When deciding on a counter top for my office I decided to go white. It seems, from my inspiration photo (more on that here and here), it was the only logical way to go. Clean, crisp, and thanks to Ikea, CHEAP!! I bought a 96inch wide by 24 inch deep PRAGEL counter top for $69 smackaroos. This baby weighs about a 100 lbs and is a hefty 1 1/2 inches think. Solid. Very Solid.
E and I decided, instead of having someone zip it up on a table saw, that we would use our little circular Ryobi circular saw
and zip it up ourselves. After some careful marking and taping we were ready to go. Note - if you are going to cut anything that requires a nice edge you ALWAYS want to tape first! It helps to keep the ends from splintering and chipping... Here I am marking the correct depth all the way down the counter and then using a level to draw the line. We then taped right over the line. Since we used painters tape we could see the line right through hence no need to go over with another line...a bit too redundant for my lazy arse.
Once the tape is secure, you have donned your most fashionable eye protectors, and you have said a few :"I hope I can keep this saw straight" type prayers, take one last deep breath. REALLY - take a last deep breath because if you aren't wearing a face mask, like us, you wont want to be breathing the dust and crap once you begin to saw. Funny enough, neither one of us thought to use a mask until AFTER we were done cutting...at least we had goggles on which is a big plus as THIS CAN NOT BE DONE WITHOUT GOGGLES OR SOME KIND OF EYE PROTECTORS. OK OK - you know I never scold about safety type things but, really, this is a must. Alright - ladies and gents - start yourengines saw.
Here is a little tip for you - when making a long cut like this it is very helpful to be able to see what the heck you are doing. Since there was 2 of us, E was in charge of the circular saw (you know I don't have the patience to go slow as is needed for this type of cut) and I was in charge of vacuuming as we went. I kept the vacuum nozzle at the base of the saw and followed along with him so the sawdust would be picked up as he went which kept his line clear of debris. The other thing you could do is blow as you go but it make a big ole' mess and we had guests coming in a few hours!!
The cutting time took about 10 minutes - E was going slow, R E A L L Y slow. This was such a beast for our Ryobi that we even had to switch out the battery 3/4 of the way through - I can assure you it started as a fully charged battery. Once we were done, and ripped off the tape, the table turned out really nice and square...also 1/2 inch deeper than I had planned due to my idiotic measurement but that won't matter much.
Remember when I said taping helps avoid splintering...the key work is HELPS but it does not avoid splintering and chipping all together as see here...
That was the worst of the chipping which is only about an inch wide and a 1/4 inch deep. Since the office walls are a bit curved I plan to do some sort of edging so no one will be the wiser...except you guys, I guess!! Don't tell anyone else..promise? The whole thing was way more simple that what I was imagining while standing in the Ikea kitchen showroom weighing my options. I figured I could always get something cut for us or use an old door for the top...but then I would have had to sand and paint and try to make it perfect. Instead, this worked out great and is exactly the look I was going for. Super simple, inexpensive, and took only minutes to do!! My kind of project!
Anyone else working on a Office upgrade right now? Feel like sharing?? Leave a comment below with a link so we can all check it out! I love to see other peoples ideas and inspirations.
I'm off to get some bedding for the day bed!!
Bianca AKURUM Ikea cabinets, white office, abranowicz office, martha stewart online, PRAGEL countertops, google, walnut avenue blog, best diy blogs, nate berkus, young house love, centsational girl, bianca divalerio,Ryobi circular saw, saw dust, cutting a countertop, cheap countertops, ikea
E and I decided, instead of having someone zip it up on a table saw, that we would use our little circular Ryobi circular saw
and zip it up ourselves. After some careful marking and taping we were ready to go. Note - if you are going to cut anything that requires a nice edge you ALWAYS want to tape first! It helps to keep the ends from splintering and chipping... Here I am marking the correct depth all the way down the counter and then using a level to draw the line. We then taped right over the line. Since we used painters tape we could see the line right through hence no need to go over with another line...a bit too redundant for my lazy arse. 
Once the tape is secure, you have donned your most fashionable eye protectors, and you have said a few :"I hope I can keep this saw straight" type prayers, take one last deep breath. REALLY - take a last deep breath because if you aren't wearing a face mask, like us, you wont want to be breathing the dust and crap once you begin to saw. Funny enough, neither one of us thought to use a mask until AFTER we were done cutting...at least we had goggles on which is a big plus as THIS CAN NOT BE DONE WITHOUT GOGGLES OR SOME KIND OF EYE PROTECTORS. OK OK - you know I never scold about safety type things but, really, this is a must. Alright - ladies and gents - start your
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| Slippers? Really, E? |
Here is a little tip for you - when making a long cut like this it is very helpful to be able to see what the heck you are doing. Since there was 2 of us, E was in charge of the circular saw (you know I don't have the patience to go slow as is needed for this type of cut) and I was in charge of vacuuming as we went. I kept the vacuum nozzle at the base of the saw and followed along with him so the sawdust would be picked up as he went which kept his line clear of debris. The other thing you could do is blow as you go but it make a big ole' mess and we had guests coming in a few hours!!
The cutting time took about 10 minutes - E was going slow, R E A L L Y slow. This was such a beast for our Ryobi that we even had to switch out the battery 3/4 of the way through - I can assure you it started as a fully charged battery. Once we were done, and ripped off the tape, the table turned out really nice and square...also 1/2 inch deeper than I had planned due to my idiotic measurement but that won't matter much.
Remember when I said taping helps avoid splintering...the key work is HELPS but it does not avoid splintering and chipping all together as see here...
That was the worst of the chipping which is only about an inch wide and a 1/4 inch deep. Since the office walls are a bit curved I plan to do some sort of edging so no one will be the wiser...except you guys, I guess!! Don't tell anyone else..promise? The whole thing was way more simple that what I was imagining while standing in the Ikea kitchen showroom weighing my options. I figured I could always get something cut for us or use an old door for the top...but then I would have had to sand and paint and try to make it perfect. Instead, this worked out great and is exactly the look I was going for. Super simple, inexpensive, and took only minutes to do!! My kind of project!
Anyone else working on a Office upgrade right now? Feel like sharing?? Leave a comment below with a link so we can all check it out! I love to see other peoples ideas and inspirations.
I'm off to get some bedding for the day bed!!
Bianca AKURUM Ikea cabinets, white office, abranowicz office, martha stewart online, PRAGEL countertops, google, walnut avenue blog, best diy blogs, nate berkus, young house love, centsational girl, bianca divalerio,Ryobi circular saw, saw dust, cutting a countertop, cheap countertops, ikea
