Gearfuse

What’s that? Did you say your sister-in-law is a decorator? Oh, that’s cute. Good to know, but see, I won’t be needing your services. No, no, my good pal Eva came by and I handed her $1100 and said “Organize my space!” Well after a trip to IKEA and several hours, she was done. The result is a living room with more space than I could have every truly imagined. Eva took all those EXPEDIT bookshelves she bought and merged them all into one gigantic bookshelf. Makes sense, no? Forget that. Does it not look fabulous? Now if only I could convert it into a secret compartment…

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You’d think this mobile park bench was made by IKEA with its simple design and detailed instruction set for how to build it. Ironically, the creator is artist Rogier Martens, who happens to be Dutch. Did you know the parent company of IKEA is a Dutch-registered foundation known as INGKA Holding? Coincidence? I think not.

This is the ideal park bench for when certain areas of the park become too crowded or noisy. You go to the park to relax in a peaceful atmosphere. If you can’t find peace in one area, try another.

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Here’s an easy way to turn an Ikea dresser into an ulta-violet oven used for exposing printed circuit boards. Blogger Aris gutted the drawers and mounted the top with an array of 35 ultra-violet LEDs that are powered by an HP printer transformer with a 1A/37V output. That’s a heck of a lot of power. What resulted were some nice looking circuit boards you can see after the jump:

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For our readers living in the UK, please let us know if you guys are just as batshit crazy for IKEA as we are. The Swedish furniture company will be offering cellphone service to 1.4 million “loyalty scheme members” and around 9500 employees. T-Mobile will be providing the actual service while IKEA is just slapping a name on it and calling it a service. It’ll work similar to Virgin Mobile with the “pay as you go” plan starting with a minimum £10 purchase.

No word yet if your cellphone comes wrapped up in a flat cardboard box with the charger sold separately.

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Who would’ve thought an old Apple Powerbook and a trip to IKEA would be all it takes to create a sweet home arcade. Frederic Sebton took apart his old Powerbook and mounted the monitor and guts inside an IKEA side table, with the screen showing up through a hole cut out of the top of the table. After mounting an arcade style joystick in the cabinet’s drawer,  Sebton created a fun-filled MAME cabinet.

He provides his own step-by-step instructions on his approach to crafting your very own MAME cabinet to entertain yourself and your guests.  Just dig up your old laptop you never use, shove it inside a wooden cabinet and voila! Gaming goodness for the whole family.

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Oh IKEA. We all love your cheap prices and great selection of furniture and doo-dads. Really, we do. I think we all just want your products to not fall apart after a few months. I hope it’s not too much to ask, especially with this ridiculous cardboard studio apartment you built in Brooklyn.

This 20′x20′ “apartment” was set up outdoors in Brooklyn to attract people to the new IKEA they just built there. IKEA is being very generous with its marketing. If I can recall, my first studio apartment was like 15′x17′ or something similar. Very small. I could probably fit a bed, a chair and one of those $15 breakable coffee tables in there. I’d imagine IKEA did much better with its living space.

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The Philips Ambilight for HDTVs is a look that every gadget hound would love to have in their living rooms. Though, most are not fortunate enough to have the money to spend on the Philips lighting system. Instructables gives this easy to do tutorial for setting up the Ambilight look, without putting a whole in your wallet. For under $40, using 4 Ikea Trettioen light strips, the beautiful ambiance of a Philips can be yours, complete with an easy to reach light switch. If you’re like the rest of us, already saving up for the iPhone, this low cost method can be a god send. — Andrew Dobrow

Give your HDTV the Philips Ambilight effect on the cheap [Instructables]