Materials: Expedit 4-compartment (2), 96"x 20" pine project panel, 8' wood mouldings (2 each of 3 different designs), L brackets (4), wood glue, finish nails
Description: I'm a work-at-home author and knitwear designer whose only office space is carved out of the hallway between our foyer and dining room. My desk has to fit against the triangle wall formed by a staircase. Making my own desk from 2 Expedits gives me 8 feet of beautiful desktop real estate, while only taking up 20" of hallway.
While I love the quality and value of Ikea furniture, most of the styles are too modern-looking for me. To make my desk look more traditional, I added moulding from my home improvement center. First I trimmed around 3 sides of the bottom of each Expedit with 1 3/4" moulding, mitering the corners. Then I added 4 1" L brackets to the upper inside edges of each piece to anchor the desktop. After that I layered 2 different mouldings and ran them all the way across the front and 2 short sides of the Expedits. I hid all the finish nail holes with putty and paint. Then I added the desktop (which I stained and varnished beforehand), securing from underneath with the L brackets.
I'm really happy with my new desk; the extra width more than makes up for its narrowness. I got exactly the right sized desk with lots of storage, too. The project took just a weekend, (most of which was waiting for paint and varnish coats to dry, and cost just under $200.
See more of the Expedit desk.
~ Mary Scott Huff, Fairview, Oregon
