The rise of the production of handmade from people’s nostalgia for childhood and a better life, with the continuous improvement of people’s living standards of culture and spiritual culture life is increasingly high, creative DIY and its related industries are increasingly prosperous, more and more people began to think about how to make DIY into life by hand.
Things You’ll Need
(4) 28-inch wood round tapered table legs
1-inch painter’s tape
White interior latex paint in eggshell finish
2-inch angled bristle paint brush
IKEA white Linnmon / Adils tabletop (without legs)
Plastic protractor
Pencil
(4) 2.43-inch table leg angled top plates and accompanying screws
Ruler
Electric screwdriver
Drill bit (sized to match the screws that come with your top plates)
(3) 6 9/16-inch G90 galvanized finish corner braces and 18 accompanying screws
Measuring tape
Drill bit (sized to match the screws that come with your corner braces)
18 plastic drywall anchors (sized to match the screws that come with your corner braces)
IKEA cork trivet
IKEA patterned wooden backer board from the as-is section
Super hold glue
Step 1: Mask Off the Ends of the Table Legs
Wrap the metal ends of each of the tapered table legs with painter’s tape. This will keep paint from getting on the metallic surface and will provide you with a clean edge in the next step.
Step 2: Paint the Table Legs White
Use an angled paint brush to coat each of the table legs with white paint. You will need to brush on 3-4 coats of paint, waiting 30 minutes between each coat, to cover the bare wood underneath. After the final coat, immediately remove the painter’s tape, and allow the paint to cure for three hours before handling. Move on to the next steps while you allow the legs to dry.
Step 3: Determine the Outward Angle of the Table Legs
Flip your IKEA tabletop upside down on a flat surface so that the underside is facing you. Lay a protractor in one corner of the table and place your first angled top plate down on the underside of the tabletop so that the angle is facing the corner. Rotate the top plate until it’s facing the corner, and then adjust until it’s turned roughly 30 degrees towards the tabletop corner. Use a pencil to help you align the plate.
Step 4: Measure and Mark Holes for the Table Leg Hardware
Once the angle has been determined and confirmed, use a ruler to make sure that the top plate is 4 inches in from the sides of the tabletop and 2 inches in from the front and back. Readjust the 30-degree angle if needed using the compass again. Mark through the holes in the top plate with a pencil, and set the top plates aside until the next step.
Step 5: Attach the Table Leg Hardware to the Desktop
Drill holes for the hardware using a drill bit that is coordinated to the size of your particular top plate screws. Finish by attaching the hardware to the underside of the tabletop with your electric screwdriver. Repeat the steps on all four top plates in each of the four corners. Screw the painted table legs into the top plates once the paint is dry.
Step 6: Measure and Mark Corner Brace Backer Board Supports
For the backer board portion of this DIY desktop build, you’ll need to add three corner braces to the underside of the tabletop. To do so, measure 8 inches in from the side of the tabletop and lay your corner brace on the wood. Although the corner brace is shown pictured here angled downward, you’ll want to screw it into the tabletop the opposite way in the next step. For the purposes of marking the holes, you don’t need to worry about the orientation of the brace.
With the brace in place, also measure so that there is a 1/4-inch gap between the bend in the brace and the edge of the tabletop. This gap will be where you slip the backer board in place in a later step. Once measured, make marks through the corner brace holes with a pencil. Repeat the steps with the second corner brace aligned 8 inches in from the opposite side of the table, and the third corner brace situated right in the center of the table, or 9 inches from the other braces.
Step 7: Drill and Attach the Backer Board Supports to the Desktop
Set the corner braces aside and drill the marked holes using a drill bit coordinated to match the size of the screws that come with your braces. For added support, you may want to consider using plastic drywall anchors to hold the braces in place. In that case, coordinate your drill bit to match the size of the plastic anchors instead. Finish by flipping the desktop over and screwing all three corner braces into place with the outward angle facing up towards the top edge of the desk.
Step 8: Glue a Cork Message Board into Place
Add a line of super hold glue to the upward protruding metal brackets, and quickly slip the wooden backer board into place. Hold for 30 seconds so that the glue has a chance to cure. Flip your cork trivet over and squeeze a generous amount of super hold glue onto the cork. Quickly lift and hold in place—wherever you choose—on the backer board. Hold it in place for 30 seconds as well so that it properly adheres to the backer board.
Step 9: Add Lighting and Office Supplies to the Desktop
Finish the entire desk with a lamp and your favorite office supplies.
