How to hang IKEA LACK wall unit facing the wall?

Hang lack wall unit

Need advice on installing the LACK wall unit differently

I have a narrow bedroom and a queen-sized bed. With the bed centered on the wall, there is about a foot of space on each side.  I was looking at using a LACK wall shelf unit on each side of the bed in place of night-tables but was worried about having too much bedside clutter on display.

I came across this photo where the LACK shelf unit has been installed with the open edges of the shelves facing the wall.

hang LACK wall unit backwards

Photo Credit: Anja via Welke.nl

This looks perfect. In my room the shelves would be in a corner so one side of the shelf would be against the wall and the open sides of the ‘cubbies’ created would face the bed.

Anyone have suggestions of how to hang the shelves this way? Large L brackets underneath? Little angle brackets inside each cubby? Lots of Command strips? lol

Suggestions and experiences much appreciated!

~ Journey Dreamer 

***

Hi JD

That’s definitely a different way to hang the LACK wall unit. I like how it looks and totally understand why you’ll want to recreate that.

As you mentioned, large L brackets underneath and little angle brackets inside each cubby can work. The only concern about adding brackets to anywhere along the LACK is finding the right spot to screw them on. The LACK is famously hollow.

Wall mounting the LACK wall unit backwards

I would rather make a small shelf ledge — wall brackets with a piece of wood cut to the size of the LACK base. Place the LACK on top of this ledge and screw it in from beneath the wood board.

hang LACK wall unit backwards

For added security and avoid topple over incidences, make a similar ledge for the top shelf. Or use the metal brace (pictured below) that comes with the LACK to fasten the top front edge and one or two of the lower small shelves to the wall. Overkill perhaps, but better secure than sorry.

assembly instructions

I found this old post where Liz hung one of the open shelf edges towards the wall.

IKEA Lack wall unit tower

So that gives me hope that the smaller shelves may have enough material in them to screw the brace into. (But I’d add a caveat that it’s an old post and the LACK may have undergone changes over the years.)

How about legs?

Furthermore, Liz’s LACK tower rests on the floor and the lone shelf works more like a spacer than a load bearing wall mount.

If you rather not use the above shelf ledge idea, I would suggest adding legs to the bottom of the LACK. Such as the affordable CAPITA or classy NANNARP. And then, install the metal brace to the top shelf and secure it to the wall. This is probably the safest solution.

IKEA NANNARP legs

NANNARP legs | IKEA.com

Hope this gives you some ideas on how to hang the LACK wall unit.

Do share with us how it all went.

Happy hacking,

Jules


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