Ikea Vika Fintorp Table Legs

I will never ever remember the appropriate name for anything at Ikea.  I only remember what the items I want look like which then means I am having a conversation with someone in a yellow shirt who is looking at me like I am crazy (how do they not know what I'm talking about they work there?). 

Anyway - at some point last year I saw this picture over at Better Homes and Gardens web page of the Vika Fintorp Table Legs:

And I decided right then and there that I wanted those desk legs to create a long desk the length of a wall in living space.  Then I discovered that those legs are no longer sold at Ikea.  Argh.  I went on a desperate Internet search to see if I could track them down via Craig's List or some other entity - no such luck - and apparently I was not the only person looking for these legs. 

Fast forward to last Saturday.  I went to Ikea to help a friend pick out a dresser and to find some sort of storage solution for craft supplies.  Before we loaded up in the self-serve area we headed to the "as-is" department.  I have never had any luck there.  My friend scored some awesome red chairs there once that were both new and discontinued at the same time (?) as well as some other not as exciting items.  I was not prepared for what I saw when we came around the corner - the silver Vika Fintorp Legs on the stainless steel tabletop.  The tabletop appeared as though someone had taken a hammer to it.  Multiple times.  The legs were in near perfect condition however.  While my friend went to get a cart I refused to move from the table.  

I am an expert at getting Ikea boxes into my SUV but this was put together.  We were fairly certain that this would not fit in the car assembled but decided we could take the legs off and have it loaded in a spiffy.  This is where the fun begins.  The last time we were at Ikea they had handy dandy tools mounted on strings on the wall.  I always wondered what for but now I knew.  But (of course) they had been removed (I can only assume some child poked it's eye out).  We then asked at Customer Service for a screwdriver.  What they gave us was barely a screwdriver but still we were hopeful - that is until we realized almost all the screws were stripped.  Eighteen stripped screws and the worst screwdriver ever.  We abandoned the plan and hoped it would fit in the car.

It didn't.



It looks like it will fit - but it wouldn't. 


What followed was some mild cursing, a slow speed drive to the other side of the parking lot (with the back of the car open and my friend holding the table) to a Target to purchase an assortment of screwdrivers and 60 minutes of heavy duty unscrewing.  In the end the legs came off and the table and all other purchases made it home.

Now I just need to figure out what kind of table top I want but in the mean time the legs will be safely stored away (the table top is likely headed for a dumpster).