IKEA Hack #3 RAST Shelves

This is my 3rd  IKEA hack which is a very simple one to do.

Due to fitting new flooring, I couldn't have the existing RAST drawers beside the bed due to the quadrant trim over the laminate flooring. So had to find an alternative solution.

Flooring laid w/o trimming & drawers fit, but only just.

So I went for RAST shelves as they fit nicely beside the bed.

But I found them too low for the bed. Was just a nightmare to reach down for my cuppa, bedtime reading, etc.

So I decided like my BERTBY hack I would hang them on the wall with FAKTUM Brackets.

 

But the bottom shelf was too high for the plugs & didn't look right with legs hanging like they are, so decided to lower the bottom shelf to mirror the top shelf.

I started by putting the leg planks together & rotate one round so holes of this leg plank are opposite to the other leg plank, then used a drill to carefully drill through the holes into the other plank to make a set of matching holes.

This did mean I had extra holes not required now & didn't want them visible, so I carefully filled & sanded them flush to the wood.

Next was to drill a larger hole on 1 side of each set of shelves to feed wiring from plugs for lamps, chargers, etc then painted all the wood to cover my filling & protect the wood.

Once paint had dried, it was a case of building the 2 set of shelves & hang them to the wall on either side of the bed.

As you can see by next pic, the wiring feeds through & lamp switches are stuck in place with those no-damage adhesive pads.

I was very pleased with the results & feel the shelves really go with the decor & make the room look bigger because you can see the floor..

'Autumn' 30 DAYS OF BIKING

If you are new to me or not paid attention to my Facebook & Twitter post, I have been posting daily throughout September about #30daysofbiking, but this isn't my 1st one as I did it in April too 30-days-of-biking.

Now if you haven't heard of it then here’s the site which tells more about this global event '30 days of biking story', quite simply it’s a pledge: Ride somewhere every day for 30 days then share your adventures online.

So why did I do this 30 days of biking? Well I've done it before & was a struggle, so thought I do it again to see if A. I still can, B. I can do better. Thankfully we had some really good weather for it.

So how did I do? Well, I found it easier than last time. Managed to beat my times to town & back but the 2 main things I excelled in was that I finally managed to cycle more than 10 miles & get back in 1 trip & twice I managed to cycle to town with trailer then cycle back with shopping. Both of those I've tried some months back & failed to do, so quite chuffed I was able to.

Below are some charts showing my performance of April & September to show how I did.

As you can see I only did a little bit more in mileage & duration, but that was partly due to the fact I got a lovely stinking head cold on the last week. But I did do the 30 days & it was the last day I exceeded my endurance by pulling a trailer home with over 20kg of cat litter in it for about 3 miles. But due to being faster & working harder in my riding I'd used a lot more calories, not a bad thing & is showing on my figure & improved walking.

So as like April's 30 days of cycling, where do I go? Well, starters I will now rely on cycling & not buses. After all I can now get there faster than a bus & more reliable, I'm already kitting up winter wear to help cycle through the colder weather. I've signed up to a cycling group where they go on leisurely gentle cycle rides & plan to do more of these. I had fun with the last one to Hyland House, even if it was a 15 mile round trip.

But now I can cycle regularly & carry weight on bike &/or in trailer, it definitely means I can look to work part time. Been retraining with Jobcentre & just need someone to give me a job to help me continue improving my health at my pace, which is working just fine with the cycling. :D

But until then, I'll keep on cycling & work on upgrading part on my bike as I've definitely got my moneys worth out of the beast since buying it second hand & some parts are showing wear. I will keep you all updated as time goes on, until then how about you give it a try if you haven't already? Don't have to wait until next year, just try it now for 30 days & see how you do. That is if you don't do it already.….