
You’ve already seen my filing trunk that I revealed last week which helped with papers and organizing for my desk area. Now I am excited to reveal my hide-away printer!
My husband and I hang almost all our clothes so we weren’t making the most of our Hemnes Ikea dresser and I did not want a big printer out in the open in my “office area” since it’s right in our Master Bedroom. So I did a complete make-shift DIY project and turned one of the drawers into a fold down hide-away printer area. Then I used the drawer above it to store all my extra office goods like paper, scissors, pens, paper clips etc…
I don’t have the best tutorial and how to pictures for this project because it was COMLETELY make-shift as I went. I literally went to Lowe’s and bought like 20 different items I thought may be able to help me make it work, came home dumped them all out and started at it.
My {sort of} How To Turn a Drawer into a Hide-Away Printer
If you’re familiar with the Hemnes dresser from Ikea you know that the drawer fronts are attached with wooden dowels and two metal screws. I removed all the pieces allowing the front panel piece to be free-standing.

Next, the particle board bottom is grooved into the front panel piece so in order for it to be able to fold down and back up the bottom board couldn’t go into that groove anymore so I just used an x-acto knife and cut it off.

Out of all the goods I bought these were the two that ended up being what I used. I used three 2&half” utility hinges and a right hand and left hand support hinge.


I don’ t have any pictures of how I went about attaching this all together because it was one big hot mess.
For each hinge (one on the far left, on the far right, and in the exact middle) I cut away a part of the bottom so the center of the hinge would sit in that area. Then supporting the front panel laying flat open, I screwed the hinge into place into the bottom drawer piece and the front panel. The bottom particle board is very thin so the screws of the hinge stick out through the bottom. To be sure they didn’t rip back out I used a size 6 washer and bolt on the underside of the drawer to help secure the hinge into place.

I wish I had a few more pictures and better descriptions of what I did but from this picture I hope you get the idea of how it’s composed together.
The last and final step drilling a small hole in the back of the drawer (through the bottom) to feed the power cable through to the printer. Our printer is wireless which I would imagine is crucial in being able to do this for your own project. The only cable leaving our printer is the power cable which made this a convenient project to do.


As mentioned I use the drawer above the printer drawer to store the remainder of my office needs that would typically go into your desk drawer. Now our Hemnes dresser is a fully functional piece of furniture in our bedroom as a half dresser – half office organizer!


Once again, here’s another big sneak peek at our Master Bedroom reveal, and between this and my filing trunk post you’ve now seen all four walls of our room. I’m putting together a final master reveal and can’t wait to show off all the little details. I am in LOVE with the big large frame that my best friend gave me that fit perfectly around our TV.
Using some books stacked on top of our DVR it helps blend in the DVR and DVD player as a collection. The big yelllow vase was a make over I showed here, and I love love love my big beautiful “S”.
So what do you think!? Am I the only crazy enough one to go about such a “cosmetic” project for the sole purpose to hide a printer? This one came so close to becoming a big epic #fail but in the end it worked and I’m so happy!
Last final stage of my little office area will be hiding those cables! I haven’t come up with any super great ideas yet so still working on that one.
Linked up with these great parties and the others found here:
Weekend Wrap Up Party - Tatertots and Jello
Furniture Feature Friday - Miss Mustard SeedTip Me Tuesday - Tip Junkie

