Updating the RV by adding a much needed DIY Desk, as an Artist I wanted a desk to create my paintings, pay the bills, write these articles, and do my Youtube editing, etc. and I wanted to replace the dark brown recliner love seat that we never sat in with something white and bright! This is what we came up with, I hope you like it! See below for steps, materials & tips!
Finding the desk: During shopping for a ready made desk we found most offered very limited storage space, were the wrong height, color, or very expensive to not be what we wanted. Small spaces like RV's require careful consideration, could we just build a desk using other furniture pieces? Yes we could, I found 2 side tables that were 24 inch deep providing a lot of storage, a desk top from Ikea that was the perfect size and an ergonomic chair with a small foot base so it fit under the desk. I am so excited that this entire setup cost under $500 I just had to share the idea! I hope it inspires you, see below for how we put it together and where you can find the materials if you want to do the same!
Time to complete: 1 1/2 days to put together the side tables and install it all.
Difficulty: Medium? It takes two people to do some of this project. I put together the side tables easily. My husband and I did the install, he came up with the idea to use carraige bolts to solve for the tables being different heights, and I just held the desktop for him while he connected it all. One side table is one inch higher than the other, the carriage bolt method allows you to adjust the height by tightening the nuts above and below the wood, or shelf, or desktop, etc, just be sure to get the right length bolt based on your setup and a bolt with a smooth top, we used an 8 inch carraige bolt from Home Depot.
Supplies Used & links if it helps:
Two 24 inch deep side tables, links to mine: ( 18 in Wide; 24 inch Wide) this left me with 24 inches for my desk chair, my total area was 66 inches wide X 38 inches deep X 29 inches high (to the window).
One Ikea desk top I chose the LADKAPTEN 63" wide X 31 1/2" deep X 1/2" thick white top, they have other options you can select from.
A few large carriage bolts, nuts and washers allowing the desktop to be mounted at the height we wanted above the side table bases but below the window. We got ours at Home Depot, you can buy them at a number of hardware stores. Be sure to get washers and bolts too! To know what length bolt you need to do some math, we used 8 inch bolts.
One Ergonomic office desk chair highly rated reviews for comfort while working, in white and one set of rubber chair guides to replace the wheels since our slide has a rug, the guides also lower the chair a bit so it will slide under the desktop. After using it I do recommend it, the back support reminds me of the more expensive X chairs (which are just too large for my space).
One pop up outlet extension cord. For you this might not be necessary, I just wanted the convenience of having it on top of the desk. These go on sale often, so shop around! I paid $48 total for mine but I did have to look around for the best price and strong ratings with the number of outlets and USB type plugs that I wanted. Some of these include have USB C. Make sure you have an outlet in the area to use before buying one, when it arrives test it to make sure it's working. Both side tables included pop up outlets, but with how I set this up they were not easy to reach so I did not use them.
4 large 2 inch Corner Braces to screw the tables to the floor as added security during travel. I honestly do not think they will move, but my husband wanted to lock them in place, other options are to place an anti-slip furniture pad or small rug. Once loaded I expect the desk to be heavy enough to stay in place. (scroll down to the Q&A below for more about the project weight and slide capacity).
Two small Barn Door hook eye latches to lock the cabinet doors during travel, you could use many different latches for this icluding a hidden magnet lock, etc. I chose decorative to match the decor.
Light weight Trays for the shelves: 16 X 20 acrylic tray; 12 X 20 Wood Tray I made with two lightweight wood trays decorated, glued and screwed together to make one long tray: link to this project. Plus/Minus Self Adhesive Magnets to keep trays from sliding during travel yet still be easy enough to slide out. I am leaving one shelf open for other items. The height of these two shelves is 2.5 to 3 inches, while that does not sound like much it is enough to store makeup, desk supplies, laptop, keyboard, etc.
Things we already had: Screw drivers and wrench, Drill and drill hole bits for the pop up extension cord, bolts, etc. A vacuum for cleaning up from drilling, and masking tape for drilling holes to help prevent the mica from chipping. A couple of wood blocks, shims and leveler to balance the top during the installation.
Cost: under $500 as of June 2024, that includes the chair, desk, pop-up, trays, bolts, magnets, hooks, etc. Look for deals! A standard desk would have cost the same or more and with far less storage!
Installation Steps:
Measure the space twice, draw it out on paper, think about actually sitting at the desk, leg room, seat height, will the chair slide under the desk for travel? If the chair has arms will they swing out or up so you can slide it under the desktop (mine swings up)? What height do you want the desktop to be? Is it going under a window and will you still be able to turn the knob to open the window after the desk is in place? Are you able to reach across the depth easily to open & close your shades?
Weight: When buying check the weight of the items so that you don't buy something that is too heavy for your specific RV location, especially the slides, call your manufacturer to find out the weight limits. The total weight of mine 96 lbs with no storage, the original couch was 168 lbs, and the manufacturer says the slide will hold up to 2,000 lbs.
Build the side tables, note if you buy the larger 24x24 unit, you should not install the doors until after you install the top as you will need to crawl inside it to screw the carriage bolts.
Build the Computer chair, if you are replacing the wheels with rubber chair guides it is easy to do since they fit in the existing wheel holder, just pull out the wheels and push the rubber guides in until they click.
