Love them all!

I've been thinking about getting one of these for my living room- I have an awkward vertical space next to my tv stand (which is a rather traditional antique sideboard). The price is incredible and its a nice light change from the Expedit. I think tonight I'll measure out the space and see if one will work!

i can't seem to figure out how they took out the middle bar on the yellow one? anyone?

ccopp, they didn't. Those are NOT Vittsjo bookcases, but are representative of what you can do with them. They were originally posted here: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/diy-idea-brighten-up-ikea-shelves-better-homes-and-gardens-175637 and a number of users pointed out that those, while lovely, are not Vittsjo bookcases.

You can definitely achieve the same effect by spray painting the Vittsjo, though.

thanks Pi! I'll check that out. Loved the Vittsjo prices though ha

Love the bathroom one!~

The yellow is just divine. I have no space for this in my place...bummer.

When did paint become a hack?
“You keep using that word; I do not think it means what you think it means.”

Hahahaha. Good point. I am going to go look at the Ikea website now though....

Great post, thanks! I haven't even seen these before, and I live very near an Ikea!

OMG @ all the people commenting on the BHG page about "That's not an IKEA shelf in the picture!" or "How did you remove the support from the IKEA shelf?" I kind of want to line them all up and smack them silly, are people really too dumb to realize what "get the look" means?

Oh, adding the wood shelves a la Centsational Girl is soooo gooooood! I loooooove that one.

Painting is a "hack"? Really?

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these! I have an Expedit myself and have been so tired of it. I might just have to get these to replace it with and paint them a really cool color. Thanks!

Well, they also forgot what "apartment" means! I am just about over this site since they seem to feature houses an awful lot. I agree about "hack". Not mesmerized by folks who can use spray paint!

Well, fizzfizz, it may be that when one hears the word "hack" they often think of IKEA items being altered and that the photos featured are of the "hacked" item. Truthfully, when I clicked on the article, I immediately viewed the photos. It wasn't until I went back and read it that I realized the photos were not of the actual shelf but of the "potential" of the shelf. So, no, people aren't "too dumb" - judgmental much?

Regarding the 'is this a hack' comments, this is really hard to do! I painted my vitsjo desk and double shelves cream and trust me, it is not just a case of laying them out and giving them a lick of paint. Each individual pipe/element of the structure required sanding, priming (twice) and painting (twice!). I am so proud of them, they look awesome, but it was definitely a labour of love that took me a good week doing it a couple of hours a day at a time.

Love the shelves. But it's "its" not "it's" in the phrase "on its own... " Could be an auto-correct?

How much weight can the glass shelves bear?

Can anyone point me to these with indirect shelf lighting? Or spot lighting?

OK, first, seems to me that a "hack" can be any change to something that is no longer in the condition in which it was sold. There are easy hacks and complicated hacks, but making something look different should count. I probably wouldn't think to paint those shelves bright yellow, but i can see how they'd look great that way -- or, now that I'm thinking that way, maybe turquoise... Why have semantic battles here? How do they improve the conversation?

Second, about apartment decor vs house decor. Huh? I have lived in both. At the moment I am in a house. But most of the rooms are smallish and apartment-oriented decor is perfectly suitable. Also, many of the ideas people in houses have can be adapted nicely for apartments. I haven't seen any McMansions featured here with two story entries and things no apartment dweller anywhere could use. Lighten up! Good ideas can come from anywhere, and just because the spaces might be larger than yours doen't mean that particular wall color or storage idea won't inspire you in your tiny space.

Sheesh!

the yellow and the gold ones make sense to me

+ 1,000,000 on what you wrote. I've mentioned before on here that the comment section is full of the most opinionated folks who not only can't agree on what is criticism and what is outright nasty, but who tear apart posts with such indignation and self righteousness even over something as seemingly innocuous as one word ("hack" isn't this or that or...!).

AT can do as they please and we, as readers, can simply skip articles that don't resonate with us (I don't have a kid so I don't read the articles or view the tours about nurseries, but I don't brow beat the site for featuring them!) But the constant over-correcting and judging and snipping and snarling and tsk-tsking and grammar-policing is bizarre (although, it does have it's entertainment value).

(oops, I mean "its" entertainment value - see, I corrected myself, so no on needs to do it for me. Thanks!)

