Ikea Kallax Storage Boxes

Since I found Ikea store sold storage boxes not to my liking I decided to make my own.

I also realized that these come at a fraction of the cost and if you like DIY they are for sure an option since they are quite easy to do and customizable...

You could change color, materials and finish

I have to say I complicated things a bit here since I used 3 different materials.

I wanted to have the look and feel of wood in the front panels so I used plywood.

For the sides I used hardboard (high-density fiberboard - HDF ) since it is stronger for the same thickness than plywood.

For the bottom I used a thicker pressed wood board since it is cheap.

I choose to go for not so thick materials since they are cheaper and lighter, and since this is not something that I plan to use long time or to give it hard treatment it will do fine.

The box I will be making will have a final assembled size:

33 x 38 x 33 cm (Width x Depth x Height)

The same as a DRÖNA box.

For the imperial system Ikea website says this box is 13 x 15 x 13''

For the panels I just went to my local hardware store and told them the list of panels I wanted in each material and respective dimensions, that saves me a lot of work.

For one box you will need:

ATTENTION!!!

The sizes are not the same as the final assembled box because you have to adjust to the thickness of the materials used dont forget to do the same if you use different thickness materials.

1 x Bottom pannel 37,4 x 32.4 cm

Since the side and front panels are 3mm thick I had to make it 6mm shorter compared to the final size

I used 10mm thick pressed wood to give stability, since its not visible I don't care if it doesn't look nice.

2 x Front and back panels 33 x 33 cm

Used 3mm plywood to give it the look and feel of wood once finished

2 x Side panels 37.4 cm x 33 cm

Again 6 mm short compared to final size of assembled box due to the front and back being 3mm thick

Used 3mm hardboard since its stronger that plywood for the thickness.

The boxes will be assembled using only wood glue. So to reinforced it a bit more glued triangular wood profiles in the interior corners.

This should be strong enough given the loads inside.

To reinforce the front panel where the handle will go I used rectangular wood profiles cut to the dimension of the front panel, 33cm.

• Prepare and cut the triangular wood profile used to reinforce the corners.

• I first started with the bottom and side panels since these are the same dimensions.

For such, I just glued two at the same time back-to-back as in the picture, and used some clamps or weights to keep things holding on. Add the triangular profiles at this time too.

• Then glue the second side panels and finally the front and back ones.

Make sure and be careful aligning the panels together and add enough glue to all sides.

• After, you can choose to add extra triangular profile bits to reinforce everything

• Finally I added the central reinforcement piece in the front panel where the handle will go.

Since I wanted to go for a wood look I finished with a natural stain called "brou de noix" it is also called

"Extrait de Cassel", I'm not sure what the name outside Europe.

You can diluted in water for the first layer and then paint a second or third layer according to the tone you are trying to achieve.

After 3 layer of stain I let it dry and finish it with colorless bee's wax, 2 layers.

I had a piece of thick felt laying around so I cut some pieces to add to the bottom of the box to avoid scratching the shelves. I glued these in.

For the handles I wanted to use rope, I inittialy was unsure if going with the natural looking one or a red one.

I ended up using the natural looking one. I just drill two holes 6.5cm from the top and 11cm from each side and passed the rope in. I will secure the rope in place with some zip ties and glue.

The boxes are quite sturdy and the rope handles match nicely the brown natural look. I really like how the wood grain is visible trough the stain and finishing.

The brown finishing contrasts nicely with the white Kallax shelves.

Of course almost everything in this project is customizable to your needs. from materials, to colors and handle look and style.

I can say these ended up to be really cheap since I already had the stainig and finishing wax from another project. The cost in wood was around 24 Eur for 4 boxes.

Since the wood was pre-cut at the store I only had to glue and paint things so its quite an easy project.