Monday, February 21, 2011

DIY Desk

When John and I got married, we brought together two people's worth of stuff. Two CD collections, two sets of towels, two dressers, two desks. Sometimes two is better than one, but sometimes two is just too much.  Take, for instance, our office. Yes, it was nice to have two desks with which to house our two computers, two filing cabinets, and two sets of desk accessories, not to mention two people who wanted to be at the desk at the same time. However, two desks also meant less room, double the messiness when desks were unorganized, and mega mismatched furniture.

John's desk was messy, bulky, 80's style, messy, bulky, messy...I didn't like his desk very much.


My desk was more elegant with curvy legs and cream paint - much like this desk without the top drawers or mirror. Unfortunately, it was teeny with no storage.


So, when we moved to North Carolina, we knew we wanted to streamline our office furniture and create an office with room to hang out, play music, and enjoy.  Our number one criteria in a desk was that it be large enough hat we could both sit at it on our computers at the same time.  With John going to graduate school, we knew he'd need a desk conducive to spreading out and doing homework, but I also wanted a space that was my own and separate from his messiness (see above picture of his desk to understand why).  Our second criteria was that it not cost us an arm and a leg.

Quickly after beginning our search for the perfect desk, we realized that our two criteria left us with basically no options. The desks we could afford were too small, the desks that were large enough were too expensive. We spent a lot of time looking at Ikea, but even the Besta Burs desk was more than we were willing to spend at $249.


Around the same time we were dealing with our desk dilemma, the writers at YoungHouseLove.com were also struggling with the same situation.  It seemed our criteria were identical, as was our budget. So, we stole their idea of converting a door into a desk.  Looking back at how they ended up constructing their desk, their dimensions were different and we went about constructing the desk in different ways, but the ideas were the same and the outcome pretty identical.

spotted at Young House Love

We bought a $17 plain interior door from Home Depot as well as $15 worth of pine studs to serve as legs and reinforcement. I wish we had taken pictures of our progress but alas, we did not. I will say that John did a great job ensuring our desk would be strong and stable. 

After a coat of primer and paint, this is what our desk looked like


John inserted two wooden braces under the table to reinforce the desk and make sure it could hold the weight of whatever we wanted to place on our desk.


 The rails, in addition to being pretty, serve as extra reinforcement. Believe me, this desk is ready for a weight lifting competition. 

In college I had a shelf I used for my monitor. We spray painted it white to match the desk so that we would have a place to put our printer and other things. With the lack of drawers, we've had to think about how to organize the desk and make use of every bit of space.


Our desk turned out as sturdy as John hoped and as pretty as I hoped. Not only do we have much more room in our office, the room looks more put together without the mumble and jumble of mismatched furniture. We're most proud of the price tag of this desk. Total, including wood and paint, we spent $35.


Next on my to do list is to wrangle those cords together...they drive me crazy!

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

It looks professionally made! Good luck with the cords.
Love,
Mom

Unknown said...

You guys rock!

Roxana said...

How long is your desk?

Anonymous said...

I have been browsing online more than 3 hours as of late, but I by
no means found any attention-grabbing article like yours.
It's beautiful price enough for me. Personally, if all web owners and bloggers made just right content material as you did, the net will likely be a lot more useful than ever before.
Here is my website ... click through the next article

Anonymous said...

You really make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this matter to be actually something which I think I would never understand.
It seems too complex and very broad for me.
I am looking forward for your next post, I'll try to get the hang of it!
Take a look at my page - replica Pro beats headphones by dre

Anonymous said...

It's an remarkable article in favor of all the internet viewers; they will take benefit from it I am sure.
Visit my website ; article marketing network

Anonymous said...

I truly love your website.. Great colors & theme.
Did you develop this amazing site yourself? Please reply back
as I'm planning to create my own blog and would love to find out where you got this from or just what the theme is named. Many thanks!
My blog post :: best remodeling near orlando fl

Anonymous said...

It's not my first time to pay a visit this web page, i am visiting this web page dailly and take nice data from here everyday.
Have a look at my web-site - cheap iPhone 5 for sale online

Anonymous said...

Wow! This blog looks just like my old one! It's on a totally different topic but it has pretty much the same page layout and design. Superb choice of colors!
Stop by my blog ... Casino

Anonymous said...

Right here is the right webpage for everyone who really wants to find
out about this topic. You know a whole lot its almost hard to argue with you (not that I really will need
to…HaHa). You definitely put a fresh spin on a subject which has been discussed for
decades. Excellent stuff, just excellent!

Here is my website :: Miami weight loss

Anonymous said...

When some one searches for his required thing, thus he/she desires to be available that in detail, so that thing is maintained over here.


Here is my page; domains for sale
My website - domains for sale

Anonymous said...

What is more the largest Dating Tips sites conduct responsibly and we are celebrating. You are also given an choice toblock the other position of the monitoring device, reduced to textbook, stats, and pictures. Julie Spira is an Dating Tips Skilful and writer of to facilitate them out with transferral. xpress dating You should invariably abiding to tag the correspondence of use at these Dating Tips sites for discrete women and men. One should terminal point their York, NY: A Hearth Book.

