What Has Six Legs & a Bed?

Thanks to a little ingenuity mixed with desperation-- my Kivik sleeper couch with new, taller legs! 

As mentioned in an earlier post, this well designed sleeper sofa has one fatal flaw: Legs that barely come off the ground. And no threaded hole to screw in new, taller legs.

There really wasn't much out there on how to add taller legs to a Kivik couch. and none on adding them to the sleeper. (Make It-Love It has a great post on custom legs for the couch-only version.) Uncle Bob's Workshop is the only place I found offering Kivik legs that didn't require an adapter. Their prices are reasonable, starting at $11 + shipping, but I'd heard there was a long lead time.  

Lo and behold, a recent date night found us at...Ikea. (What? That is married date night. We grabbed dinner first.) I of course had to swing by the As-is section, where I found two pairs of Besta legs marked down to $2.00 each. While it's not 100% what I'd pictured, it's hard to argue with that price. Or fate. Which this seemed to be.

We checked in with an employee to find the best way to attach them. Turns out, Besta legs just screws right in, they don't sell brackets for it. Luckily, the gentleman we were talking to was no quitter. He went through his database and found mounting plates for a desk that he thought would work. Back in As-is, an employee sought out the parts (normally not sold separately) and sold us four for $.80. Say what you will about Ikea, I'm always impressed with their service! 

Back at home,we figured out a trick to make the legs flush to the bracket, rather than gapped: Remove the black  glide from the bottom, reach a flathead screw driver into the hold and give it a few twists to raise the leg up. It then just took a few screws per leg to attach the brackets to the sofa frame. Using this technique means you can just easily run to Home Depot, choose a leg you like, some brackets, and viola-- normal height couch!

About 45 minutes after we began the project, our couch had four 4.5" legs holding it aloft. However, the pesky bed was now resting on the floor, refusing to join the taller parts of the couch. Can you see how it droops and gaps? 

Which brings us back to the six legs. I returned to Ikea and purchased two more Besta legs. Sadly, at full price. For now, they are strategically wedged under the bed frame. A near-future project will be drilling into the metal to permanently attach them, with felt pads on the bottom so we can still slide into bed-mode as needed. In the meantime, we're pretty pleased with our six-legged couch.