IKEA LILLABO Hack

A second life for the IKEA wooden railway

The IKEA LILLABO* wooden railway is a wonderful toy that allows your children to play imaginatively and develops their fine motor skills. But at some point, even the little ones will grow up and develop other interests. That's why we've collected the best ideas for LILLABO hacks - give the toy railway a second life!

Make a pinboard from an IKEA wooden railway

Well, if that isn't a practical IKEA hack. You can make a beautiful pinboard out of the old IKEA LILLABO wooden railway so that you don't always have notes flying around. And it doesn't just look good in the children's room, but also decorates the kitchen, hallway and study.

What you need for the LILLABO hack

You don't need much for the LILLABO hack. And you probably even have all the materials lying around at home.

LILLABO* round wooden rails
a polystyrene board
Pieces of felt
Scissors, glue and cutter knife
LILLABO accessories or play figures of your choice
Pins

How to make the DIY pinboard

First, put the round LILLABO track pieces together to form a circle - this will be the frame. Cut out the round base for the pinboard from the polystyrene sheet to match the frame. Now cover this with the felt fabric. Then glue the frame made of wooden rails around the pinboard.

The best part comes at the end: you can now decorate the frame of the DIY pinboard however you like laminate. With old play figures, mini animals or railway carriages. You can let your imagination run wild. Use the pins to hang up all your important notes and beautiful photos. And the LILLABO hack is complete. Both thumbs up for this great idea from @bastelmania_thordis!

LILLABO hack: DIY picture frame

The discarded wooden railway can also be used wonderfully as an unusual picture frame. Once you've put the wooden rails together in a circle, you can transform them into a beautiful frame with a very simple design that is not only an eye-catcher in the children's room. You can embellish all kinds of things with the LILLABO hack: photos, pictures or, as in the picture, a blackboard. We can also imagine using the frame to decorate a wall clock in the children's room.

Image source: @knopf_und_spatz

LILLABO becomes a tree of life

Actually quite simple, and yet so beautiful: the disused IKEA LILLABO wooden railway can easily be transformed into an eye-catcher in the children's room. As a riiiiiiiight tree - a tree of life in the children's room. By the way, we think the little swing for dolls and the like, which was built from the IKEA spice rack, is very successful.

Image source: @steph_koxx

Another great idea for the LILLABO hack are small hooks that you can simply attach to your tree made from the wooden railway. This turns the tree into a decorative coat rack in the children's room. Of course, you can get all kinds of hooks from our favourite Swedish company. And they can also be colourful, such as the LÖSJON hooks* for screwing and gluing.

Image source: @anita_herhvemder

Stylish decoration from the old LILLABO wooden railway

Do you want the decorations in your child's room to be stylish but still suitable for children? We have painted the classic wooden railway in black with simple brush strokes and conjured up a street look with small white strokes. They are an absolute eye-catcher on the white chest of drawers. This black wooden railway complements the trendy black and white decoration in the children's room. Gender-neutral and suitable for all ages! A great upgrading idea that will find its place in any child's room.

The matching board stickers are available for the IKEA TROFAST shelf, making it super easy to create organisation in the children's room. We used the board stickers for the IKEA TAFFLA, which makes the children's shelf much clearer and more child-friendly. This way, the children know what belongs where in the nursery. The best thing about it: the board stickers can be re-labelled again and again.

View chalkboard stickers

Build a large construction site with the IKEA wooden railway

The IKEA LILLABO wooden railway is not only suitable for trains. Sarah from @2little_lims shows us how. A large construction site can be built quickly with a little sand, a few pebbles and the toy excavators. Of course, the paths lead to and from the building site via the sturdy wooden railway tracks. A creative idea for the little builders among you!