The office at home is often indispensable, but the sight of stacks of paper makes us shudder. Then give it a try with a converted cupboard. It always looks good when closed! Our guide is an Ikea hack to build an office in a cupboard.
Whether for the tax return or the hobby – everyone needs a work table or a mini office. But such a small desk does not always look tidy, especially when the papers are stacked again. Then it is time to break new ground: Simply build an office in a cupboard — you can keep everything looking tidy by just closing the doors!
Find more Ikea hacks in our Carpentry section
Build an office in a cupboard: the first steps
We used the “Fjell” pinewood cabinet from Ikea as a basis (dimensions: 110 cm wide, 64 cm deep, 208 cm high). By the way: The special highlight is the swiveling table, which ensures sufficient legroom and distance from the screen in a simple way.
Important : The work table must be matched to the respective cabinet so that a total working height of 74 to 76 cm is guaranteed after installation of the table.
For keyboard and monitor cables and possibly also the computer mouse, a hole must be made for the cable routing. A 35 mm hole is sufficient in most cases. However, this must be checked from connector to connector. It should also be noted that the cables have sufficient play in length when the table top rotates.
Sketch
The “table insert” for the cabinet is made from an 18 mm thick glued wood panel. We used a wood called Paulownia, which comes from the blue bell tree. It is light, quite soft, but inexpensive and easy to work with.
Instructions
The construction of this swivel table was kept as simple as possible, and the same applies to the connections of the individual parts: They are all screwed together with a butt. To do this, mark the exact position of the panels. The easiest way is with a correspondingly long board or remaining section of the glued wood panels used.
IKEA hack for a chest of drawers
Now that you have marked the seat of the plates, it is very easy to make the holes for the screw connections within the markings.
Once all the holes have been drilled, the edges and any wood fibers that have arisen during hole drilling are sanded with a grinder.
The plates are then screwed together using 3.5 x 45 mm screws.
The swiveling plate: If you use the “Fjell” cabinet from Ikea like us, you can use our plate dimensions. If you use a different cabinet, it will now be a bit more complex: You must then determine the dimensions of the rotating plate and its pivot point. To do this, use a piece of cardboard of the appropriate size and feel for the appropriate dimensions. You can of course also do this on a smaller scale on paper.
Once the board size has been determined, the edges are sawn round. To do this, draw the bisector from the corner and draw the quarter circle with a compass.
Then cut out with the jigsaw.
Drill a 35 mm blind hole in the swivel plate for the pivot point and then a through hole through both cover plates.
Drive the carriage bolt through the pivot holes with a wooden or body hammer and a wooden allowance and fasten it from below with a locking nut.
Drive the carriage bolt through the pivot holes with a wooden or body hammer and a wooden allowance and fasten it from below with a locking nut.
The shelves are fastened to the cabinet with simple shelf supports.
Now the work cabinet only needs to be filled. Finished!
We recommend treating the surfaces with a wood oil or wax, as these products do not tend to stick even if they come into contact with one another on the friction and rotating surfaces. If you don’t want to do without lacquered surfaces, you should definitely avoid the friction surfaces between the rotating plate and the table frame so that nothing can stick here.
Gerhardt Richter is a writer and a trainer at trade technical colleges, specializing in carpentry, plumbing, mechanics and construction.
