J.N. Taylor and Co.: Compact Bedroom Workstation By: Jules Yap

Friday, August 30, 2013

Compact Bedroom Workstation By: Jules Yap

Materials: 2 Billy Bookshelves, Norberg Table, Lindmon Tabletop, Vattna Wall Clock, Sultan bed slats, drywall screws, wood screws, washers, latex-based construction caulk, television flush mount, Forstner Drill bit

Description: In need of a 30" desk with ample storage to utilize between our two closets, I racked my brain to find a solution. I toyed with custom-building a cabinet, but finally came upon a good fit with numerous IKEA pieces.

By placing the two Billy Bookshelves back-to-back (leaving a space in between for wiring to pass), I found that the Lindmon tabletop was a perfect spacer. The white melamine makes a clean and light front, too. Weight was important so that the TV (my monitor) would not pull the whole assembly over.

I screwed in from the back, using drywall screws just shorter than the depth of the Billy sideboards and tabletop combined. A bit of caulk helps as a quasi-removable adhesive (installers regularly use this alone to hold countertops in place so why not here?). Disc washers prevented the screws from self-countersinking and ruining the tabletop.

Upon installing the tabletop I immediately installed the TV bracket, also screwing through the tabletop into the Billy sidewalls, using provided bolts to also go into pieces of SULTAN slats in the gap space between the two Billy bookshelves.

This now gave me placement for wire pass-throughs for the Computer, USB and other wires. These were quick and easy in in one Billy back and through the middle of the Lindmon white face with the Forstner bit (cuts a larger circle for easy wiring passthrough).

Now I measured exactly 29.5" - the height of my favorite desk - to help position the Norberg bracket and installed onto the front. Again, each screw was chosen so that depth is just less than the depth of combined tabletop and bookshelf siding. The middle brackets went into the same Sultan slats that are in the gap space behind.

Due to the Norberg gateleg needing stabilization lower down, I placed two Sultan slats together and screwed through to match the Lindmon depth. I will paint this unfinished pine either clean white or black to match the rest of the setup one day soon...

Then I just fed through power cables and monitor wiring, as well as hooking through my speaker cables for my desktop audio system and centered the clock to finish the look!

Now, I have a workstation that easily gets out of the way, and allows me to watch television in the ideal spot in the bedroom, and now my girlfriend and I each have a good stable stack of storage facing our closets to use for whatever we need.

~ Ian C.