Ikea Lack Hack - Blog Hack by Daughter

Hi Everyone!! I have hacked my moms blog (with her permission of course!). I am her oldest daughter, also referred to as #1 and babygirl #1 and Elie. Being a teacher means having an awesome summer vacation full of..... NOTHING! no deadlines, no IEP's, no meetings, nothing but the sun, pool and a few...well 20 projects. I live in an apartment and have inherited many amazing Pottery Barn pieces from my parents. While I love adore am obsessed with Pottery Barn, our coffee table was just no longer practical. It was super heavy and I was constantly moving it to eat at, vacuum around, move out of the way when we had people over, you get the picture. I decided I wanted something more practical for us, yet refused to spend a ton of $$$ since it is only an apartment. I saw some pins on Pinterest where people had taken the cheap IKEA Lack coffee tables and had added wooden planks to the top. I loved the idea, however I wanted two tables that could be used as side tables or as a makeshift coffee table.

Finally, my sweet mommy and I made a trip to IKEA. I decided (with her help) on two white IKEA Lack side tables. Because we like to eat in front of the TV and the Lack tables are somewhat short, we agreed that adding casters would not only help with the height but with the ability to move them around. I already knew I wanted to add wood planks to the tops of the tables.

So I easily sold our beloved (very much worn) Pottery Barn coffee table and went to work on the new side tables. I have to say... this was a tough one when it came to the wood, dimensions and MATH (FYI I AM NOT A MATH PERSON). The new IKEA Lack side tables are 21 5/8 (square), not exactly easy to divide into even parts. After several hours days I finally figured out my math for the size of the planks.

I had some leftover pine and I also scored at my local Home Depot for pine boards at $0.69 a piece! Of course because I live in an apartment I am not fortunate enough to have space for all these cool power tools so I asked my dad if he could rip the boards for me. One hour, one afternoon, and dad had them all cut for me! My math calculation was a success (this is very rare!).

That night I stained the boards (pine is great for staining because it soaks up stain well and dries quick). The next day I bought some wood screws and went to town on bolting my planks to the tops on my tables. It took no time and I am beyond happy with how they turned out!!

Supplies:
Two IKEA Lack White Side Tables ($7.99)
Pine boards (I had some left over from another project)
Varathane Poly+Stain (Kona is the color I chose, it's my favorite!)
Wood Screws  #6 1 3/4" (can use wood glue or nails, I just believe the screws would hold better)

Dimensions of Boards:
The IKEA lack side tables are 21 5/8" square.

For one table you will need:
One 3 1/4" wide board
Four 4 9/16"  wide boards
The length on each board should be 21 5/8"

My dad used a table saw to make the cuts and it worked perfectly.

I am soo glad I chose to do this project, the tables are very practical and soo easy to move.

Check out my IG for more project updates @ ellieot

Thanks Mommy for letting me HACK your blog :)

XOXO Elie

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