A Home Office solution for hiding gear and adding storage, courtesy IKEA

Friends have recently asked about the file drawers in my office. These extra deep (24") babies fit nicely under the desk and hold a lot; my flatbed scanner, a second inkjet printer, and an entire drawer of hanging files. It's actually an IKEA 'hack' with a repurposedkitchen drawer cabinet, and I thought I'd share how I did it:

Here is the finished piece.

First of all, I got the idea from my kitchen. I love these deep, full extension glide drawers. I also wanted to gain more desk space by hiding some of the equipment. So, I tested the fit in the kitchen drawer and it worked!

 BUT, at 30" high the full set was too high for my setup. So, I bought a 24" high by 30" widerefrigerator cabinet, (box only) which is 24" deep -- perfect for under the desk. Then, I bought the hardware only for the two drawers for the 30" wide kitchen base cabinet,  along with the drawer fronts. I ended up with two extra of the small ones but since it was the least expensive finish I didn't mind.

To support the lower drawer and keep it from tipping forward, I installed some wheels at the underside of the drawer, and cut a slot in the frame for them to slide in so the drawer would shut all the way. I also put felt pads on the bottom so the piece wouldn't scratch the floor. This picture shows it mid-process so you can see how I drilled to get the last little bit out.

Then, I took a piece of 3/4" wood (in this case, leftover melamine which matched) and using construction glue, fastened it to the front bottom edge of the drawer. This was to raise the wheels so they would be flush to the bottom edge of the drawer front

Then I screwed the wheels onto that piece so the bottom of the wheel was lined up(or slightly above) the bottom of the drawer.

Finally, I cut a hole in the back to accomodate the wiring for the printer and scanner. I wasn't sure if the wiring would work, but because there is a bit of space behind the drawer I was able to keep it connected at all times, so now all I do is pull out the drawer to print or scan!

Here is the piece open, top and bottom -- and it works!

 The blue droplet image was one of mine, custom printed on adhesive paper -- a fun upgrade for a basic white drawer.

Got a cool IKEA hack too? Let me know!