DIY Desk With Storage Tutorial

My mom recently just built a house. I'm so excited to start showing it off and all that we have planned for it! The first thing that was a must was a desk. The desk I had made for her before didn't fit through the doorway to her new office. It's a shame because I really loved that desk! (click here to check it out. It was made from a dresser!) :) But, that also meant I got to design a desk for her and her needs. She gave me the exact size she needed with everything so I got to work!

 The total size of this desk is 30" deep, 54" wide and 29" tall. The middle section is 36" wide...perfect for a chair. These are the requirements she had, so I went forward from there!

Here's my cut list for this size of desk. It, of course, can be changed to suit your needs, longer, narrower, etc.

6 -2x4 @ 28 1/4" (legs)
3 - 2x4@ 36" (top and bottom long rails)
5 - 2x4 @ 21" (side rails)
3 - 2x2 @ 21" (side shelf supports)
4 - 2x2 @13" (front shelf supports)
4 - 2x4 @ 13" (shelf rails)
3 pieces of 3/4" plywood at 24 1/2x13" (shelves)
1 piece of 3/4" plywood at 30x54" (top)

Step 1: Using a pocket hole jig, create 2 holes on each side rail. Holes should be on the same facing side. Secure 1 side rail to the top portion of a leg. I used wood glue and the interlocking screws in 1 1/2" length.

 Step 2: Attached the 2nd leg to the top side rail.

 Step 3: Now, 3" up from the bottom of the legs, place another side rail and secure into place on both legs. Do steps 1-3 again to create a second piece.

 Step 4: Now do Steps 1-2 again. Don't do step 3 on this piece. Now, you should have 2 pieces with 2 side rails, and one with a top side rail only.

 Step 5: Create pocket holes in each long rail. Secure the top and bottom long rails to section you created in step 4. The bottom rail should sit 3" up from the bottom of the leg and the top rails should be flush.

 Step 6: Add one of the other sections you created in step 3. Make sure all pocket holes are facing inside. Secure this section to the long rails, both top and bottom making sure the bottom is once again 3" from the bottom of the leg.

 Step 7: On the other section you created in step 3, add the top shelf rails (13") to top of the legs, making sure they are flush and secure in place with pocket hole screws and glue.

 Step 8: Now add the bottom shelf rails 3" from the bottom on each of these legs. The front one I placed 1/2" in, the back is flush. Secure in place.

 Step 9: Secure the 21" 2x2 long shelf rails into place on the side of the larger piece. The distance between these ones will be determined upon the size of the baskets you used. For the top piece, we decided to make a laptop shelf. So, this is super small and only a 2" distance from the top 2x4 side rail. From there, we made it about 7" for each shelf since our basket was 6" high. The bottom rails should sit 5" from the bottom to keep flush with the 2x4 front bottom shelf rail.

 Step 10: add the shelf section to the larger section now. Connect all the shelf rails making sure to keep the top ones flush and the bottom sections 3" from the bottom of the legs.

 Step 11: Using the same distances you did in Step 9, add the shorter shelf support rails (13") to the front and back. I inset these by 1/2" from the front, but kept them flush on the back.

 Step 12: Add the shelves to the inside of all the supports. I used 2" nails and my nail gun to secure them into place. You will want to make sure your measurements are correct before cutting these. Mine did vary by 1/4 per shelf because of the placement of the rails.

 Step 13: This step was part of what my mom wanted in her desk. She wanted a shelf underneath the top that would hold a power strip. The cords on her desk would then feed through a hole on the top of the desk, down to this shelf. And then only a single cord will be showing, the one to the power strip. This is an optional piece and not mentioned above on the cut list. But this was a 1x8 board cut a 36" and placed on back top of the longer section.

 Step 14: Next, I filled in all the holes, gaps and seams with wood putty. I sanded those to a smooth finish.  Then painted it with Sherwin Williams Pure White in semi-gloss.

 Step 15: Not shown. I sanded the top plywood piece and then added wood filler along the sides to hide the character of the plywood. I then sanded that down to a smooth finish and stained the sides and the top with Classic Grey. I added 3 coats of polyacrylic to the top.

Step 16: I secured the top piece to the rest of the desk with wood glue and 1 1/2" nails.

 I love how this desk turned out! It's simple yet works perfectly for what she needed. I can't wait to show you guys her total office makeover when we get it done!

 Here's the idea for the laptop shelf. She'll be using monitors that are connected to the laptop. So, the laptop needed to be close but out of the way. This is also just great for storage for anyone who just wants to use it as a place to keep their laptop when not in use.

These baskets are from Target although I have found some similar at Home Goods.

This was a fun piece to create and make adjustments to! I used the plans from Homemade Haven and tweaked them from there to suit my needs.

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