ive had similar ikea pieces they are very solid and durable though its mostly a high grade particle board underneath.

you dont need to keep them together they are easy to take apart when you move - ikea stuff you also have to diy

its tough to say it depends how careless you are w it - remember its not solid wood

This post was edited by March_man on Jul 17 2014 09:34am

What worries me is the desk top is going to be heavy. Likely 1" thick, 8 ft long, width depends on shelves I use. Made of Oak.

Yeah i was thinking about that 1 inch is not very thick - i think it would actually hold that no problem the surface are is evenly spread out - and this isn't a material i have seen crack by this kind of pressure - it would need a pressure point to faulted.

Yeah i do think it'd hold, you can even put a single leg at the back middle of the desk for extra support -

This post was edited by March_man on Jul 17 2014 09:37am

I'm going to take a 4x4 post and mount it to the back board, behind a shelf.

I'm going to have one shelf, lets say 24" wide, sit so that the top, 24" wide, is matching up perfectly. So that shelf will be pointed outwards, not accessible by me sitting at the desk unless I got up and walked a foot to face it. The other shelf will be facing towards me, sitting at the desk. So the 4x4 post will be put behind it so it's hidden and offers support as a just in case measure. With the monitors being 24 - 30lbs each, plus the weight of the stand, my upper body weight when resting on desk, textbooks, lamp, etc. It could get pretty heavy.



Don't mind those leet paint skills.

This post was edited by RMMhc on Jul 17 2014 09:55am

The Besta stuff will last through moves unless you drop it down the stairs or something. It's particle board, but it's pretty well made for what it is. Make sure you don't cheap out and use the Vika tabletop. It sucks a bunch of ass and is basically made of corrugated cardboard and the laminate comes off easily on the edges. Go to their kitchen section and look for their solid wood tabletops or spring for the real wood Vika.

edit: I obviously really like ikea :V

This post was edited by rockonkenshin on Jul 17 2014 10:10am

I'll have to order online if I decide to go with those shelves. The closest Ikea to me is in Kansas, 68 miles away. It's not opening until Fall, however.

Awesome blueprint!

I see you are going to make the depth of the desk top relative to the shelves?

This post was edited by March_man on Jul 17 2014 10:40am

Not necessarily. The width of the shelf to the right needs to be almost at the depth of the desk for support and aesthetics. However, the desk can overhang up to 2 or 3 inches over the shelf if necessary. I'm not so much worried about the shelf on the left as it's going to have a 4x4 post behind it for support, but in the name of aesthetics, I would like them to be the same or similar.

Edit: I contacted a local cabinet maker to see what a price quote would be to have two shelves made. If it's within reason, I'll probably have them create two cases for me. If it's ridiculous, I might just have to wait until I find something through an estate sale, craigslist, etc. Since this is something I want to last quite a while, I'm not ready to just purchase something on the drop of a hat if it's not going to suit my tastes long term.

I've already purchased a corner glass desk that I thought I would be happy with but I'm not. I had a steel desk that I thought I was happy with but I wasn't. I even built a desk, sawhorse style (even built my own sawhorses) and I am not happy with that one either. I'll end up selling the glass desk and using the sawhorse desk as a workbench in my basement for things I think I can fix but probably can't.

This post was edited by RMMhc on Jul 17 2014 10:43am

Edited post - so its going to have a back board and you want to mount a shelf using a post on-top of the desk as well?

Woods always better - you're going to want about a 2 foot wide shelf on each side and a post in the middle floor to desk.

You may even want thicker oak for aesthetics.

This post was edited by March_man on Jul 17 2014 10:47am