Our DIY Desk

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In December when Aaron and I moved downstairs into a bigger unit we knew we didn’t want to keep our dinky ikea desk we were using. We didn’t have enough space to each have our own and honestly, in our 6 years of being together I think we both prefer sharing a desk space. We both work a lot at our desk so it wouldn’t make sense to do what we both love, apart. I was really wanting a wooden desktop, I’m so drawn to anything natural and wooden so this had been one of my main needs. I searched high and low for desks that were long enough, deep enough and affordable. I eventually got so frustrated that I started looking at wood online at Home Depot. I remembered my friend Jen posting this on how her and her husband had made their own and told Aaron that we needed to just do it. It wouldn’t make sense wasting anymore money on a desk I didn’t see us keeping in the long haul. So we went off to Home Depot. We went in not really knowing what we were doing at all but once we started talking with one of their employees he helped us pick out everything we needed and made us feel really confident. I’m so blown away by how easy it was. I think the idea of not knowing what we were doing was what kept us from starting in the first place.

We’re definitely not professionals but here is what we purchased for our desk:
• 1 birchwood door trimmed to the measurements we needed.
• 4 redwood 4×4’s trimmed for the legs
• 1 box of 4′ screws.
• a $30 palm sander(you can also rent one for $10)
• 1 qt of Minwax wood finish stainer in dark walnut
• 2 cheap $4 paint brushes
• 1 roll of plastic covering

This totalled out at $150 which is so worth it. When we got home we went over all of the wood pieces with the sander 3 times. Then stained everything which was the longest part about putting this together. After it dried we brought everything into the apartment and started putting it together. In each corner of the desk there are 3 of the screws drilled in.
This is definitely sturdier than anything we’ve ever purchased before and I feel like it’s something we’ll keep forever. I’m in love with it. Hopefully this inspires each of you to try building one of your own. I plan on building a few more things around the apartment to match the desk now. xx

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