Affordable Oversized Table/Desk Tops?

Zarathustra[H]

Extremely [H]
Joined
Oct 29, 2000
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Hey all,

Where is a good place to find something like this?

I need a bigger desk than I currently have, but my office is limited on space, so I can't get anything too big.

I have decided a 76" x 30" rectangular desk top would be perfect for me, but I just can't find one.

Nothing at IKEA is large enough.

I am not opposed to attaching my own legs to a table top, but that's about all I'm willing to do. I am not a carpenter, and I do not wish to become one. Any sanding, painting, staining, finishing, gluing, nailing etc. is off the table. I've heard of people using doors before, but that generally would require some of the aforementioned carpentry to make it presentable, and I've also heard that they tend to warp over time.

I have found that very few places actually allow you to search/filter furniture by size (which is flabbergasting) and those that do, want a ridiculous $1000 just for a slab of wood.

I don't need sumptuous luxury wood, just something basic will do, even if it is IKEA style laminated particleboard. As long as it can hold the weight of all my gear, and doesn't require me to fabricate, paint or stain anything, I'll be happy.

Anywhere I can find something like this in the sub $300 range?

Appreciate any input.
 
Well,

If anyone else is in my situation I may have found a solution.

I was at IKEA today shopping around and lamented to the guy in the desk section that they don't have anything large enough for me.

He pointed me in the direction of the kitchen counter tops.

Sure enough, there were several solutions there that might work. Wood counter tops come in three sizes, 74"x 25 5/8", 98 1/2" x 25 5/8" and 74" x 42 1/2 "

Not all styles come in all sizes. If you want the 74x42 model, look at the "Island Counter-Top" models.

Since the 98" model would be way too long to fit in my office, and the 74x42" model too wide to fit in my car without leaving my mother-in-law at IKEA, I wound up with the smallest, 74x25 5/8. I'm a little bit nervous that this may not be quite deep enough for me. My current desk is 29.5" deep, so I'd be losing 3 7/8" there. I would have made a second trip for the 42" deep model, but I don't have access to a band saw to give it a nice straight cut along the back to trim it down, so I was forced to pass on that.

The one I wound up with is named BARKABODA.

From a quality perspective, I'm pretty happy. It DOES have a particle board core, but the surface is more than just your standard laminate. It has a 1/8" thick top layer of walnut. The price of $229 is much better than the $1,000+ pricetags I've seen on solid hardwood tops, and there are alternatives that are even cheaper, like KARLBY that runs for only $149.

I also got 5 black OLOV adjustable desk legs. I went with 5, as I've heard of some wood not intended for desk applications warping with time. Counter tops are intended to be supported across their entire length by cabinetry under them, not just a leg in each corner. I figured if I put one more leg in the center back (where the big heavy screen rests) I'd minimize that risk.

I'll post some pics when I get it all set up.
 
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Tks for the update. I been thinking about getting a new desk. Gives me some ideas !
 
I totally underestimated the amount of time it would take to break down my system consisting of three monitors, external DAC, headphone amp, speaker amp, etc. etc. etc.

I've been at this for over an hour now, and I still haven't gotten to the point where I am dismantling the old desk to make room for the new.

The better half is unlikely to be pleased about all the stuff on the kitchen table :p
 
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Two down, three to go...

IMG_20180204_173816.jpg
 
wow that really fills the area up !!!. Stuff like that always takes longer then one thinks. Have to show us
a pic of the finished product
 
wow that really fills the area up !!!. Stuff like that always takes longer then one thinks. Have to show us
a pic of the finished product

Just got the last leg on and flipped it over. Here is a quick and dirty cell phone shot.

IMG_20180204_182705.jpg


I'll take a proper SLR pic when I have everything set back up, but I dropped my flash years ago and never replaced it, so that will likely have to wait for daylight, which means next weekend, as I always get home from work after sunset in the winter.
 
Here's another, without the cardboard.

IMG_20180204_184128.jpg


Going to have to spend some time adjusting the legs to get it level and not rocking.

I'm not thrilled with IKEA's design of these adjustable legs. They are a slide and twist to lock design, when a twist to incrementally adjust up and down would have been easier to level.
 
