Our family room is overrun with stuffed animals and books. I had purchased some bin type of toy storage system a while ago. But they were soon overflowing.
Even when the floor was cleared of toys, the room still looked messy. I didn’t want to pay over $1000 for a Pottery Barn toy storage system. That said, the Cameron system gave me the idea for this IKEA hack.
Since BESTÅ was designed as a TV console, we decided to make the center unit as a charging station for the kids electronics.
The overall height of this system is only 45″. I hoping this means the kids do all the cleaning from here on out!
This project took me about 3 hours. And here’s the end result of our own toy storage system.
Supplies
- BESTÅ TV unit Width 70 7/8” x 15 3/4” x 25 1/4” (702.998.79) (Note: there are multiple BESTÅ TV units of varying widths. Only the 70 7/8” [180 cm] width will fit properly.)
- STUVA Storage Bench (x2)
- BESTÅ shelf (x3)
- #8 2” wood screws (x4)
- #10 1 1/4” wood screws (x4)
- Wall anchors (x2)
- Power strip (x1)
- Drill, pilot hole drill bit, screwdriver
Budget
Toy storage system hack – directions
Assemble both STUVA storage benches according to the instructions.
Flip the benches onto a flat surface. And then, I joined them together with four #10 1 1/4” wood screws along the border.
Two were diagonally oriented on this side (red arrows) and then I put two on the opposite side. So, there is a screw in each corner of the four corners.
(Note: the hollow center of these pieces becomes apparent when I tried to add another screw in the center of the wood. This screw denoted by the red “x” does nothing to support this bench. If you think four screws is not enough you could probably add more along the border. But I would advise to avoid the hollow center.)
After that, I placed the joined bench in its final resting place. Then, I leveled the bench with a level using the provided feet.
Assemble the BESTÅ TV unit but do NOT assemble the feet. (Skip step 1 in the included instructions).
Place BESTÅ TV unit on top of the STUVA storage benches the way you want it to rest when you are finished. Then measure and mount the wall anchors.
Attach the BESTÅ unit to the wall anchors. Then join the BESTÅ with the STUVA bench with four #8 2” wood screws through the holes originally intended for the BESTÅ feet (see red arrows).
Add the power strip to the center section of the BESTÅ.
Add the BESTÅ shelves and rolling toy drawers.
~ by Ellen
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Jules is the author of IKEAHackers.net: 25 Biggest and Best Projects".
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