Brilliant!
ReplyDelete--Katie
@ Creatively Living
What a great idea!!! Love it! :)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.toddlindsey.com
Awesome! you did a great job!
ReplyDeleteYou are so clever!
ReplyDeleteThis is just brilliant! My "office" is also my living room! I'm on a new hunt for a workable piece of furniture I think for this project!
ReplyDeleteI'm a new blogger, too, and a new follower (found you from Show Me What You Got on Not JUST a Housewife)! Feel free to come by and take a peek: http://shonaskye.blogspot.com
Genius!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm really loving the yellow and grays. The frame around the TV looks great. What a smart idea to have the printer hidden like that.
ReplyDeletehow crazy amazing is this!!! LOVE it!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeletethis is so so cool! I hope you'll add it to my What We Wore and Made Party over at http://raegunwear.blogspot.com/search/label/WWWMW
ReplyDeleteYou are a genius! Having a printer out in the open is one of my biggest pet peeves because it always seems to be in the way. I don't think this was extreme at all!
ReplyDeleteWow this looks great! It makes me want to have an unused dresser drawer so that I can turn it into a pull-out printer drawer.
ReplyDeleteThat's just too cool. I've been trying to figure out how to hide my printer. Getting pretty darn tired of staring at it...
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
WOW! how cool and creative is that!! Awesome job! I would love for you to come share today over at Passionatelyperfect.com!!
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing! I just signed up to follow your blog. I'm going to show this to my sister and try to get her to let me hack her dresser!
ReplyDeleteNancy
http://alifedesigned.blogspot.com/
I love this idea. I wish I had somewhere I could do this with. It's a great way to hide the printer. Fabulous idea!!!
ReplyDeleteRuth
Featuring this on FB today! Nice job!
ReplyDelete--Katie
@ Creatively Living
I'm featuring this tonight on Tell it to Me Tuesday @ Creatively Living!
ReplyDeleteCome by and grab a button!
--Katie
Ok...you just blew me away! I have that dresser and will totally be doing this. The frame around the TV looks awesome! And I love how you added the books to the dvd player! Amazing!!
ReplyDeleteYou just grabbed another feature tomorrow over at Passionatelyperfect.com!! Stop by and grab a button!!
ReplyDeleteFantastic!!!
ReplyDeleteHi! Perfect Idea! You should put this idea in this site: http://www.ikeahackers.net/
ReplyDeleteIt has projects of people that bought someting at IKEA and transform it. This is one of th best ideas I've seen with this dresser!
Kisses, Helena from Portugal
What an amazingly creative idea! Way to go! I have been contemplating transforming a dresser into a table to go under the TV in the living room, and if I did, I would totally use this idea to hide away the printer. Not only is it obnoxious, but putting it out of sight of the 2 year old in the house would be a relief! I wonder if a piano hinge would be easier to work with? i think they are flatter than the standard utility hinge... Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI wondered about using a long hinge, but at the time that I came up with the idea and bought all the stuff at Lowe's, and the little hinges were only a couple dollars while the piano one was $25 so at that time I was trying to make it the most inexpensive project. I do believe though that it would be easier to work with and may have more durability.
DeletePamela
I love what you did with the dresser! Did you make that big S, if so, how did you do that it is super cute.
ReplyDeleteLove what you did with the dresser! Did you make the big S, if so, how did you do it? It is super cute
ReplyDeleteThanks Emily! I bought it the S from a really cute Etsy shop! http://www.etsy.com/listing/62335972/letter-s-2-ft-tall-vintage-style-wood -- that's the listing!
DeleteAwesome. I agree you should submit this to IKEA HACKERS, You did an awesome job!
ReplyDeleteI love dual purpose pieces that suit the look of a room AND multiple functions!
ReplyDeleteShannon
Aka design
Where ohhh where did you get that big beautiful S - please do tell!
ReplyDeleteI bought it from a really cute Etsy shop! http://www.etsy.com/listing/62335972/letter-s-2-ft-tall-vintage-style-wood -- that's the listing!
DeletePamela
Oh... Could you tell whe you got your yellow rug? I love it!
ReplyDeleteHi Pam, could you tell me where you got your yellow rug from?
ReplyDeleteI bought it from HouseAccents.com when it was on sale, since then it has been marked up in price quite a bit and by quite a bit I mean a lot. I was able to buy it for $85
