Lavish Sprawl: A multipurpose workspace hack

Swedish design and good old fashioned plumbing utensils join forces to create a generous adjustable workspace. Most importantly, it's a spacious art/design desk with a tracing window and a place to put your coffee, which won't put you out 400 bucks. Unless you spend WAY too much on end tables. Mine were 5 Euros each.

Many thanks to the people who helped me with this, in order of assistance:

Carmelita " Greg " Regan " Liz " Mom " Maia " Drew

Carmelita was instrumental, because in addition to being a diligent union shop inspector, she also gave me the idea for this project. Mostly by sitting in the middle of whatever I was trying to do, which sometimes happened to be wet paint.

Step 1 What You Need

Tools
- philips screwdriver
- drill
- drill bits in 2mm, 7mm, and 10mm diameter
- adjustable wrench
- a sturdy utility blade

Advisories
- Your friend will NOT help you with heavy lifting!
- Do NOT phone IKEA customer service when you become confused!

Parts
" 1x VIKA Blecket desktop (or similar)

" 2x FLAERKE end tables (or similar)
- Flaerke end tables are discontinued, by the way.
- This should work with any smooth-sided end table of an appropriate height.

" 2x common household cup plungers with wooden handles
- A smaller cup is better, but the must be handle is long enough for the tilt you want.

" 4x wood screws with a 7mm thread core and a 10mm smooth shaft.
- The smooth bit must be as long as the width of the side wall of the end tables, but no wider.
- Hex head optional. The important thing is that your screws and drill bits match up in size.
- The specific size is not critical, as long as the screws can support the weight of your desktop.

Comments

[harryji782]

you could try a goose neck lamp

[PKM]

So... how many hands do you need to flip the desktop from flat to raised? Surely you have to raise it up, hold it there while you somehow manoeuvre both plungers upwards and then rest it down? Do you end up using a knee? Are union labourers or small children at risk of knocking one of the plungers out and being swiftly decapitated by a falling desktop?

For the lamp attached to the pivoting surface, you just need a fixture with a banker's lamp shade on it, then it won't get in your eyes in either orientation.

[HvW]

I've been doing this entirely by myself, so... two hands. It's easiest to lift from the center of the side that lifts, but it's possible to lift from the left or right back corners. In any case, once it's lifted (which is pretty easy, the screws/pins work great!) I just swing the plunger up and lodge it in place, then bring the other one around. It has to be lifted slightly to get the 2nd plunger in the right spot, but not so far that the other plunger drops out. Once they're both in the right general position, I nudge the rubber cups inward a bit, so they have better grab.

It's been *very* stable so far. The union rep is a real climber, and there hasn't been any kind of incident. I would NEVER have this thing around kids without a stabilizer bar in the back. And, do the thing about the pointy ends of the screws, too.

re: decapitation... it should be OK as long as they don't knock BOTH plungers out. One plunger can hold the thing all day long.

[savialeigh]

clamp braces between the two plungers so they lift as one. you could either drill and add dowels or use pipe braces from the plumbing dept. You can also glue a piece of rubber shelf liner to the back where the plungers rest for extra grip. nice instructable.

[Weissensteinburg]

I'm sure you could do one at a time.

[msw3113]

How about a picture light, like Ikea's Piccolo. Mounted underneath the front of the desk but facing the back, it would illuminate the glass but not be directed to your eyes. Would make it easier to find that pesky and elusive Hello Kitty eraser, too. I applaud the clarity of your drawings: by far more comprehensible than photos. Were there a category for wit, you'd score the highest. Look forward to more posts from you.

[HvW]

Thanks, appreciate the feedback! I'm actually working on another post right now. The Piccolo is a good idea. I admit, I've mostly been focusing my light fixture research on the clearance table at my closest big hardware store. ;)

[RaisedByRobots]

Looks great! Hooray for inspector kitty!

[HvW]

Thanks! :)

[shooby]

It looks as though any movement of the two end tables could cause a lot of damage...I'd recommend using those to hold something of significant weight, eg books.

[HvW]

Yep, got all my portfolios and drawing paper in there now, seems to be OK so far. Also, non-skid feet under the end tables. Working on getting a bar across the back.

[shooby]

I'm having trouble finding good images of the desktop you used...could you tell me the approximate size of the transparent part. Is it flush enough with the surface that a line drawn on a piece of paper with pencil across the joint, isn't disturbed?

[HvW]

Ikea's own picture is the best one I've seen. (http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/20103605) You'd think they could put the dimensions, eh? The window is about 13.5"x17.5" (34cm x 45cm).

The window isn't that flush to draw smoothly across, if you've got a single piece of paper on the desk. Either you draw on the desk, OR you draw on the window, kind of thing. There's a slight groove where the glass transitions to the desktop finish. The surfaces are flush, though-- if you lay a thing on it, you won't see a step between one surface and the other.

Although, that little groove could make a handy straight edge tool, or even something good for scoring paper....

[gmjhowe]

Wow, i like the final thing. Looks really good. It shows just how easily one can use cheap ikea furniture to create something better. I suggest adding a photo of the final thing as the first image on the intro step. Then people can a getter idea on the thumbnails, on the browsing recent page.

[HvW]

Thanks! If only the desktop had been on deep discount, it would've been perfect. I've never seen Ikea's a la carte desktops in clearance area, though. I might do that, about the photo. I debated, but I figured the line drawing might actually be easier to 'read' than the photo from the same angle.

[jeff-o]

Use galvanized pipe. It's easily strong enough, and you can get brackets for it that can be screwed right on to the wood.

[HvW]

Good suggestion! That has the added bonus of probably being already the right length, so I don't have to worry about cutting it or getting it cut down.

[jeff-o]

Well, you might have to cut it, but if you buy it at a hardware store they can usually cut it for you for free.

[Weissensteinburg]

I love that you used plungers.

[HvW]

Thanks! :)