Clear the area of any obstructions and modify as needed. In ours we had a speaker behind the couch and the outside TV bumped into the space also. We turned the speaker on it's side to fit between the tables and it was also the perfect size to help support the desktop (that was just dumb luck). The speaker is attached to the floor with 2 corner braces, just unscrew them, unplug the speaker, flip it, using the drill we made a new groove for the wires to sit in, then screwed it to the floor, plugged it back in, tested it to make sure it was working.
Place the side tables where you want, double check the distance between for the chair. Test your popup outlet if you have not already to make sure it's working.
Drilling for the Bolts and pop up: Measure where you want the carriage bolts and pop up outlet to be placed, double check your measurements, make sure the pop up is within easy reach for everyday use, and that the cord will reach the wall outlet underneath. It helps to draw this out on paper. We lined up the outside edge of the desktop to the side tables, set the bolts 1 1/2 inches in from outside, we used 4 bolts, two on the each side. Place masking tape over the areas you will be drilling and make your drill marks on that, this reduces damage from drilling.
Pop Up view under the desk, Ikea predrills a lot of partial holes as these table tops are set for their legs and furniture. You will be drilling through the entire desktop. The bolts are larger at the top than the bottom. So the hole you drill on the desktop will be larger than the one needed for the side table top. Our 2 inch round pop up came with drilling instructions and a size template, it is a simple drop in 2 piece setup, main outlet drops in from above and one large plastic nut to tighten it to the underneath of the desk or counter. Remove the masking tape when you have finished drilling.
Insert the bolts into the desktop holes you drilled and tighten them to the desktop:
Bolt on top of the desktop
Washer then a nut underneath and hand tighten
Add another Nut then a washer to the bolt (washers should always be next to the wood/mica). Screw (turn) this washer/nut set until it is high enough on the bolt so that it ends up above the top of the sidetable top (use rough measurements).
To adjust the height just turn the nuts... hmmm .. I feel a joke coming.. :)
To be safe we performed another check on our side table drill marks before drilling them. We used wood blocks to support the desktop and verified they lined up and that the chair would fit, we could reach the shades, open the window, etc. If everything is good set the desktop aside and drill the side table tops. You only need to drill two holes on the left table and two on the right table. Don't forget to use masking tape!
Carraige Bolt Method Connecting the desk top to the side tables: Close up photos of how the bolts & washer hold up the desktop. Check for Level and if needed adjust the bolts by turning them. (see photos)
Final bolts are attached to the underneath of the top of the side tables. You will be adding another washer then a nut. For the smaller cabinet we could reach the bottom of the bolt through an open shelf (as seen in the picture). For the larger 24x24 cabinet we had to reach it from inside the cabinet, which is why we did not install the doors or shelf until after the desktop was attached.
Go back to each bolt and give it one more hand tighten but do not overtighten!
Install floor L brackets if desired to hold the desk in place.
Attach any cabinet doors, shelves and add latches or whatever you decided on to lock the cabinet for travel.
If you want to add trays for your shelves you can buy or build them, be sure to measure the tabletop shelf distance from the carriage bolts to the edge for width, measure the depth and height. In my case I was able to locate one black acrylic tray that fit one side, and I had to make the other tray to fit the narrow space (link to how I made my white flower tray). Once your trays arrive you can use plus/minus magnet sets to attach one side (plus) to the tray and the other magnet pair (minus) to the shelf so they will not slide open while traveling. You can also use small door slide latch to lock it in place if you prefer. My plan is to use one tray for home desk items, scissors, tape, paper, etc. The other I will use to organize my makeup, rather than standing in the bathroom, or sitting on the bed, I can fit in a folding makeup mirror and all of my makeup in half of one tray. This free's up space in the bathroom and gives me a multi use table: it's a desk, a makeup table, an art table, even a large buffet table for the occasional BBQ with friends if its raining!
Storage solutions to organize my desk will include zipper storage bags that fit the side tables, they are clear, lightweight and perfect for organizing my craft supplies. I will of course label each: watercolor, cards, colored pencils, etc. I have found that when storing things in a deep storage unit or even a pantry it's easier to pullout a one or two organizers than it is to have to empty a lot of smaller items, so baskets, boxes, and square zipper bags work great!
Q&A's:
Can I coverup the carriage bolts on the top of the desk? Yes, you can! Options: round vinyl stickers in white, black, you can find them in the cabinet area of your hardware store in different sizes. Another option is to paint them, enamel paint adheres to metal, it will probably take 2 or 3 coats and dries to the touch within a day, cures within 21 days.. I would not recommend counter sinking the bolts unless your top is solid wood and thick enough to do so.
Is the desk heavy? Not really, the 24 inch wide table weighs 48 lbs, 18 inch table 36 lbs. The desktop is from Ikea and comes in different sizes, as of this writing: 1/2 in to 5/8 in thick, 55 1/8 X 23 5/8 inches (18 lbs) to 63 X 31 1/2 inches (30 lbs). So 96 lbs before storing items in it. My two seater Thomas Payne reclining couch weighed 168 lbs. My particular RV slide has a weight capacity over 2,000 lbs .. be sure to check with your RV manufacturer to find out your RV slide weight limits!
Can I do this with just one side table to save weight/space? Yes absolutely! Ikea sells individual adjustable legs (click here to see them), these legs are for their table and desktops giving you the option to attach those to one side or corner, and adjust the leg height.
Note: some links are affiliate, I am affiliated with Amazon and the pennies I recieve do not cost you more but do help cover the cost of this blog! Currently I am not affiliated with any other stores or companies, I share the links to make it easier for you.
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