Deletehttp://www.houseaccents.com/accents/rugs/rugs-usa-trellis/yellow/200XMP29-508.html
This is BRILLIANT!!
ReplyDeleteSo nice, thanks!
ReplyDeletebest way to hide the wires would be to go wireless! We have a wireless print server cnnected to our printer, which means the laptops can print to it too, from anywhere in the house.
ReplyDeleteWe've had the desktop in a hideaway cupboard with the printer for a while, but since its showing its age we're thinking of donating it to a local charity... this project of yours provides a nice solution to where to hide the printer now. Thanks!
Absolutely love it, I'd been trying to find something like this just so I could see how it was put together, now I've got step-by-step instructions - THANK YOU!!!
ReplyDeleteThis looks awesome! My last name also starts with "S"... So, now I totally want one!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea. Just want to mention that getting a printer that has a tray for sheet paper makes this setup work much better. Otherwise, feeding paper from the back of the printer can be an issue.
ReplyDeleteYou're right! I didn't even think of that! I haven't owned one like that for many years so kind of forgot about them.
DeleteThanks
Pamela
PBJstories.com
LOVE this!!! We needed a good "cosmetic" solution to our guest room/office and I think I may have to steal this idea if that's okay. Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteOoh, this is so ingenious! No, you are not crazy, you are brilliant.
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing. I am doing it!!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas.
ReplyDeleteThis is so ingenious and incredibly organized! What a great use of a dresser! I'm working on my office and this is very inspiring! Great job! BTW, where did you get your shelf liner? I really like the yellow stripes!
ReplyDeleteBecky B.
www.organizingmadefun.com
Organizing Made Fun
What did you do with the power cord? Love this idea!!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I drilled a small hole (big enough to feed the plug of the cord through the hole though), in the back of the drawer and fed the power cord through that and then plugged it behind the dresser. Hope that helps! xoxo
DeleteWhere did you get your drapes? Love them!!
ReplyDeleteI love the drapes too!
ReplyDeleteWhat you actually got to prevent the screws from ripping through the bottom particle board were washers and nuts, NOT washers and bolts.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to try this with my printer. Such a great idea, thanks!
ReplyDelete-Katie Leach
From HopeForBinati
www.hopeforbinati.etsy.com
Not in the least bit crazy! What a fantastic idea. If I were to do this I think that I would paint the rest of the drawer (all wood showing) black, but of course leave the yellow and white striped bottom.
ReplyDeleteI love it. Great idea and great tutorial. Any chance someone can tell me the interior dimensions of that bottom drawer? My Canon photo printer is 28" wide and 7.5" tall and I wonder if it will fit. Ikea is several hours away, but worth a trip if it will work.
ReplyDeleteLove this idea. Thanks for the pictures and the tutorial. Can anyone tell me if a printer 28" wide and 7.5" tall will fit in the bottom drawer?
ReplyDeleteUMMMM- Brilliant! I hide my printer and get it out nearly every day for the kids. Why did I not find you sooner!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank heavens for pinterest!
ReplyDeleteJust found your blog as a link in an online de-clutter article yesterday (Jan 9,2014)
ReplyDeleteLOVED the hideaway printer idea...did the same thing but as a hide-the-PS3!! I was so tired of the "stuff" for gaming that my grandkids had in my living room. Bought a chest of drawers at a thrift store and my son used your idea. The kids can access the PS3 to put a game in but it doesn't have to stay out when they aren't using it. And the games, accessories, and movies fit in all the rest of the drawers. THANK YOU!!!
Omg! I love this idea! I have been struggling with how to add an office to my small bedroom without looking like an office and hide all the extras and you gave me an amazing idea! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteShelli M
www.babaluboutique.com
Love Love Love this idea! I have been struggling with how to combine an office space in my small bedroom without it looking like one and this is a great idea! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteShelli
www.babaluboutique.com
VERY IMPRESSIVE ! I didn't thought of this and it's been a while that i'm searching for something to hide my printer ! THANK YOU
ReplyDelete