I have one of the skinny shelves and I believe it's 20 pounds per shelf. I have lots of books on mine, including big hardbacks, and it holds up just fine.

I agree, SherryBinNH. Also, just because a person is in a house vs. an apartment doesn't mean their space is any smaller. I've been in extremely large apartments and very small houses. It's not about the kind of space you have; it's how you use it. This site is about helping people get full potential from their space, no matter how big or small.

Thanks, Pi! My vice is books, too, augmented with paperweights. I'm thinking that some combo of spotlighting and uplighting might be an interesting way to highlight both glass collectibles, art AND books. Lots to consider, and these hacks are providing some great inspiration.

@ Mary E. I was talking about the comments on the page that this one links to, which never refers to a hack at all.

The manual for the Vittsjo is online so you can always double check to see the weight it can take. FYI, the bottom and very top shelf is solid, whereas the others are glass.

wow it looks great. Now I feel that I need to do something with my VITTSJÖ shelves. Someday...

The only one I'm really in love with is the yellow one. The bathroom idea is serviceable. The rest look cluttered. I generally dislike this kind of shelving because it seems the majority of people use to to stash a bunch of clutter they should just get rid of (picture one is case in point).

[I don't want to sideline this conversation, but I guess I already did, so I'll just continue on my merry way.]

A "hack" is to take something and make it something else. I don't care about the length of time it takes you to paint/wallpaper/wrap-in-string something. It's still the thing. If I decide I will only look at my dining chairs with red-tinted lenses, have I hacked my dining chairs?

I don't denigrate your effort, or deny the upgrade you may have made. It's great! I love people doing things for themselves instead of saying "I like this, but does anyone know where I can get it in blue?" DIY, FTW!

I am, however, tired everything being a "hack". Can we get a different word?

@ DuluthGirl

How about "re-style"? That seems to me a more appropriate word than "hack" for a paint or gold-leafing job. To me, something that's hacked should be completely re-purposed or almost unrecognizable when it's finished.

Right on, SherryBinNH. Seems to me communication is more important than the words or language needed to do it. Hack away!

I like Apartment Therapy and I enjoy reading the comments,but I also find the nit picky snarky ones to be pretty useless. The general censuses seems that those types might want to start their own damn blog instead of taking pot shots at other people's efforts.

I like the yellow ones, although myself, I am not into yellow at all. But they're so bright.
I haven't been to Ikea in ages so I have never seen these in real life, but I assume they are not attached to the wall at all? I would be worried that my dogs would run by and they (the units, not the dogs) would keel over.

The gold spray job is a nice touch but it's a shame that most gold paints that one can buy are such lousy quality and don't really look like gold.

Couldn't agree more, SherryBin NH. I do have a house, but at 720sf it's smaller than aprtments I see here, & I find lots of great stuff on this site--which is why I read it every day.

Actually all of these require to be screwed into the wall. You can even see the holes on some of them that are meant to be used for securing it to the wall but none are.

I don't know that it's a requirement. They're sturdy enough that you wouldn't need to unless you were worried.

Duluth girl -- I have to know! Was your quote: “You keep using that word; I do not think it means what you think it means.” from The Princess Bride?

G-r-r-reat inspiration! And I don't care what one chooses to call it *snort*. No longer a fan of glass shelving here (experience). Absolutely detest brass or gold *ick*. Find white too boring *sigh*. Never been a big fan of yellow, although I don't hate it. Butttt...omigoodness....#3 just sings! It brings that space ALIVE and is purrrfect there. Meow!

Now, am I likely to add a bright yellow etagere to my own space? Um...in a word, no. However, I am newly INSPIRED to put my own spin on it, minus any glass, of course. And that's what inspiration is all about, eh? Ideas....sharing creativity...something you might have not considered before. Yes!

Hack vs Re-style? A battle of semantics? Really? Harrumph. Get over yourselves, people. Life's too short. My first 15 yrs out of the nest were spent in teensy rented apts, the last 15, as a homeowner of 2000 sq ft. And I have YET to stumble upon a post here that was not helpful in some way. Even if it only served to eliminate one consideration as 'definitely not something I could live with'. And even those posts don't prevent me from enjoying the eye candy of others' creative efforts.

