The Office Desk: The Countertop

Since the tutorial for our office desk is pretty lengthy, I decided to break it up into a few different parts. On Monday, I shared how we built the base, making a riser for the filing cabinet and determining the overall height of the desk. Today, we’re talking about how we chose, and attached the countertop for the office desk. 

Here’s where we basically left off:

We decided to remove the actual “top” of the Ikea dressers, which created a more seamless look for the desk, and we built a riser for the filing cabinet, which made everything the same height for the countertop…

For the actual countertop, here’s what we bought:

• 2- Ikea Saljan Counterops, in white, at 98″ long
• 1- Ikea Saljan Countertop, in white, at 74″ long

Here’s how we installed the countertops, and the tools we used:

Please note: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which allows us to make a small commission from your purchase, but your purchase price stays the same. Thank you for helping support our blog! We greatly appreciate it! 

SUPPLIES:

• Ikea Saljan Countertops, as listed above
• 3″ L Brackets, we bought ours at Ace, but these are similar
• 2″ Drywall Screws
• Small L Brackets, we bought ours at Ace, but these are similar
• 4″ Mending Braces, we bought ours at Ace, but these are similar
• 7/8″ Wood Screws
• Clamps
• Screw Driver/ Drill
• Rope
• Push Pins
• Level
• Tape Measure
• Sawhorses
• Circular Saw, with sharp blade
• Painters Tape

To install the countertops, we wanted the majority of the weight to sit on the two dressers, and the filing cabinet, but we knew they wouldn’t be enough to hold the countertop in place. Enter in these L brackets…

Since the cabinets (both the dressers and the filing cabinet) aren’t as deep as the actual countertop, we used the L brackets to mount the countertop to the back of the wall. After determining the height of the dressers, we measured the same distance up the wall, and then created a straight line with rope…

We used push pins to hold the rope in place…

And then used our level to double check the line was straight. With the line level and straight, we started installing the L brackets. The only catch, was that the grid board and batten we installed on the walls added another element of trickery. The bottom horizontal grid came down lower than where the bracket needed installed, pushing the bracket lower than the height of the desk, and leaving us with a predicament. We’d either need to build the wall out in each section where there was a stud in the wall (which wasn’t where our grids were installed), or we could install the L brackets on the actual grids we’d already added to the walls. 

We debated a little about the stability of the desk top, and how not having the L brackets installed directly into a stud would or wouldn’t affect the weight of the countertop. We also knew the majority of the weight of the countertops would be resting on the furniture pieces, so we felt confident in installing the brackets on our existing grid strips, which are nailed directly into the drywall. I trust Anthony and his building skills, and he felt very confident in the structure and stability of the desktop, so we moved forward with installing the L brackets on each vertical grid board.

We installed the top of the L bracket flush with the rope, and used 2″ drywall screws to hold the brackets in place…

We followed the same steps, until each grid had a bracket installed, both on the back wall, and the side wall. In the picture below we had only installed them where furniture wasn’t sitting, but we later installed them in those sections too…

With the brackets installed, it was time to add the countertops and place the furniture…

Because the IKEA countertops we chose were finished on each side (the front and the back), I was able to choose which style of edge I wanted on the front of the countertops. There was the slightly rounded edge, or the square edge…

I decided on the square edge, going with the cleaner, simplier look, and that also made it easier for butting up the seams on the desk… it also meant we would only have to make one cut on the three countertops we bought, rather than the four we were originally planning on due to the round finished edge. Needless to say, we were happy the back side of the counter tops were finished just as nicely as the front.

So with the brackets installed, we decided on the final placement of the dressers. On the left side of the desk, we pushed the cabinet all the way up to the edge of the wall. As for the depth of the cabinet, we decided that once we added the top back on…

I wanted the dressers to look built in with the countertops, and for there to be a slight overhang of the countertop over the top of the dressers, so we ended up deciding on a 1 3/4″ reveal…

With the depth determined, we pushed the right side dresser to the edge of the countertop seam. It looked the best, and provided the most stability for the countertop. We used a clamp to attach the two countertops together, making them sit flush…

And then we used these mending braces to attach the countertops together…

We added them in several different places on the underside of the cabinets, making sure the screws wouldn’t come up through the countertop…

Anthony also attached the countertop to the L brackets…

On the inside of the cabinets, we used small L brackets to hold the countertop to the cabinet…

With the countertop attached to the L brackets, the countertop sat perfectly flush at the seams, and it was very sturdy. That top isn’t going anywhere.

And because our long wall of the countertop is 11′ 9″, and the longest countertop you can buy from Ikea is 98″ long, that meant we would have to add in a small section of countertop. I wanted it to be in the least noticeable spot, which I felt was the far left side of the room. I plan on putting my printer in that area, so I knew the seam would blend in perfectly with the desk. 

Here’s how we cut the Ikea countertop…

We laid the countertop on two saw horses, lined with cardboard, face side down…

Then Anthony measured out our 15″ piece, plus the width of his circular saw…

He added a straight board as a guide for his saw, and used clamps to hold it in place…

At the location of our cut, we used tape to wrap completely around the countertop, hopefully to prevent chipping from cutting the countertop…

And then he marked where the cut needed to be made…

And with it all set up, he started cutting. I held the piece being cut off so it didn’t fall…

And just like that, we had a cut countertop (we’ll be using the remaining countertop for another project)…

The process was quite simple, but we’re glad we only had to do one cut for the countertop just because of the chipping. We followed the directions to a “t”, bought a brand new saw blade, and there was still small areas of chipping. Luckily, we were able to use the pre-finished edge of the countertop that we just cut off as the edge that met up into the other existing countertop, making a nice clean seam… but Anthony and I both agreed that we would have been pretty upset if we would have had to make the other cuts and they would have chipped. They would have been very noticeable… not so great. 

BUT, you can’t beat the price of the Ikea countertops. We could have probably build them for what we paid, but we wouldn’t have gotten nearly the great finish that these laminate counters have. We had priced around having something custom built, but the price was still too much, and these countertops cost about $200. I’m so happy it worked out, and that we would be able to cover the minimal chipping on the left side of the desk from the cut.

So, with the piece cut, we added it into the small gap, using the same mending braces as the other seam, and the L brackets on the back of the wall…

And with that, the countertops were attached and installed! We are both so very happy with how they came out. They’re the perfect choice for the office, and I’m so glad we went the Ikea route rather than building our own, which was the original plan. 

Next up, I’ll share more about the filing cabinet countertop, how we finished off the end of the countertop/ cabinet, and how we decided to hide the wall gaps we ran into since our walls weren’t straight! Pheew! Stay tuned for Friday, and I’ll be sharing a bigger peek of the office and a few finishing touches we’ve added to the space! 

P.S.- To see part one of the office desk installation, see here.