How to make a guitar from Ikea furniture: Brussels woodcrafter’s video goes ‘viral’

A self-taught woodworker from Brussels attracted worldwide attention on the Internet after creating a guitar entirely out of Ikea furniture. 

The hobby woodcrafter uploaded videos of his project to his YouTube channel Tchiks Guitars, with the latest garnering over 4 million views, reports RTBF. 

In one video, he explains that he began creating guitars out of furniture around his house because timber stores were closed during Belgium’s coronavirus lockdowns. 

“Making this guitar may look tedious (or stupid) to you, but this was my own personal therapy during this insane period,” he wrote to accompany one video. 

Although his daughter’s old crib served as initial inspiration for the six-stringed instrument, he finally upcycled various bits of the Swedish chain’s furniture.

They included Ikea’s STUVA cot (for the guitar’s neck), HENRIKSDAL chair (body), LACK shelf (body), MÅLERÅS picture ledge (fretboard), APTILIG cutting board (knobs), LILANGEN door handle (jack output plate) and KALLAX insert knob (strap buttons). Finally, with a lace alumitone humbucker and strings, he succeeded in creating a fully-functioning guitar.

“The guitar started out as a joke,” he wrote. “I remember going upstairs and telling my wife ‘I'm gonna make a guitar out of Zoé's old bed.’ She rolled her eyes and asked me why. Then I immediately thought: ‘This is the way.’”

The woodworker, who is not a professional craftsman, said he was inspired by Queen guitarist Brian May who once made a guitar with his father using little more than wood from their fireplace mantle.  

“In my original design, I was trying to emulate an actual solid body guitar, so I had to find a way to make curved sides, which is not an easy thing to do when all you have is stuff from Ikea,” he wrote.

“Another problem I had was that, to my knowledge, the only tone wood that Ikea uses is acacia, which they use in some of their outdoor furniture (and I didn't have any at home),” reported Guitar World.

Nevertheless, he persisted with the intricate woodwork project. “I kept finding excuses not to make the final jump, but the Red Special [ the name of Brian May's homemade guitar] really opened up my eyes: Brian May taught me that there are no rules, as he demonstrated by making a legendary guitar with a body that is essentially pine and oak.”

Photo: Tchiks Guitars