Furnishing smaller rooms can be challenging; you're forced to pick which furniture pieces you need and what you'll have to leave behind. Bedrooms, for instance, typically have a bed, dresser or vanity, bookcase, and desk. A smaller room might only be able to hold a bed, dresser, and bookshelf, leaving you without a desk and vanity. However, TikTok users have developed a brilliant Ikea hack that allows them to include a bookcase and desk in a tight area, which maximizes their storage space. Using Ikea's KALLAX shelving collection, you can make various desk configurations using a few shelving units and a solid piece of plywood.
Choosing your shelving units
When deciding how to set up your shelving units, consider the space in your room and how much storage you need. For instance, if you have a smaller room where the shelving units can fit in a corner and don't need a lot of storage, you might opt for a single IKEA KALLAX four-shelf unit that's 16 ½ x 57 ⅞ inches and pair it with the 30 ⅜ x 30 ⅜ inch unit. Then, you can purchase a piece of plywood from Home Depot or Lowe's, where they can cut it to size so you can lay it over the shorter shelves, nailing it down to keep it in place and create your desk.
Alternatively, if you have a spacious room, you can take inspiration from TikTok user @cosasdelily. She combined three 30 ⅜ x 30 ⅜ inch KALLAX shelves to create a U-shaped desk. To make the desk mobile, she attached three pieces of plywood to the bottom and added wheels. After flipping the desk upright, she secured a larger piece of plywood on the surface, extending beyond the sides to bridge the gap between the units. If you prefer a more polished look, you can cover the exposed wood edges with melamine edge adhesive banding, available on Amazon for $10.99. The use of multiple units not only provides extra storage space for books and crafts but also allows for customization by painting the Ikea furniture in different colors.
