This post may contain affiliate links, meaning we may make a small commission on items purchased through links at no extra cost to you!
We’ve lived in two-bedroom apartments our whole married life, and there’s never enough storage space anywhere. Not many closets or shelves, and my husband likes to keep his videogame systems out where they don’t overheat. With the goal to keep kids out and hide games systems, I was ecstatic to find the Fjallbo TV stand from IKEA.
Moving to a new home means new layouts, and it we just moved into our first home. All of our living room furniture finally matched, and we were ready to be adults. Having a short stand under a large TV was going to look awkward though. We needed to increase our storage space also, so we decided to make our TV stand into an official media storage center.
Now, our construction and building skills are extremely limited. This was our first big project as a married couple, aside from putting together IKEA furniture as directed. As always, it led to some intense… discussions. We both had different ideas on how to reach the final product, but in the end, it all worked out!
Supplies:
- (2) Fjallbo TV Stands
- Jigsaw or another saw
- C-Clamps (optional)
- Metal Bracers/Brackets
- Small Screws (short enough to fit through the bracket and into the TV stand, but not too long where it pokes into the storage space)
- Power Drill with drillbits smaller than the above screws (we prefer corded drills, because the power source stays consistent and we don’t have to worry about charging)
Instructions
I promise, it’s not hard, and the work goes pretty quickly! It took us about 3 hours from start to finish, but we were also figuring out the instructions!
- Build one Fjallbo TV stand according to the instructions, except keep the top wooden piece and the cabinet doors off. This will be the bottom of the storage center.
- Build the second stand according to the instructions, except keep the cabinet doors off. This will be the top of the storage center.
- On the second stand, saw off the legs flush with the bottom of the frame, so it’s a clean rectangle. We clamped the extra wood top to the stand as a guide to make the cuts as straight as possible.
- Lay the TV stands upside down, but stacked, with the first stand on bottom and the second stand on top.
- Pre-drill holes for the bracket screws using the drill bit. The brackets will be at each supporting pole in the back and on the sides, centered so half of the bracket is attached to the top stand and half to the bottom stand. Keep an eye out for original screws on the interior of the unit. You don’t want to hit those with the screws for the brackets. It will compromise the integrity of the cabinetry.
- Attach the brackets.
- Lift the media storage system up, and attach the cabinet doors. We swapped the cabinet doors between the stands so they didn’t match when stacked. For example, the top cabinet is single door, then double door. On the bottom it’s double door then single door. So the double doors aren’t stacked right on top of each other.
- Take inside and use as useful and beautiful storage!
Now it’s your turn! Take your trip to IKEA, get your supplies, and get building! Make sure to tag us on social media, or send us an email! We’d love to see how it ends up for you! And if you find any better hints, send them our way, and we can update this post!
Don’t miss out! Subscribe HERE for our newsletter, and join us on social media!
Want to remember this post? Share on social media, or pin to your favorite Pinterest board!