We picked up a simple TARVA bed base to fit the current mattress (though I'm sure in years to come the mattress itself will get an upgrade) and then set about accessorizing it with a couple of JANSJO lamps. The idea was to mount the lights to the bed frame itself (quite high on the sides to minimise the structural impact of the big holes). We also considered mounting them to the bedside tables but this would have left them a little low for sitting in bed reading.
These lamps arrive in two pieces - the flexible arm and a heavy base which meant we didn't need to modify them at all - we only want the flexible arm for this build. They would have been held to the base with two screws - perfect for refitting to our bedframe. After a careful bit of marking on the side struts of the bed frame Joe then set about the drilling. Firstly two pilot holes all the way through the frame. Then he used a flat drill bit to cut a recess for each hole from the back of the frame, and then finally widened the hole a little from the front. This left us with a narrow hole at the front that was a tight fit for the screw mountings, which then opened out at the back to a wider hole that allowed for the washers that were provided.
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| Adding a depth marker to the flat drill bit - this was one hole that didn't want to go all the way through! |
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| Piloting first. |
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| Drilling out the widest holes to allow for screw heads and washers. |
We then assembled the bed frame before finally screwing the lights to the bed (with the help of some blutack to keep the screws the right way round in the depths of the holes we'd created).
What do you think?
p.s. we're not being paid by Ikea for all these furniture mentions - they're just a convenient fairly local store!