DIY kids desk from Ikea coffee table

My daughter loves to draw, paint, craft and generally does some sort of creative project daily.

Unfortunately, it’s not viable to use and then clean off the dinner table multiple times a day. For my daughter’s fifth birthday, we decided she needed a desk (well mom & dad needed her to have one).

So we went hunting. It turns out there are lots of kids desks available. However, they tend to be expensive, lack storage or are too tall for my vertically challenged family. As frequently happens, we had the (almost) perfect desk already sitting in our home.

The Ikea Lack coffee table in our family room seems to be the perfect height for my daughter and is always covered with art stuff. Great except that it doesn’t allow a chair to easily fit under it and again, no storage. I decided to modify a Lack table into the perfect kids desk. Here’s what I did step-by-step.

#1 Materials

Supplies:

1x-Lack Coffee Table from Ikea $24.99 (I chose the black/brown to hide marker stains)

2x-3/8" Threaded rods, 24" long

3/8" Rod coupling nuts. You’ll need 2 per rod per shelf, same for the washers.

3/8" Inner diameter, approx 1" outer diameter washers

4x-3/8" Threaded closed flange I got round ones for a better look.

Cups with a greater than 3" lip. These become pencil/marker/paint brush/etc holders in the finished desk.

Tools:

Fine tooth saw blade for my table saw. You could also use a jigsaw or circular saw since they’re straight cuts. But you’ll be cutting laminated particle board so make sure you have the right blade.

3" Hole Saw to cut cup holders.

Painter’s tape or masking tape. (Duct Tape might work but could remove the finish if you’re not careful), Metal ruler, and box cutter/sharp knife.

#2 Prep

Unpack the Ikea box but don’t start assembling anything. To make the desk accept a chair we need to cut down the shelf. Pick whatever width you want for the shelf . I had intended to make two shelves but ended up liking the look of one better.

#3 Cutting

To reduce cost and weight Ikea uses particle board with a plastic type laminate coating on one side. This means you need to be extra careful not to damage the coating while making sure the particle board doesn’t disintegrate. Get a good saw blade (I used a very fine toothed blade made for cutting plastics). I also suggest scoring and taping along the cut line to ensure minimal tearing of the material.

#4 Pencil Holders

We found these little plastic cups at Target that I expect to make great pencil holders. So I need to cut holes in the table top to accept the cups. Again spend time marking and taping. I also drilled pilot holes to make the hole saw a bit easier to guide.

I wasn’t expecting the tabletop to be mostly hollow. You’ll notice that it’s made of very thin particle board on top/bottom sandwiching cardboard in a vertical honeycomb pattern. The fact that the table is mostly hollow made the hole saw very difficult to control so be careful with this step. Though in retrospect, the table top’s minimal weight makes sense.

#5 Shelf Legs

At this point you can start to assemble the table using the Ikea instructions. However you’ll notice that the shelf is now much too short to attach to all for desk legs. This is where the rods and flanges come in. I had to cut the rods to the correct length using the square legs as a measure.

Next spend time marking the location of your legs. Mark the center point and attach the flanges to the underside of the table. You’ll also need to mark the shelf(s) and drill a 3/8" hole through the two corners parallel to the table legs. Note that the shelf isn’t as deep as the tabletop as it sits on the INSIDE of each leg. So make your markings by subtracting the width of each leg.

Finally thread the rods into the flanges. Then attach the shelf brackets to the table legs and slide the shelf onto the rods. Make sure to place a washer against at least the bottom of the shelf and a coupling nut above and below the shelf on each rod. I also placed a flange on the bottom of the rod to protect the floor the desk sits on. Don’t forget to level the shelf by adjusting the coupling bolts up and down.

And you’re done. The perfect desk for a little creative person who needs a space of their very own.

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