Effektiv cabinet concrete hack

Materials:
- 4 IKEA Effektiv cabinets. We used 85 x 43 x 94 sized frames
- 4 Effektiv series doors. We used high gloss white doors
- 4 sets of handles
- 3 25 kg sacks of concrete
- Board and screws for the mould
- Some steel for rebaring the concrete. We used old fashion chicken wire.

Tools:
- drill and mixer
- Plastic or tape if you want to protect the surfaces of the cabinets

Description: We launched our home building company LivingStone Kodit Oy and we started to decorate the office space. We build houses from concrete and we wanted our office to have a modern look with a rugged twist, something that would express our houses. We were wondering how we could achieve that and then it came to us, we must use concrete in our office. We decided to hack our Effectiv cabinets.



Start by attaching all four of the cabinets together. Try and get them as close together as possible.

Attach the edges of the mould. You can decide the height of the concrete cover but remember that concrete is extremely heavy. We made the cover 2 cm high and the weight is approximately 80 kg. Every centimetre is about 40 kg so be careful.

Mix the concrete and apply a thin layer on to the table. Spread it evenly and try to make it as dense as possible especially around the edges. It the concrete is not tight enough the edge will not be smooth and even.

Place the steel on top of the concrete. Time for a few tips about chicken wire: it is very flexible and it caused us a lot of problems. When we got one end covered with concrete the other end stuck out of it. Our advice is to cut the wire in to smaller pieces for example the size of a sheet of paper. This step will be much easier and quicker than it was for us.

Add the rest of the concrete and even the surface with a board.

Cover up with a piece of plastic so that the concrete won't dry too fast. If you want an extremely smooth top, rub down after about 2 hours. If you want the cover to have some character and be slightly jagged just let it dry.

Let the concrete surface dry for at least a couple of days preferably for a week, then remove the mould. Sand the cement off and polish the cover. Attach the doors and your brand new cabinet with a beautiful concrete cover is ready!

See more of the Effektiv in concrete.

~ Karl Filtness, Jyv�skyl�, Finland