our home
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I'm Hayley. Wife and mother by day, DIY enthusiast by night. Fueled by sweet tea and jelly beans, I own power tools and know how to use them. Consider yourself warned.

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