ReadyMade: RE-STORE {WALL DISPLAY}

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Looking around the ReadyMade offices one day, we saw a sea of Expedits, Ikea's stand-alone shelving unit. Inspired by websites like Ikeahacker, where users show off their modifications of the retailer's minimalist wares, we challenged three designers to reengineer the ubiquitous bookcase. Behold their showroom-ready results.

My original plan was to exploit the Expedit's hollow core construction by cutting the two shorter pieces in half, removing the paper honeycomb, and adding interior lighting to create an illuminated shelf. But after opening up the pieces and realizing the entire thing would fall apart without reinforcement, I changed my mind and reconfigured the bookcase into a sturdy yet lightweight wall-mountable hutch.

WALL DISPLAY

$80

Birch-effect Expedit bookcase
2 ½" wood screws
Angle brackets

Table saw
Utility knife
Power drill with various bits
Staple gun with staples
Heavy-duty shears
Sandpaper

1. I started by halving the short pieces on my table saw.
2. Using the included hardware, I then attached one of the Expedit’s long pieces to two of the halved pieces, forming the top and sides of the hutch.
3. To reinforce the sides, I used pieces of the Expedit rather than scrap wood, cutting out strips of the particle-board shelving to the width of the interior of the hollow-core side pieces.
4. I carved out the sides’ honeycomb with a utility knife, then inserted the strips into the side pieces such that I could screw into them to connect the upper horizontal shelves.
5. Next I assembled the hutch's shelves as shown in the photo, again reinforcing the hollow-core pieces with particle board.
6. For the back grid, I ripped 1" strips of veneer from the other long hollow-core piece, wove the strips at a 45° angle to the back edges of the shelf, and stapled them in place, trimming any excess with shears and sanding them smooth at the ends.
7. Finally, I stapled trimmed portions of veneer strips to the cut ends of the hollow-core pieces.
8. Once mounted on the wall with angle brackets, it’s the perfect place for those things you want out of the way, but never out of reach.

Other Features

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RE-STORE
The Expedit Challenge: Three designers reinvent Ikea's bookcase

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UMBRELLA CHALLENGE RUNNERS-UP
Check out the MacGyver Challenge runners-up!

ARCHIVES
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Vampire Weekend, the Raconteurs, CSS, Antibalas, a daily treasure hunt conducted via texting, a vendor village, massage station, on site hairstylist and ReadyMade?! How can you beat that?
ReadyMade sponsors the Indie Market and a special pre-event Macgyver Challenge. Come for the music (Beck, !!!, etc), stay for the drawing jam, the 'Power of One' photo exhibit, the 1 Reel Film Festival, and much more.
Artists include Dinosaur Jr., Ghostface, Apples in Stereo, and more. Don't forget the artists at the onsite indie design and craft fair and at Flatstock, the finest in rock poster design. Be an artist yourself at the ReadyMade booth —we'll have crafts!
This year's architectural tours, film screenings, exhibitions, design lectures, and home shows will reinforce the theme of "Design for Community".