Studio Update: DIY Wood Console Desk

I haven't kept it a secret that the studio needs major love and attention.  It does not have ample storage, the colors are all wrong, it quickly gets messy and leaves me with a space that I am un-inspired to work within.  Being a blogger and someone who is hoping to use the space to someday expand my Etsy shop, an un-inspiring studio space is a big, bad, no-no.

The first order of business was to create a second work station.  My hubby often times works from home and while I work on my PC, he works on his work laptop.  I also use a Windows laptop for some programs that I haven't learned on my Mac yet, so I toggle back and forth between the two.  And lastly, it's nice to give the little guys a place to work on homework or to craft while I am blogging, so we can all still be together.  A second desk was something I have been wanting for a long time now, I just wasn't quite sure how to make it work just right in my studio.

The second part of the story is that the deep blue dresser was just too heavy and bulky in the space.  It provided great storage, but it wasn't visually "right" for me.  So we moved it to the master bedroom and I fell in love with it all over again.

So, what did we put in place of the dresser?

The goal was to bring in a nice warm wood tone, in the form of a console table that could also do double duty as a desk.  You can see my last inspiration board for the studio here, I recently made some tweaks and am getting really really excited about the direction I plan on going:

I have spent the last couple of months on every site I could think of, looking for the perfect console table.  Unfortunately, they were all far out of my budget, in the multi-hundred dollar range.  Boo.  Thrift stores didn't pan out, nor did Craigslist or HomeGoods.  It always figures that when I am on a mission to find the perfect piece, I can't.  So, I did what I should have done right away, and asked my hubby to lend a hand at building me the perfect piece.

And he did.

This way, we were able to determine the size and finish, and customize it to our needs.  Oh, and we did it for around $40.  Yeah, you read that right.  It was amazing.

{wood, melamine top, edging, corner brackets, wood stain}

My handy man and I figured out the dimensions and I wanted it to span much of the wall between the two doors {for the laundry room and utility room}.  It ended up being 56" wide and just under 16" deep.  I also checked online at parson style desk dimensions to get the right height.  Once we had our desired measurements, B cut down all of the wood pieces to the right size.

The next step was assembly, and once he got going, it went really quick.  He didn't want any screw holes visible, so he used a Kreg jig to create inset holes for all of the joints.

Here you can see it as it was coming together with use of the drill and jig.

The 2x2 wood pieces were going to act as the entire frame for the desk.  He added in some corner brackets for added support and strength.

Once it was all put together, we flipped it over and had ourselves the frame to a console table desk!

He then used the Kreg jig to add another section of 2x2's around the lower exterior of the desk, for even more support.  Then it was brought outside to be stained, I used Kona by Varathane.

The white melamine board was going to be the perfect desk topper, since I wouldn't have to paint it, and it would be ready for instant use.  We attached it by screwing up through the corner brackets right into the top of the board.  The protective finish also gives it durability and keeps it super simple to clean.  Since we had to cut it down to size, we had to add a new finished edge, with the help of some melamine edging tape {we already had it on hand from another project}.

Tada!

I don't have a chair yet, so I just grabbed the one from the other side of the room to act as a stand-in until I can redo a thrifted one I scored.

Isn't the desk a beauty?  It looks like it came straight off of a fancy showroom floor.  I love it.  But I love it even more since my love made it for me from scratch.

Here is a close up of the frame and pretty stained wood.

I really love that it adds a nice natural element to the studio and that it breaks up all of the white we have going on.

It feels so chic and elegant now, and really brightened up the studio.  It is also so much more airy than the bulky dresser.

The next order of business is to add boatloads of studio storage, but this time, I am going into that with a plan, a BIG plan.  More on that very soon.

Let's chat.  What item have you searched high and low for, that you finally just built instead?  Were you as happy with the end result as we are?  And even more excited that you didn't just give in and splurge?