29 March 2019

IKEA Gladom Hack

Turn a $20 tray table into a chic mid-century double-tier table.

By In Make, Style 2 min read

It’s been a while since I worked at Ultimaker, and I’ve been itching to practice some of the things I learned there again recently. Among them my 3D-modeling skills – they were never quite up to par with my colleagues who created really awesome stuff but with some experimentation, I’ve been making some cute things. My Leica hotshoe covers were well-received by many Leica (and other analog photography) geeks. And now I’ve created an IKEA Gladom Hack that even got featured on Ikeahackers:

Basically, the IKEA Gladom tray table is just begging for a hack. The tray is not fixed to the frame, and can easily be swapped out for another tray. In my hack, I’ve replaced it with a nice wooden tray from a local kitchen chain. If you wanted though, you could use the wooden IKEA Skala tray if it’s important to stay IKEA-only for you.

IKEA Gladom hack

So where does the 3D-printing come in? The original tray can be fitted to the bottom of the Gladom’s frame, making it a two-tier side table. But the tray won’t stay in place without something on the frame to hold the tray. And that’s where my 3D-modeled clips come into play. Print 4 of these clips, preferably in a rubber-like material such as TPU, and clip them to the bottom of the frame. The original tray will then fit snugly between the clips and stay mounted to the frame!

IKEA Gladom hack 3D-printed clip

This remarkably easy modification really changes the look of the simple IKEA Gladom table and makes it appear far more modern. And as you can pick any tray of your choice for the top tier, you have absolute freedom to make this table look any way you want. I picked wood to go for that mid-century look, but you could go for gold-colored for a more bohemian look, white for a mono-color look, or a glass tray for a modern look. As long as it’s the right size tray, you can do anything with this table’s hack. I’ve made the clips available on Thingiverse. Let me know what you think if you’ve printed these!

What do you think?