IKEA's Lack table is a DIYer's perfect canvas for unbridled creativity. At just $10, it's easy to justify the expense. If the project doesn't work out, it's a minimal investment. And being constructed of hollow wood and paper, the Lack is easily customized. Check out 10 cool IKEA Lack hacks after the jump…
• With the simple addition of brass corners, Jenny at Pearl Street Interiors gave her Lacks a campaign style.
• As seen on IKEA Hackers, Caroline removed the top of her LACK and replaced with the a vintage suitcase. Now she has a table and storage.
• Monica from Crafty Nest used bamboo veneer to create a flower applique on her Lacks.
• What do you get when you take two Lacks in different colors and smoosh them together? You get Modern Nest's two-tone cube table!
• Kyle shared her Lack hack here on Apartment Therapy a couple years ago. She stacked two tables and added a butcher block top to create a kitchen island.
• Sherry and John at Young House Love added a tabletop from an old pedestal table to their Lack to create a game table.
• Via Instructables, this table was literally hacked apart. By cutting the top off the table, they were able to install a string of lights and a new frosted glass top to create a lighted table.
• Nicole at Sketch 42 used Mod Podge and Spra-Ment to attach marbled paper to her Lack.
• You don't have to be a kid to think that Angry Julie Monday's Lego table is totally awesome!
• MaryAnne showed off her Lack table turned ottoman over on ReNest.
Images: 1. The Falling Pixel; All others: As credited above.
Originally published 10.26.11 - JL
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Thank You so much for featuring my Lego Table Project. It was a fun and easy table that my son still loves playing with.
Those are all great! Love the suitcase and lego tables :)
Love these ideas...so creative.
This was one I did a while back for Shelterpop
http://www.shelterpop.com/2010/02/16/table-transformation-from-blah-to-blossoming/
The red kitchen island is sharp!
Amazed by such creativity on our little workhorse LACK!
Janice Simonsen/IKEA
wow i'm going to town and buying three. I see a bench in my future.
Weird timing - I just started painting my several-years old Lack tables this past weekend.
Big fan of #4 and #8.
Love the ottoman.
I had an idea to use some Lack tables to make quick/affordable outdoor balcony seating. Has anyone used them outside before?
I love Every. Single. One. of these. But mostly, I love the genius that Ikea basics bring out in people.
there's also this one from the little green notebook, dressed up with some simple brackets and painted: http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/2010/11/lack-hack.html
we've gone through a few lack tables over the years. i've thought about painting one in chalkboard paint--it'd be a great height for a kids table
Still fond of number 3.
Maybe IKEA should just be thought of as the "raw canvas" of furniture! It's almost DIFFICULT to leave IKEA stuff alone!
They're nice but not terribly sturdy. I wouldn't use them for seating or as a kitchen island. That's just an accident waiting to happen. Love number four though.
miss.lyndsey: oh totally! 4 and 8 are super cool!
Here's my recent fav Lack hack:
http://www.ikeahackers.net/2011/10/clayton-grey-inspired-nailhead-side.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%253A+Ikeahacker+%2528ikeahacker%2529
These are all cool, but I agree with PP that I would not recommend LACK to be used as seating. They are pretty flimsy, and I can't imagine them holding too much weight.
Love the marbelized paper one!
I had a couple of Lack tables many years ago now and I remember them as being very sturdy. Perhaps they have substituted less solid materials over the years to cut costs... ?
Gotta love #4.
juliaf: I was thinking the same thing, but for grownups. :)
As far as LACK sturdiness goes, I've stood on mine before and didn't notice any kind of wiggle. My biggest concern would be that the veneer of the top would collapse (it's just paper inside, after all), but if the top was covered or replaced with a solid piece of wood (like the awesome island in #5) I would expect it to be very sturdy.
Caveat: I'm a pretty tiny person. Sit at your own risk.
All of them are great. Even the table is IKEA bulks-furniture, it tempt people to be creative.
So a 5 Euro thing becomes something special.
I love them all! And thanks indeed for suggesting a way to conceal a chipped corner: I'll look for the little metal things tomorrow. I've already taken your advice about primer-primer-primer before painting and let dry A LONG TIME, and could do very good transforming jobs.
my favorite lack-hack is a clayton grey inspired hack
http://clementineandolive.blogspot.com/2011/09/best-damn-ikea-hack-ever.html
put a lack table-top on the bottom to create a cube, and outline table with nailheads...
