apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I would never re-purpose my tools because you never know when you will need them. I keep mine in a plastic bag in my tool box. I use them periodically to tighten up my furniture if a piece starts to get loose over time. I also have some furniture that needs to be taken apart if I move because they won't fit through the doorway, so re-purposing is not an option.

I keep those types of things in a ziplock bag in my water heater closet with my other tools. I only have a couple, so it's not a big deal for me.

I have a toolbox I keep 'em in... since they're small and likely to get misplaced, I tend to keep multiples of the same sized ones. Better to have some spares than not being able to find one when needed to tighten/disassemble something. I do also have a set of drill/screwdriver attachments that have allen wrench bits in different sizes, so when I need to assemble multiple pieces I use those instead.

The wind chime idea kind of makes me laugh. I'm just imagining in a few weeks time : What do you do with your 25 Ikea-Tool wind chimes?

same here. I keep them in a little tool drawer that I have. Good thing that I kept them, 'cause when I moved an year ago, I had my friends unscrewed furnitures in half the time when I would'd spent otherwise.

Ikea does sell an army knife of sorts, it has all they're tools built into it.

I am terribly about putting these little allen wrenches away some place intelligent so I find that I lose them about as fast as I buy Ikea goods that include them. This beautiful equilibrium means that I never have more than one or two in my apartment.

Doesn't Ikea have a rack with random Ikea parts near the check out? I've picked up missing bits there before and I'd bet they have a slot for the allen wrenches. Drop your extras off there...

usually by the return desk there's a place for extra parts. or at least in the NY and NJ stores. I brought back all my extra parts once our remodel was done. no use in having all the little bits and pieces kicking around the house.

I tape them to the undersides or backs of furniture they came with. That way when I have to disassemble or tighten things I know where to look. It's important to note that they are different sizes so getting rid of those tools may not be a good idea. The tool that came with your book shelf may or may not fit the bolts and screws that are on your dresser.

i keep them all in a little drawer that i bought for the expedit bookcase of course. wish i thought of taping them to their associated furniture though. its a pain not knowing which goes with what when i move.

I was able to re-purpose one as a hook. I stuck it to my magnetic knife board, and now it provides a little hook for a measuring spoon that I use for my tea.

Ditto taping them to the furniture item it came with, in a zip lock bag with the instructions.

Tool box.

Although, after assembling 11 Expedit drawer inserts and 15 Billy units (with height extenders) I have more than a few of the same sized hex wrenches. Someday I will probably return a bunch of them to the store...

Is the windchime suggestion a joke? I'll have to see it to believe it.

I hated these little keys until I discovered an untapped use as a cord organizer. I have a vintage sideboard-turned-media-console that shows everything behind its little MCM legs. I took the lot of these I had and screwed them into the back of the cabinet, securing with a little caulk when needed. Then I draped the power cords over them. It's somewhat of a Macgyver approach, but it keeps cords off the floor and out of sight.

BTW, taping them to the actual furniture is clever! I never even considered that and always end up with the suckers stuffed into random drawers...

I put mine in a labeled baggie w/ instructions in my tool box. I like the idea of attaching it to the actual furniture better. Thanks for the idea.

Then there is the scraped up one that I kept beating on the garage floor when I had a frustrating IKEA moment. lol!

I keep mine in a compartment on top of my toolbox. But lately if I buy more than one of the same piece of furniture, I only keep any tools and instructions from one of them.

Keep them. I've occasionally managed to strip an allen key while trying to shift a particularly recalcitrant screw, so it's always good to have a spare. Plus they work with non-IKEA screws, which can make them extra handy.

Of course if it seems that you have too many IKEA allen keys, it may mean that you have too much IKEA furniture. Time to mix it up a little, people.

I too keep my Ikea tools -- they don't take up much space, I just throw them all into a small compartment of my toolbox and pull out the right one when needed. It's come in handy very often indeed.

All mine are the same size- all Leksvik items as far as I know use the same size. At the moment I've lost them all, but will come across them most likely when I move. Then I'll be sure to keep only one (or none as I have a bit for my screwdriver that fits) and bring the rest back to Ikea.

These things wouldn't work as tent stakes at all! If you've ever camped in a windstorm I don't need to elaborate. I've had to run after well secured tents, a light breeze would make these give out!

I taped mine to the actual instruction booklets, and have a drawer/bin just for instructions (for everything from clock radio to vaccuum cleaner to craft table to IKEA furniture). I also have one tacked on a bulletin board, just in case I need it fast/easy.

I find that IKEA stuff use standardized metric screws and stuff and when driving long screws in say an expidit, a cordless drill/screwdriver w/ clutch can come in very handy here. It does help to keep a set of metric allen wrenches as well as the SAE sizes in your tool box because you never know when you need to disassemble something or tighten stuff back up.

I keep them since I am not sure they are all the same size, you never know.

Mine are just in a drawer... I hate to throw them out and figure I might need them again some day.

http://thebluepearlgirl.blogspot.com

this made me laugh out loud when i clicked through because i do keep them all. i have a demi tasse crammed with them...

I just toss them in my toolbox in a section of various odds and ends (same with the few IKEA items that come with other tools). I'm pretty handy, so I frequently have friends asking me if I have such-and-such tool or piece of hardware, and it's nice to be able to tell them to just keep it.

The real question here is how many sizes of these tools are there? Ikea could note the size needed on the outside of the box and then sell the requisite size for each piece of furniture for $1.00 rather than including them That would encourage people to use the ones they have. $1.00 doesn't sound like a lot, but stores that charge $.25 for the use of their grocery carts tend to find the practice encourages people to return their carts for that $.25.