My First Project

Submitted by PS on Thu, 03/15/2012 - 12:31

My husband and I got sick of buying particle board furniture and having it fall apart. I was so excited to see these desk plans and decided to build each child one of their own.

I tweaked the plans a lot. I learned a little SketchUp in the process. Each of these desk tops sits on 4 16x16" bases. Each desk has one drawer base, one fixed-shelf base, and two adjustable shelf bases. The bases can be rearranged as desired and can later be used as shelves when we don't need the desktops anymore.

All 3 desks took me just over 4 months to complete. Of course, Christmas happened during that time.

I used Fir based on some misguidance at the lumber yard. I'm still a little upset by that. I used pine edgebanding and am pleased with the finished look though. I just hope the wood is hard enough to not suffer too much damage.

I really enjoyed this project and my kids are loving the results. Their desks don't wobble and they have a lot of space.

Thanks for the jumping off point and all the instructions here. My next project is a built-in entertainment center. Should be fun!

Estimated Cost
$325 each
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
MinWax Water Based Stain in Golden Harvest (or Harvest Gold, I forget the right term)
MinWax Water Based Poly - Clear Semi-gloss

Recommended Skill Level
Beginner