These are great. I find most "IKEA Hacks" make cheap things look cheaper, but wow #4 is awesome!
i am so inspired!!!!!!!
what a great round-up! thank you for the inspiration.
@erinpearce - LOVE the hack. i want one now!
Actually they can hold quite a it of weight. I currently have a 300 lb slab of solid oak resting on 2 lack tables.
Love em all. Love red suitcase.
Great post! I have a few Lack side tables ... but I'm not sure I'd ever trust it to sit on (the ottoman)...
@Shannon Crabill
I'm sure they'll do for seating, but I think using them outdoors is a bad idea. They're particleboard, so a nick and moisture and it will swell up.
I loff ikea and ikea hacks.
ha ha! Perfect timing. I just hacked my lack, my daughter has a doll's house that she likes to play with on the floor, but the pieces tend to end up all over the floor and annoy me. So i grabbed an old, battered lack, pulled the legs off, put some caster wheels on it. It is now the base for my daughter's doll's house! Room for her outdoor doll's furniture and easy to move and vacuum under. Thinking of mod podg-ing some green fabric onto it to act as mock grass...
I like them all but I think #3 is my favourite; such a simple idea but so effective.
Love #4. Sadly, it looks as though the yellow has been discontinued.
There is a pretty decent chance that someday I'll have a lego-top LACK. That's great!
Love the versatility and creativity inspired by these ideas. My favorite is the Lego topped LACK. Awesome!
Don't see my personal fave from Danika & Cheryle llc - O'verlays: The Greek Key LACK Kit
http://www.myoverlays.com/BuyNow/ProductDetail/tabid/67/ProductID/4/Default.aspx
This site's products are amazing for turning IKEA into regency/mod fun....
Was just about to dispose of my old Lack coffee table, hmmmm now I have some few ideas.
The Lego table is genius.
I have had a bunch of Lacks, my rabbit cages are mounted on Lacks.
Since I have less rabbits than I used to, some of the Lacks got put outside, they do not weather well.
The covering on them is like Contact paper, and peels off from the sun and the rain.
They are so handy and lightweight that they are easy to move inside and out.
I have used a square side table for a long time as a small child table, perfect for projects and eating, with stools to pull up to sit.
I love Lacks! and have gotten a lot of milage out of them for very low cost.
I hacked the Lack console table. I think it's super cute. Hope you do, too: http://www.gardenkitchenhome.com/2011/10/ikea-hack-lack-table.html
@juliaf, a chalkboard Lack would be awesome!! I see a stack of Lacks in my near future...I've already sent the lego table project to my daughter's dad, and I'll probably smoosh a couple together for a coffee table (maybe temporary, maybe not).
Shannon Crabill: I bought a lack solely for outdoor use and I live in bipolar California, so after a few random rainshowers and sun exposure my Lack paint started peeling off and the wood was coming unglued. Within a few weeks the poor table collapsed on its own sorry self and met a tragic end. I think if you were to put it outdoors, I'd definitely seal it with something like epoxy or something.
I love the Lack table! I bought floating Lack shelves for our bedroom, and wanted matching floating nightstands. Sadly, Ikea doesn't make the size we need, so we cut the Lack table in half and mounted both halves to the wall. Voila- the floating nightstand!
Hysterical timing! I just posted this amazing LEGO HACK (from IkeaHacker) Though it hardly has any of the LACK left... still a stunner, no?
Great job, AngryJulieMonday - I totally love the LEGO Lack for kids.
I love these. I made two ottomans for my daughter's apartment. I added four inches of foam on top of each. First I covered with a heavy fabric, then used liquid nails to glue them to the top of the tables. We cut four inches off the legs, but since the legs were hollow, we added some rectangular pieces of wood inside the bottom of the fresh cuts for support.
I'm with Soozie: "love the genius that Ikea basics bring out in people."
Well done all!
it is refreshing to see a piece featured that is designed to hack, instead of a decent piece that falls into the wrong hands & the after is worse than the before. the comment about the dollhouse trolley also is useful.
Lipstick on a pig, alas, is still a pig.
No, you didn't "hack" the table, either. You bought junk and tried to disguise it. And then bragged about your, er, Lack of taste.
Such a great idea, gonna do that for my church in the nursery.
My niece did the job repurposing a Lack table for us when they were with us for the weekend. We had just bought it for the basement but hadn't assembled it yet. She couldn't quite reach the sink so she put the top down on the bathroom floor and used it as her "stool."
What happened in your life that made you so bitter?
I'm kinda tempted to try the ottoman one, it looks really nice.