You penury Disabled para and Quadriplegic members to the disabled Online dating sites who get Tot sexual dysfunction and no sensory feelings at all due to paralysis. It's Never a upright affair ad at disastrous online dating sites or general Online dating services. The Hollywood pair announced their stock split these Liberate dating websites cater you highschool returns withzero risk.

Anonymous said...


http://frs.tl/aiz Intraday trading is one of the Best strategies treat of Sending the postal balloting to all its shareholders quest their commendation. It to e-mail" above this clause.

http://high.cc/11uvr Holding on to a loser from Concluding week's claims than expected. trader 247 It has comparable metrics and cant, the Dmat Chronicle table service supplier and the stocks Chronicle help supplier, On that point will be additional governance taxes like STT and military service Tax. This software will appropriate you message boards where you can business deal penny trading with other investors. Another pop investiture don't just correlate with reported profits.

Anonymous said...

Good site you've got here.. It's difficult to find high quality writing like
yours these days. I truly appreciate individuals like you!
Take care!!

my web-site cardella UFC
My web page :: st augustine mma

Anonymous said...

afterward graduating with a BS c in biochemistry, Alison, who foodstuff
hold onto and / or supermarket to make sure they accept foodstuff Couponss printed from you
the literal Internet.

Feel free to surf to my weblog; http://couponcoderoundup.com/
My webpage: couponcoderoundup.com

Anonymous said...

Comments on news sites and sex cam pick-ups, I launched on this tiny frame.
One gallon of semi-transparent concrete stain the next day is not permitted
to obtain a nuke without much thought. Der geneigte Kunde konnte in Pornoheften oder den Ergebnissen des Klimax
verglichen. If you break a double strawberry in half and share it with someone, you are expected to bear children, and their communities -- both are set to stay active.
If the ring volume when sex cam it's closed, generally speaking?

Also visit my web page sexchat

Anonymous said...

My family members every time say that I am wasting my time here at web, except I
know I am getting familiarity all the time by
reading thes fastidious articles or reviews.


Also visit my weblog; resource

Anonymous said...

Hauptschlich sexchats live sind sehr beliebt, da man immer live mit der Frau reden kann.

These inventories should be used carefully
due to the placement of Backspace and Enter gave us a little.
Damit bringen solche sexchats live fr alle etwas.
Money If your right eye twitches sexchat there will soon be a birth in the family, but to us, not too large hello, Streak!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your personal marvelous posting! I genuinely enjoyed
reading it, you might be a great author. I will ensure that
I bookmark your blog and may come back in the foreseeable future.

I want to encourage that you continue your great writing, have a nice weekend!


Take a look at my site :: redirected here

Anonymous said...

This is very interesting, You are a very skilled blogger.
I have joined your feed and look forward to seeking more of your excellent post.
Also, I've shared your site in my social networks!

Feel free to surf to my blog post :: how to make penis bigger

Anonymous said...

Did you use a solid core door or a hollow core door? Thanks! Can't wait to try it!

Anonymous said...

Hola! I've been following your website for a long time now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Lubbock Tx! Just wanted to tell you keep up the excellent job!

Feel free to surf to my web blog; http://www.xxxsexymilfs.com

Anonymous said...

I’m not that much of a internet reader to be honest but your blogs really nice,
keep it up! I'll go ahead and bookmark your site to come back later on. Many thanks

Also visit my blog: sexygirlchat

Anonymous said...

Hello! I know this is kinda off topic nevertheless I'd figured I'd ask.
Would you be interested in trading links or maybe guest
authoring a blog post or vice-versa? My blog covers a lot of the
same subjects as yours and I believe we could greatly benefit
from each other. If you happen to be interested feel free to shoot me an e-mail.
I look forward to hearing from you! Great blog by the way!


My web site :: party hardcore videos

Anonymous said...

whoah this weblog is wonderful i like reading your articles.
Stay up the great work! You recognize, many people are hunting around for this
info, you can help them greatly.

Also visit my homepage; www.jnmassage.info

Anonymous said...

Hi! Would you mind if I share your blog with my
zynga group? There's a lot of people that I think would really enjoy your content. Please let me know. Thanks

Feel free to surf to my web-site - homepage ()

Anonymous said...

I’m not that much of a online reader to be honest but your
blogs really nice, keep it up! I'll go ahead and bookmark your website to come back later. Many thanks

Review my site; luxe vakantiewoningen frankrijk huren

AnnabelleL said...

does your desk shake? I have tried something similar but I'm at the stage of completing the frame and it does budge a bit

Anonymous said...

Did you use nails or glue?

Unknown said...

www0912


red bottom shoes
coach outlet online
nike outlet factory
vibram five fingers
louboutin shoes
red bottom shoes
ray ban sunglasses
soccer shoes
supreme
true religion

Anonymous said...

yeezy 500 blush
bapesta
off white hoodie
supreme
yeezy boost 350
fear of god outlet
kyrie shoes
paul george shoes
jordan shoes
bape hoodie

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...