Ikea Besta Desk Hack
2018/05/08
In our house we have a lot of stuff and one room to put it all in. Out of our small spare bedroom we needed to create an office with two work stations, abundant storage and enough room for a daybed for overnight guests. To maximize the space with enough storage for all of our hobby materials plus a bed we knew we were looking at something that didn't leave any wasted space. After some thought and research we were inspired by some Ikea Hacks using the Besta system. We’ve used the Besta system in other areas of our house and were happy with their storage capacity and flexible mounting system.
To achieve a partial built in look and to allow for ample desk space for two people we decided to run the besta system half way around the perimeter of the room. The besta units are only 15 3/4" deep which was perfect for us to allow a little space between the wall and the cabinets as we have a baseboard heater. For the desk top surface we opted for 2 Ikea wood veneer counter tops. This will let us run the desk the entire length of the room. We trimmed the counter tops to fit with a great finishing saw blade, that didn't leave any chips on the surface. We left two 30" openings for our chairs to slide in. For comfortable working height we added legs to the Besta cabinets.
After all the Ikea pieces were built we wanted to keep things clean and organized so we planned to cut some holes in the wood top for computer cords. We found these nice 2 ⅜” stainless steel grommets that were not too large or visually distracting.
To drill holes in the counter top you will need:
- a drill
Decide where you would like to have your grommet, and mark the center of the hole. For us we did this for both holes at the same time so that we could make sure they were lined up nicely.
Install the mandrel and hole saw on your drill. Line up the pilot drill part of your mandrel with the center dot you’ve drawn in pencil.
The key here is not too get trigger happy. I can't stress this enough, start your drill nice and slow. We wanted to be very cautious as not to chip or damage the counter top veneer. A very slow rocking motion will ensure no burn marks.
Drill about half way into the counter top, just far enough so you can see the pilot bit poke through the underside. This is important. Find the hole the pilot drill made on the underside and continue to drill the hole through, from the bottom, nice and slow. This might be awkward but it will help to ensure you have a nice clean cut.
Brush off the excess dust and pop your grommet through your finished cut. If you do have minor chips these will be covered by the grommet edges.
There is no need to glue the grommet in place, just place the top on and pull the wires through.
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