Hybrid Desk with File Drawer

Materials: Jonas Desk, Jonas Drawer Unit, Vika Table Top

Description: I had very specific requirements, such as length and depth of my room, wanting to fit a scanner on top, needing a file drawer and putting my computer below with still enough leg room to fit a chair, so I took parts from 3 different IKEA products, modified and assembled them into this perfect home office desk. The first and easiest mod was the file drawer. I had measured it in the store and the dimensions of the Jonas swinging cabinet door and the Jonas drawer unit are identical. Just have to copy over the screw hole measurments for the draw rails.

Now the hard part...instead of using the large table top that came with the Jonas desk, I wanted it to be much smaller, so I measured and trimmed all depth lengths with a circulating saw (leaving room for the drawers to be able to close). I based my measurements around the dimensions of the Vika table top. It's a bit of pain in the ass. You have to drill out holes to fit the locking nuts and dowels, and if you want to get really anal, you can cut off the veener backing of the cut off leg parts and glue them onto the legs you'll still be using, so it looks like it was never modified (that sounds confusing but it makes sense, trust me).

One thing to note: The right leg uses 2 IKEA screw locks and 2 IKEA dowels to keep it secure, however it doesn't use that extra support beam that came with the Jonas desk, so it's not as sturdy. The Vika is actually hollow inside at a certain point, and so are the legs, so you can't mount anything to them. I keep my heavy Apple G5 tower next to the leg which helps.

~ Dwayne, Greenpoint, Brooklyn