Making a Modern Desk From Ikea EKBY ALEX Shelf
Few months ago, someone was clearing out their office space and offered to give me this ENBY ALEX shelf by Ikea.I liked it a lot at the time, and I thought it would fit well in our relatively small house. However, once I brought it home, it just did not fit anywhere. Additionally, the drawers were very shallow and figured out this was a useless piece and threw it down in the basement.
Months later I was lying on my bed wondering how to decorate one of the walls in my bedroom and I realized at a glance that the space looked about the same width as the ENBY ALEX shelf. I measured it and I was pleasantly surprised that it was! I also wanted it to look somewhat modern, so I looked for metal hairpin style legs:
Check out my super easy Ikea hack below.
Disclosure: The rest of the blog includes affiliate links and I will get a commission if you click and make a purchase. This is at no cost to you, of course.
Transform a simple ENBY ALEX shelf into a modern table or narrow desk
Materials needed:
- ENBY ALEX shelf
- Four (4) hairpin legs that are 28" tall similar to these.
- Metal washers (optional)
- Screwdriver
- A drill (optional)
Modern makeup table assembly
The assembly of the shelf and legs is super easy and took me less than 15 - 20 minutes. I did not have to assemble the actual shelf as I picked it up already pre-assembled. I imagine putting that together is simple too a Ikea makes assembly of any of their furniture really straight-forward.
The table legs I got from Amazon were stainless steel and I did not want to change the color, but you can paint them prior to assembly any color you want really. You just need a spray paint (easier than using a brush). I've used this one from Rust-Oleum for painting glass, wood and stainless steel and it covers really well:
If you choose to paint the legs, let them dry according to the instructions provided on the can. After that, turn the drawers upside down so you can begin attaching the legs by using the provided screws. Before you do that, however, verify that the screws are not so long that they penetrate the wood and stick out from the inside of the shelf. In my case, the screws were cutting it close so I just added a metal washer (see below):
After that the process is pretty straight forward - you can pre-drill small holes into the drawer or just use a screwdriver to assemble the legs. Ikea wood is quite soft so drilling is not necessary but I did it simply to speed up the assembly process.
Lastly, I fixed the table to the wall as I have a toddler who likes climbing over and under anything.
The result - modern make up table
The result was a very cute narrow table, which fit perfectly into my bedroom. I have mostly been using it as a make up table but it can totally work as a modern console table.
I hope you liked my quick Ikea hack. Let me know if you have any questions.