ULTIMATE DIY Pipe Desk: IKEA KULLABERG Hack

by Mia M.

Do you want to create a stunning DIY pipe desk to elevate your work from home space? Lucky you stumbled across this post! Today, I’m sharing how I created a beautiful faux marble desk . . . by hacking the IKEA KULLABERG. Affiliate links in post.

Hello, beautiful people, and welcome back to my corner of the web! I’m so excited to share the first project of my big home office makeover with you all. It’s a stunning DIY pipe desk that (shock horror!) makes me excited to sit down and work.

Okay, maybe not. But at least my back doesn’t hurt while I’m working.

FROM THIS PLAIN DESK TO THIS FAUX MARBLE DESK:

If you’ve followed me for a while, you may remember my recent home office tour. That was basically a goodbye/”look at how far I got into this project before abandoning it” post.

I only ended up filming my office as a way to immortalise its six month existence . . . before I completely changed it and moved into another room.

And, if you don’t fancy having a read, why not checkout my old office tour video . . . it’s very different to what’s happening now!

Don’t get me wrong – I love my old office, incomplete as it may have been. But I thought it would work as better as a dining room for my partner and I to enjoy.

Plus, our sun room (where my new office is being moved to) is such a cool room that we’ve totally neglected. It’s currently used for laundry . . . and that’s it. Which, as all my fellow plant lovers can agree, is sacrilegious.

So here we are.

For the past few years, I’ve been using a beautiful wooden writing desk I picked up from Facebook Marketplace. And, look, I love it dearly. It’s a beautiful piece of furniture.

Do you know what it’s not, though? Ergonomic. At all. So it was time to make something new.

As I’m sure you can tell, I am beyond in love with how this DIY desk turned out. Plus, it’s an IKEA hack – so it was both affordable and easy to make.

The faux copper pipe detailing especially won my heart. I always loved the pipe trend, but (as someone with no tools or spare money to invest in tools) it was a little out of my reach.

Uh… ignore the random pile of magnets, please,

But, of course, it’s the faux marble tabletop that really steals the show here. I used the exact same method when creating my DIY plant stand – and took some of those learning lessons and applied them to this project!

WHAT YOU NEED:

IKEA KULLABERG desk
Resin
Copper spray paint
Acrylic pour paint in the colours of your choice (I used dark green, white and gold)
(Optional) Spray paint in accent colours like gold or white

STEP BY STEP:

For a visual aid on how to create this DIY pipe desk IKEA hack, watch this tutorial! Otherwise, follow the steps below.

Spray paint the legs and metal hardware copper
Make sure to turn each piece over to ensure it’s fully covered. Put the dry pieces away.
On a covered surface, elevate the table top. You can use cups for this.
Mix your epoxy resin to your kit’s specification (mine was 1:1).
Split your resin up into two containers; one for light green/white and one for dark green.
In the container you’ve put aside for light green/white, add a few drops of acrylic paint and stir until the resin is an opaque colour.
Spray some gold and white paint into your resin cups and stir it. Make sure you stir it enough that there’s a good amount of each colour showing, but not so much that it blends.
Pour your light green/white resin from one side of the panel to the other, creating a semi-natural wavy flow. You should see some pretty cool patterns showing!
Then follow that same line with your green resin. And enough of each colour to completely cover the shelving top. TIP: Resin is self-levelling and will spread to make one even layer. All you need to worry about here is creating a design you love!
Leave resin to set for 12-24 hours.

Don’t forget to share this post via Pinterest! If you want to see this desk in action, make sure you have a watch of my latest Youtube video below:

Alright, my loves, we shall end at the end! I hope you enjoyed the first glimpse into my new office makeover. I’m unbelievably excited to share it with you . . . when it’s finally done! Did you guys like this take on the DIY pipe desk? Would you recreate it yourself? Let me know your thoughts down below!

Peace,