Vertical shelf panel mount for IKEA IVAR

The IKEA IVAR shelving system is great, but in the US at least, IKEA sells a cabinet door for it but not a side cover to make a full enclosed cabinet.

I wanted to make a nice storage unit for my home office out of IVAR shelving to cover up some of my perpetual clutter.  The lack of a side panel, though, meant it didn't work as well as I had hoped.

I realized, though, that the IVAR shelves are of course the perfect width to use as a side panel.  I just needed some way to mount them to the side of the shelving unit.  Thus, this model.  Note that this is designed for 19-5/8" depth shelves.

I designed it using OnShape; the model file is public and you're welcome to remix it.

To use the mount, you need to trim off the end of the shelf with the original metal shelf mount, and re-use that along with the printed bracket here.

There are four parts included:

• The left and right bracket pieces.  These snap into the metal mount and screw onto the bottom of the shelf.  It's split into two to fit onto a 250mm print bed.
• A jig to help you position the bracket when you are screwing it onto the shelf.  You will want to print two of these.
• A cover that fits behind the now vertically mounted shelf to conceal any gap between panels.  You will want to print two of these, and will need to enable supports.

To install the brackets:

• Trim off the edge of the shelf with the original metal mount.  I used a circular saw, but you could use a hand saw if you are careful.
• Pry off the metal mount, being careful not to bend it.  It should come off the little sliver of wood easily.  It's easiest to take the metal pins out of the mount at this point, before you snap it into the printed brackets.
• Snap the left and right bracket pieces onto the metal mount.
• Use the jigs to align the top bracket on the shelf.
• Screw in the bracket.  Be careful to use screws that are short enough not to protrude through the other side of the shelf.
• Repeat the procedure for the bottom bracket, but align the orientation of the bracket so the open side is pointing down.

Insert the metal pins into the holes on the shelf uprights, then snap your new vertical panel in place!

The size of the shelves makes it tricky to butt one panel directly up against another, so I decided to leave a gap between vertical panels, which aligns better with the cabinet doors anyway.  I modeled a gap filler to cover up the space between panels; print two, and slip each one into the upright holes on each side.  Printing in black will make them inconspicuous and match the IKEA cabinet doors well.