But once you add a 3D printer to the mix, your options explode. Over the last few months, as I’ve repurposed and upgraded some existing Ikea pieces in my home, I’ve been designing and printing small parts to improve functionality, adapt legacy hardware, and customize how each piece fits into my space.
However, when you combine Ikea with a 3D printer, you can take your creativity to a new level. As I repurpose existing Ikea pieces, I have tried:
- Reinforcing brackets to strabilixe old pieces and prevent wobblying
- Adapters to help newer fittings fit older discontinued pieces
- Shelf drilling guides to add extra shelf holes to bookcases
- reproduction of spare parts such as hinges, pegs, and clips
- Wire grommets to cleanly route wires through desks or cabinets
- Adding pegboard to the side of bookcases and others
- Custom organizers and brackets for Ikea systems such as the Skadis pegboard system
- Skadis panels of sizes not available
- Device mounts and cable clips.
Some of these are practical—stopping a wobbly Billy bookcase from breaking. Others are creative, like turning a plain desk into a smarter command station with cable management, a microphone arm, and mounted shelves.
What makes this approach powerful is that 3D printing restores and extends the modular spirit of Ikea. Not only can you get parts free from other people, you can design your own, print fast, and you can tweak them to fit your exact needs—no settling for generic “close enough” hardware.
Ikea has always been about customization on a budget. With a 3D printer, that customization doesn’t stop at rearranging shelves—it extends to the components themselves. You can reinforce, revive, and reimagine every flat-packed piece you own.
