Ikea Hack: Couch Arm Table
There has been a lot to be concerned about recently, and so yesterday I posted an image to social media of our sweet dog, Olive. Here is what I posted:
Here is what I saw when I posted the image:
Isn’t she adorable? She joined our family one week before it became apparent that staying at home (if one was able to) was the most socially responsible decision to make in the face of a global pandemic. As a result, we have had the good fortune to get to know her rather well rather quickly, and we wanted to share the glory that is Olive with others.
What I didn’t foresee was that there was another feature in that photo vying for attention…
That’s right, Olive. You may be cute and loving as hell, but no one can resist a good Ikea hack. Not even me, as it happens. So here it is, the quick story and a bite-sized how-to.
About a year ago, my delightful housemate and I were chatting about our days. I mentioned that I had been thinking that a couch arm side table would be perfect for our not-so-large home (792 sq. ft. is everything we need, but it definitely encourages strategic furniture decisions), but the Etsy searches for couch arm tables returned items that were definitely out of my price range.
My housemate and I continued chatting as we walked around the house, making dinner for ourselves and doing laundry. There, on top of the washing machine, was a not-yet-used Ikea magazine file. You may know the one. It looks like this:
I thought, “Yeah, something like this for a coffee arm table.” On a whim, I went over to the couch, and voila, perfect fit! It’s a little shameful how excited I was about the discovery. Let us speak no more of that pride-saturated moment.
The only thing that stood between me and coffee arm table of my dreams/budget was that small front section of birch, which is nothing a hand scroll saw and 5 minutes couldn’t remove. I just made two cuts down the length, and then the joints at the bottom separated on their own (with the help of a little fidgeting).
Magazine file (stained) from the front 
Magazine file with the front piece sawed/fidgeted off
I sanded the sawed edges a trifle, took a wood stain I already had in the garage and slapped a coat on, waited a few days to set the stain, and slotted my hacked invention onto the arm rest. Magic!
Naked couch arm 
Tabled couch arm!
As you can see, there was another benefit of the magazine file couch table—covering up the sins of three housekitties from a previous era. We went from tattered to savvy in short order!
So there it is, the simple magic of the Knuff Ikea couch arm table hack. Now please look at my dog, Olive. She’s a sweetie.
