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Tuesday, March 16, 2021

DIY Wooden Desktop

                                             

 Sup?


So...I took a little step away from bathrooms and went back to my roots.  A custom sized wooden desktop.


Remember this?  It's been over 5 years.  WOW.



This was one of my first big DIYs right after we bought the old Baltimore Rowhouse.  Custom sized with...whatever size they were when I bought them, sanded, stained, and connected together by a wood plank underneath.  I was so proud of these desktops.  Still am.  They're still in use in the office today.


So I was following this tutorial from @younghouselove for the den office space and almost bought an Ikea desktop.  But I just couldn't pull the trigger.  They weren't the right size/color/material - they just weren't right.  So...I kept looking.


And then I fell hard for this tutorial from @shadesofblueinteriors.  I loved how thick the desktop looked, how smooth and finished.  I was SOLD.


On to the build.

Quick trip to one of the home improvement store where I had them cut down the wood to my spaces measurements.  I think I had them cut down 6ft 1 inch thick planks to 65 inches.  I did want the desk to be wider so I had them cut one of the boards in half.  I left a little room to spare at the ends.  Here's the dry fit.



A perfect fit!  With a little room to spare!


So then I got to work attaching the half board to the whole board.  A lot of wood glue.  I didn't have large enough clamps so there was some paint can and heavy book positioning to hold things in place, which worked well...enough.


Wood filler



I then attached the trim, to make it look thicker and heavy visually.  More paint cans.







And voila!  Custom boards the exact width and length for the space.  SWEET.



And then I sanded.  Guys, I think I sanded all winter.  End of the day, 15 minutes of sanding before the sun went down and it got too dark and too cold.  30 minute stretches twice a day on weekends.  All. The.  Sanding.

Here are some mid sanding and after sanding pictures.




Yeah.  So I did that.  And then, I tried the stain that I had pre-tested. and promptly hated it.  So...back to sanding.  Please learn from me.  If you aren't in love with your pre-tested stain, keep working on finding one you like.






But finally, we got there.


And then we (I) realized that I hadn't measured for trim, so...these boards ended up in the basement office and the old original desktop from the first picture is holding up in the den office.  It's actually the perfect size for the den office while this desktop is the perfect size for the basement office.  Serendipity from stupidity, I guess.











So this space is almost done.  I have to paint the remaining cabinet white and add legs to get it to be the right height.  I also just put in a request to paint PART of the basement paneling to my landlords.  Fingers crossed.  Can't hurt to ask, right?


Night!

E