Hack my table, please.

July 8, 2009 3:41 PM

I need advice on changing the color and leg length of an IKEA table.

I've had this table from IKEA for almost two years. In my current apartment, I've used it in the eat-in kitchen, but the apartment that I'm moving to has an open layout. Because of the lack of space in the kitchen area, I'd like to turn it, most likely, into a sofa table or, much less likely, a crafts table. For either of those purposes, however, I don't like the [lack of] color or the overall height.

The sofa we will be purchasing is 34 5/8" high, and the table is 35 3/8" high so I'd like to take an inch from each of its four legs. Which would be less likely to leave me with a wobbly & uneven disaster, a saw or a sander? Maybe a combination of the two?

I also want to change its color to something else- perhaps a light-ish blue or green. The table is made of a solid birch wood & covered with a clear acrylic lacquer. Do I definitely need to sand it first or can I just spray paint (or regular paint or lacquer) over the acrylic lacquer? What about wallpaper or a sturdier paper on only the top? Bad idea?

Any help is appreciated!

posted by eunoia to home & garden (6 comments total)

A saw, definitely.

But if you are worried about your mad carpentry skills... if you can take the four legs off (it's Ikea so it disassembles easily, maybe?) and walk them into Home Depot or Lowe's. Ask the nice man with the big power saw to cut exactly one inch off of each leg for you. He will do a better and more precise (and square) job than you could ever hope for.

If they don't come off (hard to tell from picture), measure carefully and draw a nice pencil line around all four sides of each leg where you wish to cut, and then do so with a hand saw... slowly and carefully. Or find a neighbor with a circular saw, which is what I'd use. Not much room for error, but quick and easy.

You really don't want to paint over lacquer. If you must, rough it up with steel wool or sandpaper first so the new paint has something to adhere to. But you are probably going to gum up the drawers, at least, and whatever you paint is likely to wear off if it rubs other things. To do it right, you really have to strip it right down, but that will be a LOT of work.
posted by rokusan at 3:47 PM on July 8

Wallpaper and piece of glass on top is cheap and easy. Or glue-on tile.
posted by rokusan at 3:48 PM on July 8 [1 favorite]

use a saw and some adjustable plastic feet. no scuffy the floor, no wobbledy bobbles
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=5821
or similar. scuffing the paint will reward you with a paint job and table to be proud of. a scrap of formica from a cabinet shop shouldn't set you back much, but you'll need some contact cement to stick it on with, and trimming to fit could be challenging. paper on horizontal sufraces.... usually bad
posted by Redhush at 3:54 PM on July 8

I'd use a coping saw to cut down the legs, after drawing the cut you want to make all the way around each leg, so that you don't go off course as you saw. Finish off with medium-grit sandpaper for wood. Put the sandpaper on a sanding block first.

If you decide to paint, sand the lacquer with medium sandpaper first. I've had good luck painting similar pieces with spray paint, rubbing down the piece with #0000 steel wool between each coat. Three coats should do it, two if you don't rub down with steel wool in between.

I also like rokusan's idea of wallpaper with a glass top.
posted by zinfandel at 8:18 PM on July 8

zinfandel: Why on earth would you use a coping saw? They're designed to be easy to move around to make shaped cuts, not not to make a straight square cut. It's much easier to make a nice straight & square cut with a normal hand saw than with a coping saw.

If you really want to DIY, and don't feel you can make a straight cut with a normal hand saw, a tenon saw / back saw with a mitre box is the way to go. Wait until you actually get the sofa and can measure how much you really want to take off before marking & cutting ;-).

What everyone else said about painting. If you must paint over lacquer (& the success of that really depends on what type of lacquer it is), scuff with fine sandpaper on a sanding block to clean up the surface & give something for the paint to key on to.
posted by Pinback at 12:49 AM on July 9

good grief - seconding NOT using a coping saw. you will have a really tough time getting a square cut that way. That's like using a wrench to bang in a nail - okay if you're desperate, but not really the tool for the job.

I mostly agree with rokusan - take the legs to a local small hardware store and have an employee lop a couple inches off. give them a couple bucks for their time. If you don't already have the tools or inclination to do this sort of thing, there's nothing wrong with getting a little assistance, and I'd much prefer you take your business to a mom-and-pop hardware than Home Despot.
posted by dubold at 8:56 AM on July 9