Looking for Ideas to Reuse Old Items? Check out IKEA Hackers

Published: October 07, 2011
By: Lisa Kaplan Gordon
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We love it when we find a site that helps us find ways to reuse old items, and IKEA Hackers fits the bill with creative solutions.

IKEA groupies – fans of the world’s largest furniture retailer — can’t bear to part with anything they’ve assembled themselves. So they’re sharing their repurposing ideas on IKEAHackers.net, a site that encourages recycling and reusing — values close to HouseLogic hearts.

“This site is really about a community of crazy IKEA fans,” the site says. “We hack, personalize, repurpose IKEA products into the very thing we want.”

For instance, one IKEA-ite turned a shelving unit on it side to create a low play table for her 2-year-old twins (lots of storage underneath). When the kids got a little bigger and wanted a train table, Mom screwed on four coasters to raise the table and make it portable.

“When they are done playing, we simply roll it back against the wall to have more space,” the mom says.

Another IKEA hacker made a colorful coat rack by screwing Bastis “dog butt” hooks onto an unpainted, soft wood shelf.

“I picked red, green and black to give it kind of an African/Jamaican theme, “ hacker Nick says. “The assembly is really simple, just a few screws and that’s it.”

What have you repurposed lately?

Lisa Kaplan Gordon

is a HouseLogic contributor and builder of luxury homes in McLean, Va. She’s been a Homes editor for Gannett News Service and has reviewed home improvement products for AOL.