Yea i can imagine. Do u need to stick anything under them to keep from marking up the wood floor ?? I was thinking about
buying a sheet of oak plywood finished on one side and install legs like u did. I just need to get someone to cut it down to my
dimensions... My inability to even draw a straight line with a ruler is legendary :) Hmm actually i think i can get lowes to cut
it down for me...
 
Alright, I lied.

I put my stuff on it and took a teaser cellphone pic.

It's amazing how quickly those 74" shrink when you start putting large screens on there.

Ideally I'd want something larger, but the office isn't wide enough :ROFLMAO:

Please pardon the foam yoga-block speaker stands. I plan on getting a decent set of wood ones in the near future.

IMG_20180204_194359.jpg
 
Yes u are right... its absolutely amazing how much space the large screens of today can eat.! At least it all fits!!!

Its surprising how much a difference just 5 inches can make !!
 
Yes u are right... its absolutely amazing how much space the large screens of today can eat.! At least it all fits!!!

Its surprising how much a difference just 5 inches can make !!


For comparison, here was my previous desk:

screen-new.jpg


The main goal of widening the desk was to be able to get the speakers down from up there, as the sound wasn't ideal. It worked, but really I could have used another foot or so. I guess that will have to wait for the next house :p

First impressions sitting down, yes the desk is shorter by just under 4" compared to the old one, and I am not a huge fan, but I can live with it, to gain the extra width.

I just need to get used to not pulling my chair all the way up to the desk like I used to, or I sit a little too close to the screen.

Also, the adjustable legs allowed me to raise the desk a couple of inches higher than before, which is great. At 6'3" standard height furniture has never really worked well for me.


What I will say is this. I've always been a huge fan of headphones for music. I always felt they just sounded better.

I am no longer of that opinion. Now that I have my near-field listening configuration set up properly, the music feels comparably flat over the headphones. The proper speaker setup just makes everything come alive.

Now I just need to get rid of those foam blocks, and get custom speaker stands, and raise them up a bit more to get those tweeters at ear height, for even better results!
 
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Another option for anyone looking for something all in one box is “activity tables”. These are the tables they have in a lot of schools. I got one that is 72x30. It weighs almost a hundred pounds with the legs but you can get them shipped from amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00777WKU2

2-3 people can stand on them. They are absolute tanks. I have my 34” ultra wide mounted directly to it, a 27” dell monitor, and huge case sitting on it and it doesn’t even bow.
 
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Yea i can imagine. Do u need to stick anything under them to keep from marking up the wood floor ?? I was thinking about
buying a sheet of oak plywood finished on one side and install legs like u did. I just need to get someone to cut it down to my
dimensions... My inability to even draw a straight line with a ruler is legendary :) Hmm actually i think i can get lowes to cut
it down for me...

The bottom of the OLOV legs are molded plastic. In other words, they are soft enough that they will likely do minimal damage to the hard wood floors. I could always stick those fuzzy self adhesive pads underneath them if I really need to, but I don't think I will.
 
Alright, I lied.

I put my stuff on it and took a teaser cellphone pic.

It's amazing how quickly those 74" shrink when you start putting large screens on there.

Ideally I'd want something larger, but the office isn't wide enough :ROFLMAO:

Please pardon the foam yoga-block speaker stands. I plan on getting a decent set of wood ones in the near future.

View attachment 52922


wow... looks like you need a bigger desk! Very very nice setup..
 
Looks great! I've been looking for a replacement desk for my aging Ikea Galant. I'm addicted to L-shaped desks but maybe I can figure out a way to use those countertops in a L-shape desk. I'd start with the 74" x 42" top. Would be perfect if they had something around 50" x 30". That would work for the shorter part of the L-shape.
 
I can second the IKEA countertop as desk. I went with the solid wood butcher-block one, and it's quite sturdy. I also went with adjustable height legs, which was important since this desk is for my kids (3 and 6) so we can play Minecraft together. It needed to be lower to the ground than a standard height desk. IKEA also has decent kid-sized task chairs. This desk will be able to grow with them, I'll just extend the legs as needed.

Assembly is easy. Screw the legs into the underside of the countertop. Done.

