Homeschool desk 4 seater

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 02/06/2016 - 08:00

We homeschool our 3 kids, and my wife needed a space where she could conduct school, keep all the kids' (and hers) school materials without creating a massive mess at the dining room table, and where she could easily see and interact with the kids and they with her.  She found a 64" x 64" square desk with four pedestals online, but it retailed for over $1400!  No way we're paying that much! She asked me if I could build it, and when I found the Schoolhouse Desk Single Pedestal plans and compared it with the picture of the square desk, I worked out a few modifications to build what we needed. Here it is! Use the basic Single Pedestal plans as a base, with the mods below: 

The top is 64"x64" (connected two pieces of 3/4" maple at 32"x64" using kreg jig & wood glue)

Each pedestal is 22 1/2" W x 25 1/2"H. Drawer sizes modified to match. Instead of a single drawer at the top of the pedestal, I modifed to make two drawers on the bottom with a cubby hole remaining at the top. Thus, place the 16 1/2" 1x2 cross bar at 8 1/4" from the bottom (instead of from the top). Add a 16 1/2" x 22 1/2" shelf at 15 3/4" from the bottom of the pedestal. This will form the cubby.

Drawers: 14" 2x2s on the short side, 21 1/2" 2x2s on the long side. Total dimension 15 1/2"x21 1/2". Attach 1/4" plywood at 15 1/2" x 21 1/2" for the bottom.

Base dimensions (2x2s): 19 1/2" 2x2s on the long side; 15" 2x2s on the short side; 3 3/4" legs at corners

 

Estimated Cost
Approximately $375
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
Red Mahogany 225 (Miniwax). This could easily be painted desired color as well. I put on the stain on before adding the table top. In other words, I stained the pedestals individually and the table top separately. Once all that was done, then I completed the assembly by putting the table top on.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Comments

Kirk's Projects

Sat, 02/06/2016 - 08:37

In my post above, I said 2x2s on the drawers. That was a typo--the drawers, as in original plans, are made of 1x6s!