Ikea Hyllis Hack – Rolling Cart

Happy June friends!  I’m so excited to be sharing my tutorial for my IKEA Hyllis hack!  If you followed along with my One Room Challenge laundry room renovation then you’ve already got a sneak peek of this IKEA hack.  Today, I’m sharing the step by step process for this IKEA Hyllis hack – rolling cart.

My laundry room is pretty darn tiny and I needed all of the extra space that I could get.  There is a whopping 11″ of space in between my washer and dryer that I wanted to take advantage of but fining a cart to fit was an impossible task.  My first thought was to build a wooden rolling cart from scratch but I was in the midst of a 6 week deadline to finish my entire room which included building a utility sink, laying floor and wall tile and much more.  I just didn’t have the time.  So I went to my favorite store (you guessed it, IKEA!) and found out that they now make a 29-1/8″ tall version of the Hyllis shelf!  And to top it off, it was only $9.99.  It’s about 10-3/4″ wide so I knew I could make it work for my space.

The first thing that I did was build it upside down and set it in the space.  This was more to get a feel for my design than anything else.  You can see below that I really needed some more height to make it look nice in the space.

For added height I decided to use 2.5″ casters on the bottom and build a box out of 1×6 boards on the top.  Here is what I came up with in sketchup.  Keep scrolling for a list of materials, tools and step by step directions.  This post contains affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will make a commission if you click-through and make a purchase.

Materials

IKEA Hyllis Shelf

(4) 2.5″ Casters

(4) Simpson Strongtie Corner Brackets

1×6 x 96″ board

1×10 board (you’ll only need 22″ in length so get a short piece if you can)

1/2″ thick plywood.  I used scrap pieces but if you need to purchase one, a 2’x4′ piece will be more than enough

(56) 10 x 1/2″ Screws

Brad nails

Wood glue

Wood filler

Stain

Polyurethane

Spray Paint (optional)

Sand paper

Loctite Glue

Tools

Miter Saw 

Table Saw 

Drill

Drill Bit

Brad Nailer 

Clamps

Tape Measure

Pencil

Ear Protection

Eye Protection

Directions – Ikea Hyllis Hack: rolling cart

Step 1 – Drill new holes for the shelves

Before you get started, throw away the directions that come with the shelf.  You’ll actually be building it upside down and drilling new holes for where the shelves need to be spaced.  Below is a graphic that shows where the new holes should be drilled (8 total for the top and 8 total for the middle shelf).  The bottom shelf is flush with the bottom of the four legs.  The middle shelf is centered 16- 3/16″ from the top of the legs and the top shelf is centered 3 – 3/16″ from the top of the legs.  I used a 9/16″ bit and it fit the screws that came with the shelf.

After the holes are drilled you can attach the shelves using the screws that came in the box.

Step 2 – Add Casters

I couldn’t screw the casters into the bottom shelf since it’s a thin metal so I cut two pieces of scrap 1/2″ thick wood that I had to 9-1/4″ and glued them to the bottom of the cart.  I used loctite glue and clamps to hold them in place until they dried.

Then I glued the casters on and used #8 x 5/8″screws and washers to attach them to the wood because I had them laying around but the #10 x 1/2″ screws will probably work just fine too.

Step 3 – Build the storage box

You’ll want to start out by ripping a 1×10 down to a width of 9-1/16″.  Then, you will need to cut it to 22″ in length.

The sides, front and back are all made of 1×6 boards.  Both sides are 22″ long and the front and back are 10 – 9/16″ long.  Start out by attaching both sides using wood glue and brad nails.

Then, attach the front and back using wood glue and brad nails.

Stain the box your choice of color and if desired apply polyurethane.  I used Varathane Briarsmoke stain and Minwax semi gloss polyurethane on mine.

Step 4 (OPTIONAL) – Spray paint the shelf.

This step is not necessary but if you want a specific color for the metal you can always spray it any color that you want!  I went with a satin nickel for mine.  Just be sure to tape off the casters before you spray it (or spray it before you add the casters).

Step 5 – Install the wood storage box

Drop the wood box in place.  When I did this I thought that the top of the shelf legs would sit nice and flush with the box but they definitely did not.  To fix this I drilled holes through the legs into the wood (careful not to go all the way through though!).  Then I used #10 x 1/2″ wood screws to tighten it up.

I also installed simpson strongtie corner brackets at the top of each of the corners of the box to even out the look.

And here are the final pictures of the IKEA Hyllis hack rolling cart in my laundry room.  It couldn’t have turned out any better and gives me some much needed storage!

If you want to save this tutorial for later you can pin it below 🙂

Where would use this slim storage cart?

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