One of the consequences-cum-opportunities in my home came from having to create a chase in the corner of my bedroom for my water heater's exhaust. The chase resulted in a 24" deep inset, which created a perfect little space behind my bedroom door for a desk. There were only two problems: First, there was nothing that I could find that I both liked and was in my price range. (What?! I have expensive tastes!) Secondly, the floor in the corner, much like elsewhere in the bedroom, is not flat, but ramps up slightly towards the corner, meaning that any purchased desk would either need to have thoroughly adjustable legs or be shimmed. So, faced with these challenges I opted to build my own desk, utilizing a simple, modern design and some surprisingly inexpensive items from IKEA.
The desk design consists of a white desktop, supported on the side and back walls with a concealed metal angle, with a turn-down support piece on the open side, a continuation of the desktop. The materials are 39.5"L IKEA work surfaces, which I bought for $3.99 each(!), a 4'L metal angle (cut to length with a hacksaw), and assorted fasteners from Home Depot. After attaching the metal angles to the wall using screws and washers where there were studs and drywall anchors elsewhere
(thankfully I had pictures of the framing to help locate the studs) I placed the top piece on the brackets and took measurements for the side piece. I used
cam screws and nuts from Home Depot (the very same featured in just about every piece of IKEA furniture) to connect the side piece and top, so at this point I measured and pre-drilled for these. For the cam nuts I ended up buying a
forstner bit, which renders a (nearly) flat bottom at the base of the drilled hole. The one surprise that I had in this process came when drilling the center hole, which is when I discovered that the IKEA desktops are hollow with a cardboard honeycomb.
Fortunately I was drilling slowly (and did not drill through the top) and there was enough wood blocking at either side of the work surface to allow me to use two fastening points. I then cut down the side panel, which was angled to account for the sloping floor. Because the underside of the desktop (now the inside support) was unfinished, I spray painted the underside semi-gloss white to match the rest of the piece. Then it was simply a matter of letting the paint dry and then connecting the two panels together, and then finally, using small screw bolts and a socket wrench, attaching the desktop to the brackets.
I'm very happy with the end results and hope that it proves to be a useful and productive workspace.
One of the consequences-cum-opportunities in my home came from having to create a chase in the corner of my bedroom for my water heater's exhaust. The chase resulted in a 24" deep inset, which created a perfect little space behind my bedroom door for a desk. There were only two problems: First, there was nothing that I could find that I both liked and was in my price range. (What?! I have expensive tastes!) Secondly, the floor in the corner, much like elsewhere in the bedroom, is not flat, but ramps up slightly towards the corner, meaning that any purchased desk would either need to have thoroughly adjustable legs or be shimmed. So, faced with these challenges I opted to build my own desk, utilizing a simple, modern design and some surprisingly inexpensive items from IKEA.
The desk design consists of a white desktop, supported on the side and back walls with a concealed metal angle, with a turn-down support piece on the open side, a continuation of the desktop. The materials are 39.5"L IKEA work surfaces, which I bought for $3.99 each(!), a 4'L metal angle (cut to length with a hacksaw), and assorted fasteners from Home Depot. After attaching the metal angles to the wall using screws and washers where there were studs and drywall anchors elsewhere 
(thankfully I had pictures of the framing to help locate the studs) I placed the top piece on the brackets and took measurements for the side piece. I used cam screws and nuts from Home Depot (the very same featured in just about every piece of IKEA furniture) to connect the side piece and top, so at this point I measured and pre-drilled for these. For the cam nuts I ended up buying a forstner bit, which renders a (nearly) flat bottom at the base of the drilled hole. The one surprise that I had in this process came when drilling the center hole, which is when I discovered that the IKEA desktops are hollow with a cardboard honeycomb. 
Fortunately I was drilling slowly (and did not drill through the top) and there was enough wood blocking at either side of the work surface to allow me to use two fastening points. I then cut down the side panel, which was angled to account for the sloping floor. Because the underside of the desktop (now the inside support) was unfinished, I spray painted the underside semi-gloss white to match the rest of the piece. Then it was simply a matter of letting the paint dry and then connecting the two panels together, and then finally, using small screw bolts and a socket wrench, attaching the desktop to the brackets.
I'm very happy with the end results and hope that it proves to be a useful and productive workspace.
1 comment:
ha, I will test my thought, your post give me some good ideas, it's really awesome, thanks.
- Norman
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