I want to fit out our new study with (ideally) fully fitted furniture, the kind of think that Sharps of Hammonds do, but I want to DIY. I've done a couple of bedrooms with Wickes stuff that I'm pleased with, but they don't do filing cabinets or drawers. MFI seems to be the only place that does a good range, but they are not properly fitted- Ideally I'd like single worktop runs spanning the units rather than joins in the worktop over every unit.
Anyone have ideas for where I might get the bits and pieces without paying Sharps or whoever to fit it all...?
Can you use their units but omit their tops and run a continuous piece of your choice of worktop? Or just mount the worktop to the back wall and use mobile cabinets underneath.
The omitted tops can possibly be reused as extra shelves.
Kitchen furniture is a better source for sizes suitable for an office as well as many of the things that one can either use directly or adapt. I made one some while ago with this approach.
- Base cabinets fitted without the legs or with lower ones (e.g. battens on the floor) give a desk height that is about correct. One might need a deeper worktop than 600mm, or alternatively reduce the depth of the carcases. I made the desk L-shaped and arranged the sitting position to be in the corner. The worktop was cut to have a section across the corner at 45 degrees - doing that was the fiddliest bit.
- Pan drawer fronts give a suitable height for filing. IIRC, I used
500mm wide units. You can make a box for the inside from ply or MDF and fit the drawer front to it. Then the whole thing will go into a carcase using slide extensions. Along the top of the internal box, on each side, and running front to back, I fitted T shaped aluminium extrusions.
- There are various worktops that make for a good desktop. I used a hardwood block one and finished it in Danish Oil.
- For other bits and pieces and hardware, take a look at the web sites of Isaac Lord and Woodfit.
I did also look for office type furniture but didn't find very much available that wasn't either office utility style or just of poor quality.
Bought some wire racking from Ikea for my lock-up last week. They are about the best place to buy it since the same unit from other suppliers costs between 2 and 4 times as much. I took a long, late lunch break for the visit thinking that would minimise the pain.
What I hadn't counted on was that the afternoon is when the drooling, piss-soaked, incontinent wrinkle brigade make their visit to Ikea. Even worse than a Saturday afternoon, they block the corridors, stagger arond at random, ask fecking stupid questions in the cafeteria, lose money at the bottom of their handbag/purse, attempt to pay by cheque (for which they have forgotten the cheque card) and push other shoppers out of the way in their haste to get at something or other.
I believe there are now pensioners' coach trips to Ikea with fully reclining commodes, particularly useful for the homeward journey when the meat balls start to kick in. Commode wheelchairs are issued on arrival and Ikea commode assistants are on hand to deal with overflows. The entire store is hosed down every 15 minutes. Ikea is firmly committed to a non-wrinklephobic policy.
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