Materials: Brimnes headboard, 2 Vika Furusund solid wood table legs, hand saw, tape measurer, pencil, screwdriver, shorter screws or a Drimmel
Description: Unfortunately it seems too many of Ikea's headboards are designed to be wall-mounted. That complicates things for renters like myself (my landlords LOVE the wallpaper in the house). I came up with a very simple, easy way to make the Brimnes headboard free-standing.
All you do is screw Vika Furusund table legs into the bottom/rear of the Brimnes headboard.
I went with these legs because they are solid wood, and you need to cut them down. Ikea doesn't offer table legs that are the right length.
After assembling the headboard, I figured out about where I wanted to put the legs (the only space for them to screw into is the bottom bookshelf on either side.) I placed my legs are far in and back as I could, to minimize their visibility.
Next I measured how much of the leg I needed to saw off to get it level with the front legs of the headboard.
I have a little Buck Bros hand saw kit I bought at Ace (you can get it at Home Depot, too). It's cheap and comes with a block that steadies your cut. It does take some muscle, though.
I sawed off the few inches I measured, then screwed the legs into the headboard.
Here's where you can do better than I did. I realized before I started that the screws that came with the Furusund were too long, and would break through the bottom of the shelves.
I could have just gone to the hardware store and bought shorter screws, but it was late, and I wanted to get it done. I went ahead and screwed through the bookshelves, and then used a Drimmel (and eye protection!) to get the screws level with the shelves.
Dumb idea. It worked, but just go get the shorter screws.
Voila! Renter-friendly, free-standing storage headboard.
~ Meredith, Austinite in Boston
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