Behind the Couch Cabinet hack: A deep, skinny IKEA BESTÅ console

behind couch cabinet with storage

I wanted to install a number of BESTÅ cabinets along the wall behind my couch, but I needed to have easy access to one of the double cabinets from the end, which was going to be directly behind the couch.

The normal cabinet doors would be placed like normal, but would be used only as facades since they would be blocked by the couch. 

For some reason, cabinets 120 cm deep and 40 cm wide are not easily found on the market, so we had to hack the BESTÅ to a sofa console cabinet.

behind couch cabinet ikea besta hack
This is the hacked end of the behind couch cabinet with narrow door access to deep storage space.

How to hack a behind the couch cabinet

The idea was to take a normal BESTÅ double cabinet and modify it so that one end was normal and the other end was open. We just needed a drill for this and used the existing hole-placements to line everything up.

IKEA items used for sofa console cabinet :

BESTÅ double 64 cm-tall cabinet
Parts of a single 64 cm-tall BESTÅ cabinet

Other materials and tools: 

Drill
Saw
Some neoprene glue
16mm plastic u profile

behind couch cabinet ikea besta hack
This is the normal end

We cannibalized an old BESTÅ cabinet we had. We took what would normally be the ends and put them along the sides. These vertical supports would make sure that everything was the right height all along the length. We made sure that the 2 vertical supports on the open end of the cabinet would line up like a normal cabinet so that we could screw on the door with the normal hinges. 

Putting the top on was as easy as a normal cabinet.

We put double-sided tape down to tape the doors to the cabinet to keep them from moving. Then we took the IKEA screws used to screw 2 cabinets together and screwed the doors onto the vertical supports. They were just the right length and didn’t pierce through the doors completely.

securing the doors

Then we attached all 3 double cabinets together.

joining the 3 cabinets together into one long, narrow behind the couch cabinet

For the door on the end, we cut a normal door down from 60cms wide to 42cms wide. This left us with a raw edge. So we used a 16mm plastic u profile and some glue to finish off the door.

Now I have a place to store my long rolls of wrapping paper and extra storage space for blankets for the couch.

hacked end, door opens from the side

We also finished the top with butcher block spanning the entire length so that it will look like a piece of furniture. It functions like a narrow table top for home decor, lamps and other decorative items we have yet to come round to.

Why did you decide to hack the item?

We like the clean, uncluttered aspect of the BESTÅ line, but we needed unusual access to the cabinet.

How long and how much did it cost?

Besides the cost of the BESTÅ cabinet, it cost an extra single cabinet. We already had the glue and the profile was few euros. It took a couple of hours to do with the two of us.

What do you like most about the hack?

We love that it doesn’t look like a hack and that we could use all IKEA things. We did add a non-IKEA extra shelf, but that’s because we wanted one whole shelf running the entire length. It was an elegant solution and ended up looking exactly like I’d imagined it.

What to pay special attention to?

We had to pay close attention to lining up the holes correctly.

~ by Kim