Office Progress

Who knew that installing two bookcases and two countertops would turn into a full day's work. It did... but our end product makes it all worth it. We finally have an office space for two. With digs this nice, maybe its time to start up a new home business!

We started the day with some of the 'behind the scenes' support done. HandyMan had run a support strip of MDF around the perimeter of the room upon which the countertop would sit. He also installed one on the wall for the horizontal bookcase. We painted it out to match the wall and eventually plan to hide it with cork board. The two file cabinets which support one end of the countertop had been built. We did switch out the castors for stainless steel feet 'coz we liked the look better.

Next step was to mount the bookcase. We don't think the bookcase was meant to be mounted on the wall... they didn't have any examples in the IKEA showroom and the salesguy wasn't too sure. But we figured with enough brackets and support the bookcase won't come crashing down on top of our heads. First, Handyman had to find the studs in the wall. Then we had to figure out where those studs fell on the bookcase and put brackets there. Here's a tip: HandyMan wanted to make sure he didn't drill too deep (IKEA products typically are only reinforced around the edges and are particleboard otherwise). So, he measured up the screw size and put a piece of masking tape around the drill bit. He'd stop drilling once the tape hit the top of the hole.




With the bookcase up (after a few missed studs, ahem), we moved on to attaching the countertops to the wall. The first went in easily, again with supporting brackets underneath. The second, which sits under a window, was a bit more difficult. We had to notch it out bit by bit (not easy when the thing weighs 100 pounds). We decided to use the $5 seam cover to hide the chipped end where the countertops meet.

All that was left then was a bit of dressing. We installed a curtain rod, and some of the pre-made drawers and doors that you can buy for the bookcase. All that's left is a bit of finishing touches- curtains, paint out the rad, install filler panel behind the file cabinets, prints on the wall, new lighting fixture. Oh, and a few grommet holes so we can rid of the mess of cords sitting on the countertop.




Shopping list for this room: 2x expedit bookcases, 2x Mikael file cabinets, 2 -4pk capita legs, 2 Numerar countertops (double sided, aluminum & white, 96"). All from Ikea.