Introduction: IKEA Hack - Gruntdal Countertop Shelves
This is my first IKEA hack. I bought a Grundtal 800 mm shelf to put on the wall but then thought I'd try and utilize space over my kitchen bench by putting two uprights and mounting shelves back to back. The next step was adding Grundtal countertop lighting which worked really well I think ( it's a perfect fit ).
Uprights are 25mm / 1" chrome plated tubes that I bought from a local hardware store with a pair of flanges each. While strong enough by themselves I decided to add wooden dowel as inserts, they only had 19 mm Tasmanian oak dowel - a bit of gaffer tape for a snug fit did the job. Drilling holes was the trickiest part, this is when a pedestal drill ( that I did not have ) would come in handy. I made a template from a piece of timber ( an inch hole to thread the tube in and a 1/4 inch hole at the right angle to use with my hand drill ).
I used 1/4" 38 mm bolts with spring washers and dome nuts for the main assembly, 1/4" proved to be too big for the Grundtal lighting so I got a 3/16" ones for that ( I had to shorten those by about 5 mm to use dome nuts ).
Installing a Grundtal countertop lighting panel ( 3x halogen globes ) was a piece of cake. I got two plates that I bent into a 'C' to curve around the rods of the shelves then screwed them to the panel. It fits snugly but can be lifted up if needs be. As a bonus it fills in the gap between the shelves ( not full 800 mm, however ). I could have threaded the cord ( 'Ansluta' ) through the upright to hide it but there is a dowel inside so I did not bother.
I do not keep anything extra heavy on these shelves*, as you can see it is mainly plastic Tupperware ( stuff that we use often ). But it is sturdy enough to handle pots and pans if I wanted and I added a few Grundtal extras to hang off the bottom shelf. Shelves were the most expensive part at 39AUD each, lighting 69AUD plush 10AUD for the cord, tubes and dowel about 20AUD per upright, add bolts, nuts and washers at about 3AUD per pack.
P.S. As mounting shelves back to back is obviously optional a similar design could be used when you would not want to screw shelves straight to the wall - for whatever reason, e.g. you do not want to drill through the tiles or maybe even want those against a window etc.
P.P.S. * - I now keep a massive 3kg Scanpan pan with a glass lid on the shelf
5 Comments
13 years ago on Introduction
Nice Concept... R_H .. I have been hacking Ikea since day one in the Elizabeth NJ store.. In the future try using POP rivet's instead of the Screws and Cap nuts... Makes for a cleaner ... tighter look... and they can come apart in the event of a Move or a RE- DO... :)...
Reply 13 years ago on Introduction
Never though about using pop rivets but that might be an idea. I am not sure how one would go about pulling the whole thing apart if using those, do you have to drill them out or something ? One reason I went with those screws and nuts was that I wanted more or less stainless steel finish, pop rivets I think are made of aluminium (?). Anyway, that kind of "industrial" look doesn't bother me but I agree, you could get a somewhat better look with pop rivets.
Reply 13 years ago on Introduction
Yes you would have to drill them out... Actually Pop Rivets come in all kinds of finishes... from Alum. to S/S .. and in colors... they are used in many of the trades... they also have many different Head types.. from the std. to large flange and countersunk.. ( i was in the Aftermarket Automotive and Custom Cabinet Biz for over thirty years... Car Stereo .. when it was Car Mono) Circa 1964 ...lol. Had to Invent everything we needed... as we went along... No Matter .. I truly enjoyed your project and the added touch of the lighting made it a HOME RUN...:)....
13 years ago on Introduction
Are those tubes screwed to the ceiling and the counter?
Reply 13 years ago on Introduction
They are, not tubes themselves exactly but flanges that hold them in place. You can see those on the 1st photo ( should have made a close up ). There are three screws per flange, they seem to hold it in place quite well. I didn't just screw them straight into the plasterboard of course - this is what my ceiling is made of - but used those plastic screwy things first to go into plaster ( forgot what they're called exactly ). I did screw them directly into the benchtop ( predrilled holes just in case ).
Or is it that you can not make holes in the counter / ceiling ( e.g. renting ) ?
A couple of days ago I have finished "phase 2" of my "project" - added another shelf in front of the window using the same method but a longer Grundtal shelf that is now sitting above the sink. Will add a few photos this weekend, hopefully. Also used an IKEA bottle holder with it to store plastic cups .. turns out it just clips onto Grundtal, too easy.