As mentioned in a previous post, I grew frustrated after several months of trying to find a new desk for my home office.  I shopped every store and website known to mankind, and couldn’t find anything that matched my specifications.

The space I’ve converted is the smallish dining room in my condo, which would never be used as a formal dining room anyway.   The dimensions of the space are 96″ across the back wall, 54″ inches along the patio door, and 36″ on the kitchen door side.

My concept was to find a left-return L-shaped desk that would fit the space.  Nothing I came across in three months of searching had the dimensions required for the space, and none of the items I looked at were less than $1200-$1500.  Though I use my office/creative space a LOT, I cannot justify spending that kind of money for a desk. Nuh-uh, no way, Jose.

Here’s the current space with the desk I’m looking to replace:

Current Desk and space

Many moons ago, my job was property manager for a student apartment complex for the University of Colorado at Boulder.  The residents pretty much all came from wealthy families who outfitted their new “home away from home” with nice, new furniture.  Most, if not all of the residents left every stick of furniture behind when they moved out upon graduation.  I cherry-picked some of the nicer stuff (like the desk, which came with a beautiful matching bookcase).  However, that was almost ten years ago, and the desk has certainly seen better days.

The drawer facings will no longer stay on, no matter how many times I fix them.  Liquid Nails will only go so far.  The work surface of this desk, while adequate, no longer suits my needs.  With the sheer number of various projects I undertake on a weekly basis, there’s just no room!

Finally, out of sheer frustration and the strong need and desire to maximize the space being used, I went to Lowe’s, spent $120 and got all the materials I need to build my own work space.

I started with two pre-treated pieces of 3/4″ Ponderosa Pine.  One is 72″ x 24″, and will form the main work area.

Main work area piece

This I painted with several coats of satin furniture paint, black.  I want the wood to be sealed, and unobtrusive.  I like using a satin finish as it allows the natural grain of the wood to show through but is still easily cleaned.  The focal point is not really the desk itself, but the work being done on it.  However, I will add some splashes of color to the surface to make it interesting.

The second piece, which will form the left arm of the L, is 20″ x 48″.  This will be the portion that fits in front of the fixed portion of the doorwall. It, too, was painted black.  Not only does the paint help seal the wood and strengthen it, the act of painting it gave me a good feel for which side would be the actual work surface, and which side would be the bottom of the desk.

Smaller piece

I bought decorative legs, which are seen here in their natural wood state, but will be also painted black with some cool accents.  As they are purely functional and won’t really be seen, I won’t spend a lot of time or energy on them.

My legs! My legs!

Once I get the items coated with several layers of paint, I will begin cutting the braces and other unseen pieces that will hold the desk up.  The legs will make the surface 28″ from the floor.  This is perfect.

The work surface will be wall-mounted with wood braces and metal brackets to keep it all solid.  The legs will be used to keep the longer lengths of wood from bowing under any weight that may be set atop it.

All in all, I’m very excited to be undertaking this project.  It will be nice to have a work area that is useful, with enough under-storage so that my documents, etc., aren’t spread all over.

Watch for more information as the project progress!

P.S. – Will have a desk for sale mid-June.  Watch for it!