I often see posts here which I would describe as *a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't wanna live there*. They ALL make me smile. One in particular comes to mind...it's this adorable teeny lil green kitchen with black & white tile. Could I live with it? No. But I would kill for an invitation for tea just so I could enjoy my surroundings for a short while. ahhhh, pure bliss.

KyWoman said it best: "The general censuses seems that those types might want to start their own damn blog instead of taking pot shots at other people's efforts."

Disrespectul & hateful posts are a bit like aggressive drivers on the road, in that the internet provides a measure of anonymity. Once you stand toe-to-toe with the driver, ou discover one of two things...insecurity....or a passive/agressive personality. selah

IKEA Hack has become a term used by bloggers for quite some time.... Originally the term was coined at www.ikeahackers.net blog... There are now countless websites dedicated to "IKEA Hacks." The author of the post did not use a word incorrectly, you are just unfamiliar with a common term in the blogosphere... Here it is straight from the originator of the blog and the term...

Essentially, an IKEA hack is a modification/repurposing of an IKEA product. Why I chose to call it a hack? In it's own little way, it breaks into the IKEA code of furniture assembly and repurposes, challenges and creates with surprising results. And yes, some furniture may be destroyed in the process and you may, please be cautioned, compromise the structural integrity of the furniture and its safety standards, so hacking does have its risk. Don't say you're not warned. ;)

I feel as though I've been living at IKEA lately (kitchen reno stuff), and have had the opportunity to check out these shelves. Nice design, but...beware. They are light, and if you are prone to loading upper shelves, they do have a tendency to wobble, so you'll need to brace them on the wall with some sort of stablizer. All that said, they are nice to look at.

The yellow ones are Room and Board's "Slim" shelves.

VITTSJÖ may not scream IKEA to the author, but they scream laundry room or garage to me. I don't think I could put something like this in my living room or bathroom. A little too cold and industrial for my taste.

I agree. Vittsjo looks ok in a home, but it is much better for a garage or attic (albeit a nice-looking one).

When I hear the phrase "connect the dots", especially in political contexts, I sort e roll my eyes. That phrase is stale and was corny to begin with. But I don't dwell on it; I move into the main idea of the sentence/conversation. You might want to try the same. Isn't it cool that people came up with different ways to use this item?

I like to use this site as a resource, for both ideas and specific products...so I think semantics is important. If I'm searching through the archives looking for "recovered chairs" I don't want to see 50 posts on painted furniture, I want to see chairs reupholstered. If I search the archives for bookcase hacks, I want to see hacks, not paint jobs. So classifying these posts under random or misleading headings might ultimately be harmful for the site...if I can't quickly find what I'm looking for here, I'll probably go elsewhere. So I think these suggestions in the comments that are a little off topic like 'what constitutes a hack' are valuable for the site as a whole in the long run.

It's inconceivable, really...

Love the yellow and the wood inserts. I recently came across this pinned image and I feel like there is a very feasible 'hack' to make the plant shelves pictured in it. Skinny VITTSJÖ with wood shelf inserts with accommodating pot holes sawed out. Sounds fun!

It's really sad how people trash everything, people's comments, the posts, the fact that there are houses shown, nstead of apartments...
I always think the more they protest, the more they like it...just too stubborn to admit that they wish they would have thought of it!

I love the bathroom one painted silver. It's super cute with the towels rolled up on the bottom. The white one looks so clean and fresh in the first pic. The yellow is such a great pop of color in the room!

I like this post and i live in an apt. just saying...

One of those Ikea bookshelves is sitting in our apartment building's basement right now!...except all of the shelves are missing - what good it THAT?!

This open shelving concept never made sense to me. Why have shelves that can't hold books? And since they can't hold books, isn't what's on them just clutter and a dust gathering nightmare?

The first one looks good; but mainly because of the good wall color choice. The glass shelves would bother me; dust magnets + the sound of stuff clunking on glass is one of my few real irritants. I'd want to somehow get them replaced with wood inserts.

Cool ideas, all! I wonder if you could also string them with lights as a finishing touch.

Ashley Erin Mayer

I painted a VITTSJO desk white without sanding or priming. It was a complete PITA and I know from experience with this and other projects that "simply slapping a coat of paint on it" is never as simple or as easy as it seems.

@fizzfizz, slap me in the face for being stupid? i guess i got a little excited and didn't read the whole thing. my sincere apologies i didn't realize it effected you so much, but seriously, why are you so mean? really?