I didn't bother with a 5th leg in the middle because it seemed to not flex. Granted, with just the monitors sitting on the desktop, it doesn't bear much weight. I did have my wife sit on it though, and it didn't flex.

The nice thing about the solid ones instead of the veneered ones is that you can cut them to length and still have a nice edge. I've used one of the countertop pieces to cover a kitchen island with one half and a drawer base with the other. It was cheaper than buying a piece of laminate-covered particle board from Home Depot.

IMG_6415.JPG


(And because this is [H], specs of the kids' PCs:
3 year old daughter: Dell Precision T3500 (24GB RAM, 3.2Ghz Xeon W3670, GeForce 650Ti Boost, )
6 year old son: Home-built Core i5-2500k [email protected], 16GB RAM, GeForce 970))
 
Just added some extra storage space from IKEA on the right. This one is a TRYSIL 4 Drawer Chest. I think it is intended as a bedroom dresser, but I liked it for my office. With the legs on it it was too tall for my liking, so I took them off, and replaced them with some stick on slider feet I had kicking around from some previous project.

upload_2018-3-4_22-18-40.png


I still need to do something about getting real speaker stands. I'm considering picking up a pair of custom wood speaker stands from Birks Place. (they are also on ebay)

From this angle (not one I usually see) I also notice that I need to do something about those cables, hehe.

The view is a little misleading, presumably doe to the wide angle lens on my phone, combined with the 48" screen, 12" sub and full tower case, making the desk look smaller than it is.

In the picture it looks as if it is cramped, but it really isn't. For size reference, the desk writing pad (IKEA RISSLA) is 34" wide.

Once I get the speaker stands and some cable organization in place, I'll take a true glamour shot with the SLR :p
 
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I can second the IKEA countertop as desk. I went with the solid wood butcher-block one, and it's quite sturdy. I also went with adjustable height legs, which was important since this desk is for my kids (3 and 6) so we can play Minecraft together. It needed to be lower to the ground than a standard height desk. IKEA also has decent kid-sized task chairs. This desk will be able to grow with them, I'll just extend the legs as needed.

Assembly is easy. Screw the legs into the underside of the countertop. Done.

I didn't bother with a 5th leg in the middle because it seemed to not flex. Granted, with just the monitors sitting on the desktop, it doesn't bear much weight. I did have my wife sit on it though, and it didn't flex.

The nice thing about the solid ones instead of the veneered ones is that you can cut them to length and still have a nice edge. I've used one of the countertop pieces to cover a kitchen island with one half and a drawer base with the other. It was cheaper than buying a piece of laminate-covered particle board from Home Depot.

View attachment 55044

(And because this is [H], specs of the kids' PCs:
3 year old daughter: Dell Precision T3500 (24GB RAM, 3.2Ghz Xeon W3670, GeForce 650Ti Boost, )
6 year old son: Home-built Core i5-2500k [email protected], 16GB RAM, GeForce 970))


Is this 6 or 8 feet?
 
Is there anything out there that is 10 or 12 feet long? I can only find up to 8 feet from lowes and home depot.
 
Is this 6 or 8 feet?

From what I recall when I was there, the butcher block version comes in all three sizes:
- 74"x 25 5/8",
- 98 1/2" x 25 5/8"; and
- 74"x 42 1/2 "

The one I got with the diagonal walnut pattern only came in the one 74x25 5/8 size, I think.

Is there anything out there that is 10 or 12 feet long? I can only find up to 8 feet from lowes and home depot.

There are large solid wood chunks that can be used as desktops out there, but they tend to be unreasonably expensive. All of these are over $2k, and that's just for the top wood slab.

Still, no $10k desk, but...

proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.brainwashed.us%2Fupload%2Ffiles%2Fimages%2Fdeskref3.jpg
 
I use a 6 ft gladiator workbench at my standing desk height and a drafting chair to just lift my ass up to it when I want to sit to give myself a sit/stand desk with a beer fridge underneath.
 
I use a 6 ft gladiator workbench at my standing desk height and a drafting chair to just lift my ass up to it when I want to sit to give myself a sit/stand desk with a beer fridge underneath.

