I get a ton of questions on our school room, and so I thought I would do an update on our Ikea setup.

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So to answer your questions…

  • YES, we still love our desks!
  • YES, they’re still white! (They clean very easily with some water, Windex, or for certain marker spots I used Clorox Cleaner)
  • YES, my kids have survived the swivel chairs!

I also get a LOT of questions on how our desks are set up so I thought I’d show you more detailed pictures of the setup. I moved the drawers out to the ends this year so there was room for the chairs to push all the way in. In order to do that, I had to get a piece of board to help make the desk tops more steady.

I found a piece of 4×8 peg board at my local home depot ($8) and had the nice man there cut it in half for me. (I’ll show you what I did with the rest of it later ;o)

I put the board on top of the drawer units to help stabilize the desk tops. I think it would work better if I’d had one that was 5’x’ 5’ but you work with what you have.

EDITED: To prevent slipping, I have since purchased a set of 4 flat metal brackets. I used them to screw the two desktops together so they don’t move apart. I also added a rubber rug mat (the kind to keep small area rugs from sliding around) in between the peg board and the desktops. Works like a charm!

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My school room is about 11′ x 14′, the total size of the desk is about 5′x5′.

What are the specifics?

Here’s a close-up of the drawers and chairs for you. I turned them all in a pin-wheel pattern so that one set of drawers is facing each student. I’m strongly considering getting a glass top cut for this to protect all my whiteness, but that’ll have to come later as budget allows. I am also thinking of securing the desk tops to the drawer units with screws just to prevent slipping.

EDITED: I also added a rubber rug mat (the kind to keep small area rugs from sliding around) in between the peg board and the desktops. Works like a charm!

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Here is the completed unit, the openings are now wide enough for the chair to slide all the way in.

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And here it is completely put together:

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97 Comments

  1. Thank you so, so much for sharing all your amazing tips and information! I love your videos, pictures, and great posts!

    Question- When looking at the ikea website, the only shelving units I find similar to yours are these:
    http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80275887/

    They are not the Expedit unit doesn’t look anything like your shelves. have they also discontinued those? I can’t seem to find any that are 5+ cubes high. =/ Any ideas?

    Thanks again for sharing!

  2. Hi! This is our second year to homeschool, and I am desperately trying to make a homeschool room for my two girls. I love your ikea table put together, but I only have two so I was wondering if I could pick your brain on how to make it for two…if that’s even possible! When I was clicking on the link to go to the ikea site, I was a little overwhelmed on where to even begin! Thanks! Cayla

    Cayla
  3. Your desk setup is BRILLIANT and beautiful! Erica, I’m really curious how the seam from the tabletops meeting works for you. I’m seriously considering doing this and it looks like the seam is not in the exact middle of the work area – are you still using it this way and does it work well for your children?
    Thank you so much for sharing your secrets!!
    (Also, a lot of people sell the Expedit 5×5 on Craigslist, we just got a white one!)

    kristin
    1. Hi Kristin,
      There is a seam in the middle for two of the kids, the other two have solid work areas. But they’re bolted together with a bracket underneath so the seam doesn’t seem to affect them much. And yes it works great! Good tip on the expedit!

      erica
  4. This is so awesome!! We just finished setting up the table in our new dedicated school room. My kids can’t wait to start school. Can you send me a picture of the brackets you used? I need the brackets and peg board to make it “perfect”. Such a great idea!!! Josh

    JoshandKelly
  5. I love your desk/table! I see your room at this time was 11′ by 14′. With the table being 5 foot wide and having the kallax shelves in there too, what was the width of the walkway (empty) areas around the table?

    I am trying to see if this setup will work for us but our room is 10.5 at the narrowest.

    Elizabeth
  6. Hi Erica!

    Thanks again for sharing so much on your blog! It’s such a blessing!

    We just moved and I am putting together a new school room. I am guessing with the 2 tabletops put together there has to be a “crack” where 2 people sit at the desk, right? Is it a problem at all? I have one “perfectionist” that I could see getting really frustrated if the table was messing her up! Lol. Thank you 🙂

    Anne
  7. I LOVE your desk idea! How wide is each of the desk openings for the chairs? I’m trying to figure out if the Ikea Jules Junior chair is the only one that is narrow enough to be push in all the way. I was looking online for the measurements and it looks like the setup you have leaves about an 18 inch opening for each of the seats so only the Jules chairs would fit. I haven’t been out to Ikea yet. Would those Jules swivels be ok for bigger kids/teenagers? Thanks for your blog. It’s inspiring!

    Alisa

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