Ikea lack tile bench

the easiest way to make yourself a piece of tile furniture without the hustle of base construction

need:

one or two LACK tv benches (two for the high version)

4 MDF boards

low version 40 x 15,7 cm (1 cm thick)

high version 80 x 15,7 cm (1 cm thick)

(if you dont want to hustle with the air in between the boards get two 2,5 cm thick ones and sandwich them together, this way youll get a solid filler piece. i just felt its a little lighter to use 1 cm wood)

brackets, screws (short ones not longer than 1 cm)

ideally 4x4 cm ones

glue

all purpose glue or hot glue

mosaic tiles

one individual tile: 4,8 x 4,8 cm

one sheet of tile: 29,8 x 29,8 cm

tile glue

grout

spatula, sponge, gloves, floor protection ...

build your bench (leave the board for the below shelving out)

get your mdf boards

for the low bench 40 x 15,7 cm

slide the first one between the legs and level it to be flush with the outside of the legs

put some brackets to keep the board in place

I glued them first and screwed them into the legs and the wood. be careful to not screw through the mdf too far, so you don't have the tip-off the screw peaking out

I put hot glue as kind of a filler along the whole slit where the mdf and the leg meet. just to give it some extra sturdyness and to create a bit of a moisture barrier when the tile glue hits the bench.

if your'e able to find 4x4 cm brackets: they make the perfect spacers for 1 cm thick mdf. you'll be able to push the second mdf board between the legs and have it resting on the brackets in perfect position.

if you can't find these brackets: use other small ones or just a piece of wood thats 3 cm thick as a spacer.

or if you don't want that hollow center: get 4 mdf sheets, same measurements - just 2,5 cm thick. if you sandwich them together you'll get a 5 cm thick piece you can just glue in between the legs.

I wouldn't suggest to get wood slabs like pine or just other woods that are not ground up like mdf. full wood slabs can warp when being exposed to moisture over time, this can mess up grout lines and build up cracks.

just to be super secure I drenched everything in hot glue to be sure its in place. haha

you can also put glue on the sides of the mdf boards before you slide them between the legs, this way they will stick to the inner sides of the legs even more.

(the measurements written on the board are wrong : HAS TO BE 15,7 x 40 cm NOT 14,7) !!

if you want to make a side board height get two lack benches

build one just as above

then take the legs from the second one and screw them under the legs you've already screwed into the base, to basically make them super long ones

measure out the middle of the bottom of the leg and then drill a pilot hole to be sure you get them in straight

screw the second leg into each leg, I did put some wood glue in between just as some extra secureness

then slide on your boards just as described on the low one. it's the exact same, just with longer legs.

now for the tile part:

if you can't find these exact tiles - any small tile thats 5x5 cm or a bit smaller will work.

(I put the link for the exact ones I used in the picture, just click on it)

If you're EU based klick on www.bauhaus.eu to find a store near you.

I have found tiles via amazon in the past, I'll put a few links down below.

cut your tile sheets to fit the bench, when you cut the net make sure you don't have pieces of the net sticking out underneath the tile, the net can mess up your grout job later on.

you can use tile glue for the whole bench, I used hot glue for the font and back because its so fiddle-y to put tile glue for just one line of tile.

both works. but I would recommend to use tile glue for the top and all sides, the tile glue will level out any little bumps and over all will be a faster option for the whole sheets than glueing on every tile individually.

once the whole thing is tiled let it dry over night, ideally 24 hours.

DO NOT put grout over semi dry tile glue, it will make your grout crack because the moisture from underneath the tile will try to go somewhere...

DO NOT put excessive amounts of tile glue, just a super thin layer ( ideally you have one of these toothed spatulas) if you put too much it will squeeze trough the ridges where the grout later goes - if you see some squeezing try to wipe the space clean and empty again, so you'll have space for your grout later on. especially if you plan to use white grout, be sure you don't have that grey glue smudged on the tile or the edges, one its hardened, its hard to get off.

if you feel like hot glue is not as scary: you can use just and only to glue. but make sure you ideally rough up the benches surface a bit before to get better grip.

glue every single tile individually! the glue hardens pretty quick when touching the cold ceramic, so make sure to put a bit of glue then put your tile in pace - put a bit of glue put your tile in place ... do not put glue over the whole surface and then try to align the whole sheet. you'll end up with an uneven tile because the glue hardens too fast.

grout the whole thing, use soapy water to go over it and smooth everything out.

again let dry at least over night before doing the final wipe down to get that grout sheen away.

aaaand done!

I've put little furniture wheels underneath the legs (screwed into the 5x5 cm part of the Ikea bench leg) to be able to roll them around easily.

thats just an option

Links: click on the pictures.

partly amazon affiliate - you don't pay more, you just pay me back a bit for doing all of this for free.

amazon tile option matte

amazon tile option shiny