Just saw this thread, but I second the Gladiator workbench. I spent quite a while trying to find a good desktop that was super sturdy and large enough that I could fit both my and my son's gaming PCs comfortably. Was only in the market for a solid wood top of some sort and the workbench is essentially just butcher blocks. Being a workbench, it is also super sturdy with minimal give when pushed. The downside is, it's also ridiculously heavy. I went with the 8' gladiator workbench and if I had to guess I would say it weighs at least 150 lbs. But, it is rated to carry 3000 lbs :)

Anyways, price wise, it is amazing for what you get. The 8' is about $400 at Best Buy with free shipping. They have a 6' and 4' option as well... and the legs can be either black or white. The table depth is 25" which was preferable for me as I didn't want it sticking out so far.. height is adjustable.

To complete the desk, I bought 2x Humanscale M2 monitor arms and mounted them with a grommet kit.. you can also use the clamp style but you would need to remove the back brace on the table which should be fine for the 4' or 6' tables, but on the 8' I didn't really want to compromise horizontal stability. I also picked up 2x Humanscale 6G keyboard/mouse trays and mounted them to the underside of the table. With the monitor arms and the keyboard trays, it leaves the majority of the desk top usable for other activities.
 
XPA-200 amp and XDA-2 dac

Sold them last year.

Ahh,

With risk of going off topic,

I have a UPA-2 hooked up to my speakers, via a Schiit Modi multibit DAC, using the pre-amp outs on my Schiit Jotunheim as my pre-amp.

I just thought it looked familiar :p

How come you wound up selling them, if you don't mind me asking? I've quite liked mine. Does an admirable job for a relatively low cost amp.
 
Ahh,

With risk of going off topic,

I have a UPA-2 hooked up to my speakers, via a Schiit Modi multibit DAC, using the pre-amp outs on my Schiit Jotunheim as my pre-amp.

I just thought it looked familiar :p

How come you wound up selling them, if you don't mind me asking? I've quite liked mine. Does an admirable job for a relatively low cost amp.
I got the dreaded upgrade itch and bought some new stuff. Got $500 for the pair, so great resale value with Emotiva gear. (y)
 
I got the dreaded upgrade itch and bought some new stuff. Got $500 for the pair, so great resale value with Emotiva gear. (y)

Tell me about the dreaded upgrade itch.

The main reason I'm not upgrading my desktop this year is that my home theater got a new Parasound A31 amp.

I guess the old Sandy-e hexacore [email protected] will have to hold on for one more year...
 
I see you already found a solution, but for anyone else, my desk is like 38" deep and 150" wide. It's two pieces of melamine cut to 75 inches wide each then bonded together and secured to the walls and used my old desk legs for middle support.

Edit: Depth was way off haha.
 
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I see you already found a solution, but for anyone else, my desk is like 48" deep and 150" wide. It's two pieces of melamine cut to 75 inches wide each then bonded together and secured to the walls and used my old desk legs for middle support.
Interesting solution. Post a couple pics!
 
I made my own. I took the top off an old oak tanker desk. Sanded and stained, and used 1" diameter black iron pipe for the legs.

The desk is 60" wide and 33.5" deep.
Just bought a house so nothing is set up yet.
(27" monitor, and keyboard to show size...)
KIMG0086.jpg
 
Tell me about the dreaded upgrade itch.

The main reason I'm not upgrading my desktop this year is that my home theater got a new Parasound A31 amp.

I guess the old Sandy-e hexacore [email protected] will have to hold on for one more year...



I went with TWO of the Linnmon 59"x29" tabletops and 8 legs.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10251352/


About $100 including tax and:

proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fevilnet.net%2FNewDesk.jpg


I've had this for about 2 years now.
It's not "ideal". And, if I'd been in your situation I'd have gone for a deeper top. But hey. It works well enough.
Especially now that I've moved my monitors off the tabletop and onto an armature clamped to the back (freed up a lot more desk space, at the cost of some accessability to the backs of the monitors).

I REALLY wish I could have aligned the tables full-length side-by-side but my room layout doesn't permit it and I don't know that I'd trust the balance of the tables with my big-ass case sitting up top.
 
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