The One in Which I Make a Desk Out of Closet Doors

In our new home, we have room for an office for both Hubs and me, which is great, but caused a need for a new desk. I had been using the desk we got from Hubs’ grandfather, but the desk was too tall for me and I never really liked it. Hubs is using the desk in his office, so I needed something for my space.

I work from home, so I have an office/craft room/Mom Cave. I wanted a space for work and projects.I got creative with some doors that we found in our new home.

With all the expense of moving, I forced myself to be creative (read: I didn’t want to spend any money). There were a couple of 6-panel doors that were left in the house. I think they are supposed to be for the closet in Katie’s bedroom, but they don’t fit. They are solid wood and would be perfect for what I needed. 

Enter these tables. Our neighbor sold us these tables at the beginning of summer. We bought 4 of them for $20. You can see the tops are in bad shape, but the hardware was all good.

The tables are 8’ long. I didn’t need them that long and my doors are not as wide as the tables were, but like Tim Gunn says, I thought I could “make it work.”

The first step was to remove all the old hardware.

I’m surprised more church bazaars and spaghetti feeds don’t end in table-crashing disasters because the screws that hold this stuff in are very short. Particle board may be heavy, but it doesn’t take much effort to break it apart. Note the missing chunk out of the corner.

It took me about 10 minutes to remove all the screws from the old tables. It was hard moving these heavy tales and doors around by myself, but my menfolk were gone and I wanted this project done.

With the hardware removed, it was time to start building. I needed to measure the parts to see how they’d fit on the new tables. The leg braces were too wide, but a hack saw took take care of that problem. I taped some duct tape around the end of each piece to mark where I would cut.

The only reason I used Duct Tape was because I could find it at the time. We still had most of the tools still in boxes at this point. Easy to find was a top priority. Plus, it was bright yellow, so it was easy to see.

I cut off the yellow end of the leg brace. Hacking away on metal in the heat was the hardest part of this job.

I used a square to mark where the new brace would go. Again, there was no other reason for using a square other than it was right there in the garage in plain sight. No digging around for a tape measure was required.

I placed the hardware on the door against my mark and screwed it in. Easy Peasy.

One of the tables had a clip on the end to hold the legs against the table when it’s folded up. I didn’t really need it, but decided to put it on since I had it.

That’s it. I made two desks in about an hour.

I have two pieces of glass that a former tenant left behind in our Utah home, that I was smart enough to haul out to Ohio with us. The Gods of DIY smiled upon me, since this glass is the exact same width as the doors. It gives me two sections of smooth work space.

Eventually, I’ll pay to have glass cut to fit the whole top, but this works for now.

I have the two desks configured in an L-shape in my office. I still want to build some shelves and actual storage under the desk. I needed to use the tables now, though, so in the meantime,  have a couple of plastic drawers that hold office and sewing supplies.

I have big plans for Office/Mom Cave. When I get my room in better shape, I’ll be sure to show you my plans..

Cost Breakdown:

• 6-panel Doors – Free
• Table Hardware – $10

Total Project Cost: $10

Have you built anything lately?

Suesan