1. As the Expedit comes unassembled, the first thing I did was cut a few inches off the top and bottom pieces. I made my cuts on the same side, as the top and bottom pieces became the sides of the credenza. One of Ikea’s not-so-little secrets is that the pieces that make up the Expedit are hollow—just a thin paper honeycomb core and a ¼"-thick skin. That means I had to make strips of solid wood to fill in the ends of the pieces I cut. Tip: I affixed a path of painter’s tape wherever I made my cuts to avoid splintering the thin veneer.
2. I pre-drilled holes and used a countersink for the screws that hold the side pieces to the bottom of the credenza. I also cut the vertical interior dividers and shelves to fit my newly shorn Expedit. Wherever I cut a piece to a new length, I had to redrill for the dowels that hold the piece together.
3. To assemble the credenza, I started with the inner shelves and dividers, followed by the top, bottom, and ends.
4. I screwed a small piece of plywood to the bottom on each side in order to give the legs something to screw into.
5. I found these great hairpin legs at a flea market, which I sandblasted to remove years of old paint and rust (a wire brush would also do the trick). Before screwing the legs onto the bottom, I sprayed them with a metal primer and finished them with a topcoat of glossy white spray paint.
6. I made the doors by cutting two pieces of ¾" birch plywood to fit, and I cut the decorative shapes out of ¼" MDF using the band saw. After I had attached the shapes to the doors with wood glue and small brads, I sanded smooth all the edges of the doors.
7. To create the back, I measured and cut out a piece of ¼" MDF. I sanded the edges and then covered both the back and the doors with a shellac-based white primer. Once the primer was dry, I sanded them all again and applied two coats of white paint to each piece. After the paint had dried, I attached the back to the credenza with drywall screws.
8. I used a hinge-boring (or Forstner) bit to drill holes partway in the backs of the doors where I wanted to mount the hinges. Finally, I measured and mounted the hinge plates onto the vertical dividers, and the credenza was complete.