The Expedit shelving system is one of IKEA’s most popular — and hackable — furniture items. We were therefore shocked to learn the Swedish retailer is discontinuing the Expedit range to make way for a new line of shelving. Here are our 11 favourite Expedit shelf hacks from over the years, ranging from Tetris game murals to luxurious hamster cages.
The IKEA Expedit series is a range of shelving units that can be stacked, mounted or used as room dividers. They’re also pretty affordable, which makes them ideal for all manner of DIY house projects. Below are some of the best Expedit IKEA hacks we’ve featured on the website over the years. If you’re an Expedit virgin, we advise picking a few units up while you still have the chance.
5×5 Expedit Shelf Turned Hamster Home
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“After lots of research and planning I hacked a 5×5 Expedit into my dream hamster cage. I shortened it to three rows of five columns as the room would have looked too full with another 5×5 Expedit in it. I then added two sets of Capita feet (8 feet in total) to get the height I wanted (eye-level when I sit in my chair) and to get a more floating look.”
Create A Large Mobile Workstation Out Of IKEA Bookshelves And Some Board
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“Need a big space to work? Need lots of storage? Need to be able to move it easily? This IKEA hack can provide all three.”
Repurpose IKEA Shelves Into A Storage Bed Platform
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“If you could use some storage under the bed, you can hack two IKEA Expedit 5×1 shelving units into a platform storage bed along with two sheets of MDF, a 4×4-inch post and a few floor protectors.”
Hack An IKEA Shelving Unit Into A Tetris Video Game Showpiece
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“By mixing-and-matching the inserts, you can turn the unit into a Tetris-themed showpiece that is sure to impress any gamer. But is it art?”
Turn An IKEA Bookshelf Into An Attractive Bench
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“As far as IKEA hacks go, this one is about as simple as it gets. You’ll basically set the unit down on its side, and put some pillows or cushions on top. If you want to decorate the backs of the shelves, IKEA Hackers suggests covering squares of cardboard with wrapping paper, and attaching them to the back.”
The All IKEA, Cubes-Everywhere Workspace
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“Many home offices lack enough storage space, but that’s not a problem with today’s featured workspace; in fact, the IKEA Expedit shelving units are one of the highlights, adding cubes everywhere for visual interest as well as storage.”
DIY IKEA Bookshelf Cat Run
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“There’s something about the combination of IKEA and cats that just works.”
Make A DIY TV Stand With An IKEA Expedit
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“With the addition of some wood from pallets and a little rope, the Expedit makes a rather attractive TV stand that combines a little bit of modern with a little bit of rustic.”
Make A Compact Rolling Library With Two Pieces Of IKEA Furniture
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“If you want simple, beautiful, compact storage, look no further than the combination of a few pieces of IKEA furniture. The folks over at IKEA Hackers discovered that Linnmon table tops, combined with Expedit storage grid modules, can create a simple rolling library.”
Turn An IKEA Bookshelf Into A Beautiful Storage Table
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“A bookshelf is upright storage, but when you turn it on its side and add some legs you get a great table.”
Create A Dry-Erase Standing Desk With Built-In White Board
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“The coolest thing about this standing desk design is that the surface also functions as a white-board — handy if you like to scribble down designs or computations on the fly.”
The Expedit will be officially discontinued in April this year. Hopefully, IKEA’s replacement shelving range, dubbed ‘Kallax’, will prove to be just as hackable as the Expedit. Fingers crossed!
See also: The All-Time Best IKEA Hacks 2007-2012 | DIY IKEA Standing Desks For Every Budget | 10 Most Useful Sub-$10 Buys From IKEA
Comments
5 responses to “11 Reasons To Buy An IKEA Expedit Shelf (While You Still Can)”
Relax people. K-mart will be selling knock-offs for years to come.
In honesty the new model is nearly identical – perhaps wont last quite as long but will still last as long as anyone would expect for the price. This is just an excuse for an article but at least it had some decent tips unlike most “excuse to post” articles.
Shelf dimensions are exactly the same, but the outside being a little thinner does make it look a little cheaper.
They discontinued the high-gloss white laminate 🙁 I hope that comes back.
Having moved house with a number of Expedits lately I am glad that when I put my 5×5 together I noted tops and bottoms with a black texta marker. Made it very easy to reassemble in exactly the same way it came apart.
I should have done ths, I ended up killing one because i got mad at it not going back togetjer properly.
That said, the 2×2 are fantastic for storing a record collecton (the 4×2 or 4×4 re a little weak to be loaded up with vnyl however)
I bought some of the single Expedits a couple of months ago and they’re really efficient for their size! They hold about 15kg, and that’s pretty good considering they’re wall-mounted.
I bought similar furniture (and the colored boxes) at Lowe’s. Knowing the 2 chains (I bought my bed from IKEA) it was probably cheaper too.
Did no one else notice that one of the pics doesn’t even feature the Expedit!!!! I think it’s a Lack shelf on its side.
I really don’t think there should be such a big fuss about the Expedit storage shelf after they announced the new model. The dimensions are exactly the same, the inserts can all be reused – they are certainly not going to redo the whole entire catalogue of expedit inserts for sure, they’ll probably just rename them. At the end of the day, IKEA isn’t going to fool around with a storage solution that has been so successful all these years!