Building A Desk By Having An Old Hollow Core Door
One of the leading questions facing us when working out how you can then add office-y function to the guest bed room was: where will the desk go? Correction: because there are a couple of interior design company, were perform the desks go? Keep in mind this isn’t the simplest question when you are dealing with this type of decently sized room (it’s just 10′ x 10.5′) that must also accommodate our new sofa (which folds out right into a full bed for the periodic house visitors). Therefore we made the decision that the little pre-planning is needed us answer that very question. Let me introduce my simple (not-to-scale) layout to show the desk positioning options that people considered:
Zone #1 seemed great since it meant certainly one of us would reach peer the window and revel in a pleasant look at the backyard. However with the couch so close, it meant your partner may well be a bit cramped. Plus, we’d big plans for any bookcase with that wall (to balance the peak from the uncentered window) therefore it was to the next two options.
Zone #2 felt like a better option because it was a long continuous wall, however it will need a really custom sized desk due to how lengthy that wall is and just how far the sofabed will have to fold out when it’s being used.
Zone #3 only offered up space for just one desk, although putting certainly one of us there (and yet another part of zone #1 or #2) would take pressure from finding one lengthy two-person desk. It resulted in we’d have our backs to each other, which isn’t always useful when we’re focusing on something together (seeing one another’s screens could be easier).
What exactly did we elect? Zone #2 for that win! It made probably the most sense because it was a long space. Plus we loved getting an empty wall before us to hold art, pinboards or whatever other productivity-inducing wall decor we elect that people need when the time comes to tackle the skill-factor within the room.
With this made the decision, our next challenge was locating a desk to suit that wall. We’d about 7ft between your window and also the door (if this was fully open) to utilize, only 21? of depth before we’d start clashing with the folded-out sofa bed. So after plenty of hunting (as well as some thrift store trolling) we created two decent options – the IKEA Besta Burs then one such as the Crate & Barrel Sloane Leaning Bookcase Desk (with two work areas rather than one).
Sadly after looking at both solutions personally, we weren’t won over by each one. The IKEA option was close, but at 5’10” lengthy and just 15? deep, it didn’t fill the area around it might have (and we’ll take all of the desktop that people could possibly get!). As well as the $249 cost tag would be a bit steep for 2 cheap-os like ourselves. And also the Crate & Barrel option wasn’t only more costly ($379), however it didn’t accommodate two desk areas (therefore we would most likely need to build such like that will) and in addition it meant there’d be a good amount of bookcases within the room (remember, we’re already intending to place one near the uncentered window to balance that wall and add a lot of functional space for storage. It had been starting to seem like i was full-scale of desk luck…
However, infused by a few of the confidence leftover from the self-building experience, I made the decision which i should develop a custom desk for all of us. I’d been eager to test the Kreg Jig on something bigger, which means this appeared like only the project. Plus – how hard can it be? Just gotta screw some legs onto a large slab of wood, right? But with regards to getting “big slabs” of anything home, we also have to consider a little harder since our only vehicle is really a Nissan Altima (which isn’t really something which a 7 feet wood just glides into).
Therefore we placed on our thinking caps and our working-things-out pants and – in just a minute of inspiration – Sherry appreciated that people still had the hollow-core door that when resided on the bathroom linen closet dwelling in our garage. Take a look within the photo below around the left. It had been always in the manner therefore it needed to go (and also you know there exists a factor for open storage anyway), however it had been poised for any comeback.
Sherry saw a couple of other people round the dunia ngeblog repurposing doorways to produce tabletops and desktop computers so she convinced me that people should join the ranks. And luckily, the doorway was nearly an ideal fit for the layout with little modifying (it had been just below 7ft lengthy, contributing to 18 inches wide). Plus not just maybe it was free, however it needed absolutely zero hauling. Picture us with a few serious jazz hands because of this fortuitous development.
When it comes to relaxation of my supplies, I did not use woodworking plans just like a normal person might (I wasn’t thinking about doing any fancy drawers on my small first attempt for furniture building, so possibly I had been feeling a little adventurous). Rather, I poked my mind under our dining area table because it had exactly the same fundamental legs and rail design that people made the decision we would have liked for the simple DIY desk. Obviously it had been another measurement than our desk could be, however the fundamental construction was perfect to imitate in my pending project.
Having a couple of quick dimensions, we headed off and away to Lowe’s to get enough wood for four legs along with a rail on all sides. We came home having a nice little wood collection that looked something such as this (oh so we added the present bathroom door towards the mix before snapping the photo):
Our bounty incorporated a couple of planks of just one x 3? (common) for that rails and 4 chunky thrice 3? measures (also common) that we’d be cutting lower to produce legs. As a whole, it ended up costing about $70 – which may finish up being our only out-of-pocket expense with this project. Pretty good thinking about the smaller sized skinnier Ikea desk would be a whopping $249.
Before I possibly could arrive at the fun screw-everything-together part, there is a substantial amount of set-up to become done. We begin using the door hardware. Clearly we didn’t need hinges or perhaps a handle mechanism on the desk. First I removed the hinges and used some wood putty to fill the indentation they left out (since that side would end up being the front from the desk). It is because we made the decision to depart the opening in which the handle have been in position therefore it could easily end up being the place at the rear of the desk that people given our wires and cords through. And also you know this cord-wrangling feature become a huge hit to that particular type-A wife of mine.
Another prep project that I needed to do was whip the doorway back to shape. Living in the spare room for 2 years meant it had some peeling paint and a little bit of scum onto it. However it was nothing that the good scrubfest with a few vinegar-infused water (for that scum) along with a light sanding (for that peeling paint) wouldn’t fix. Well it wouldn’t completely repair it, however it would have it ready for many priming and painting- which may.
I additionally had a little bit of sawing to complete. Although the door had been slightly shorter compared to 7 feet space between your open office door and also the opposite wall, we would have liked to shorten it with a couple of more inches simply to leave some space on each side in our future desk (therefore it didn’t look packed in to the space too tightly). I measured and marked where we would have liked to work, after which – to assist avoid the wood from splintering – I recorded them back with a couple painter’s tape (i then just tracked my cut line within the tape again so I saw it).
Then out came the circular saw. Hello old friend.
If anybody has ever thought about what within a hollow-core door appears like, here ya go. Clearly this needed a little bit of sanding to smooth things out, but as this is the finish that will face the wall, I did not feel the extra effort to close it over with a brand new wood. Refer to it as a short-cut, should you must. Or perhaps a spot to hide items that you do not want anybody to locate. Oops, I simply told the web about this so that’s out.
Within the above photo, you are able to already see my other prep project sitting at the base of my sawhorse: priming. I made the decision to prime all the wood before creating the piece, but saved painting until after interior design company Malaysia had been all come up with. Realizing it would obtain a little defaced during construction, I did not wish to feel below par each time I acquired an indication around the wood.
Let’s focus on the enjoyment part. With everything else primed and dried, I possibly could start construction. I started using the legs, while using Kreg Jig to drill one pilot hole around the two inside faces of every leg. Read this publish to understand more about the way the Kreg Jig works.
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