New Ikea Hack Idea!

[BrainGirl]

I've been looking for a way to make adjustable levels and suspend toys and tubes in Roxanne's 90 gallon tank and I think I may have found it! I picked up a couple of Ikea Hutten wine racks today and some Krylon paint and thought I should start taking pictures:)

First, this is the rack: HUTTEN 9-bottle wine rack - IKEA (http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/70032451/)

First picture shows one whole rack and one dismantled. Second shows one rack partially dismantled and giving me new ideas!

[kyrilliondaemon]

Thats great :)

[BrainGirl]

First coat! I chose "Ivy Leaf" for this one but I can't decide whether to paint the other unit the same colour or something different. I was partial to "Watermelon":p

[Esmy]

Nice! How are you going to attach it?

[BrainGirl]

It's going to be freestanding. Since I couldn't really attach anything inside Roxy's tank I wanted to find a way to put something in that I could hang other thing from. I think this might work! I may also use this for playtime:D

[Esmy]

I'm picturing the tank not having any lid, and you'll place it over the top?

[BrainGirl]

Oh no, there's a lid! But it's 2 feet tall and she's a bit of a climber. If I hang anything she's liable to escape. I wanted something that would fit down inside that I could hang stuff from:)

[Esmy]

Ok, I can't quite picture how it's going to hang inside then. lol I'll wait for the finished picture! :P

[BrainGirl]

No no, this thing doesn't hang! It sits on the bottom of the tank, it's freestanding. The hanging things hang off it:p

[Colby and the Dwarfs]

First coat! I chose "Ivy Leaf" for this one but I can't decide whether to paint the other unit the same colour or something different. I was partial to "Watermelon":p

Lol, sorry this made me laugh so hard! It reminded me of last summer, when my friend and I were looking at colours to paint the mousery, and she was making fun of them like, "Hmmm. How to decide between "Lilac Summer Day" or "Organic Green Raspberry"?!? Decisions, Decisions..." We ended up picking "Sully's First Day at College" or something. All I know is it's blue...lol.

I'm excited to see how this project turns out! Will be looking forward to pics soon!

[Esmy]

I'm picturing someone trying to hang an ornament, by setting it on the floor. Just not registering. LOL

[BrainGirl]

Ok, picture school playground equipment! A bunch of uprights with bridges and walkways and ladders strung everywhere:D

[Esmy]

So they are going to be standing up, not laying flat? lol

[BrainGirl]

Right! Once I'm finished painting the pieces I'll put them back together, at least partially, and use them as 3 dimensional frames for hanging stuff.

[Esmy]

Ahhh ok, starting to get it now. My visual comprehension can be pretty bad. LOL

[BrainGirl]

No worries, though mine is pretty good the gulf between theory and practice can be pretty wide. It remains to be seen whether my vision for this thing will actually work;)

[BrainGirl]

First one dry and reassembled! There's a ways to go yet to turn it into a hamster toy but I had to post a pic of it:)

[Esmy]

I love the color! Can't wait to see it finished and in her tank! :)

[BrainGirl]

More pieces finished! Not completely dry for use but ok to take pictures of. Note that the pink (actually "Watermelon") unit is not Ikea, only the "Ivy Leaf" green ones are. I also did a quick set up with random bits of things that were lying around to kind of show what I had in mind with ramps and levels and bridges. It would look a lot better than this!

[Esmy]

It looks like it will be a lot of fun to climb on!

[Munchalot]

Wow, thats a great idea!! :D I can't wait to see how it turns out x

Also, I'm loving those colours C: x

[fluffydd]

It's looking really good. Well done :)

[RedSky]

What a super idea! I'm so impressed, and I may have to pinch it too.

[DrKMcK]

I LOVE THIS!!! Monkeybars for hamsters! Very nice and this should be a good DIY project that can be adapted for different hams in different cages. I will keep this thread in mind! :-D Oh what will I do with all of my crafty stuff next? :-D