How to Build a Desk Under $80

Written by Alina

One of the spaces that I’m most proud of is my studio/office space. It took so long for it to finally “feel” right, so I’m glad I finally have a workspace that encourages me to be productive.

The first DIY project I did in in my studio was a custom desk. I needed something that had very specific dimensions and matched my style. After researching a million desks online, I decided it would be more cost effective to build it. Scroll below to see how I did it (I had a few of the materials at home, but I linked them below. You can find cheaper materials at mom & pop hardware stores.)

Materials:

Two pieces of lumber planks (2” x 6” x 8ft) cut in half. This gave me 4 pieces (2” x 6” x 4ft). You can have Home Depot cut it for you if you don’t own a saw.
Wood Glue
Sand paper
Wood clamps or heavy books to hold wood together as it dries.
Varathane Wood Stain, I got the Classic Grey
3 – 12″ mending plates
Paintbrush or rag
Wood varnish
28″ Desk legs
1″ Screws for mending plates and screws for legs (you might need different sizes for both- depends on the hole size)

Tools:

Power Drill

How to:

The first step is to cut your wood in half so you have 4 pieces. Use wood glue to attach the wood to each other and clamp. I didn’t have clamps so I took extremely heavy books and sandwiched the wood in between. Wait 12-24 hrs for the glue to dry and sand wood.

Once your wood feels smooth, use a rag to wipe the surface of the wood and remove all the residue.

Next, drill the mending plates into the wood. I made sure to stager mine so that each plank of wood was attached to another.

Grab your favorite wood stain and follow directions on back of can. Do this in a well ventilated area. Apply various coats with a brush or rag until you get your color of choice. Once it dries (check drying times on can), you can go ahead and drill the legs in.

Measure out the distance on each side of where you want the legs so that they are evenly placed. I left 1 inch all around. After your legs are in, you can apply your varnish. Make sure you give it enough time to dry and cure so that you’re not smelling up the entire place. I was so eager to get my desk into my studio that I didn’t let everything cure for long enough. The smell was awful & it practically gave me a headache. Don’t do what I did—let it cure!

The height of my desk is 30 inches. When you’re figuring out what height you want for your desk, keep in mind that you’re adding the 2 inches of the wood thickness to the leg height.

Extra Space Hack:

I had an extra piece of wood lying around that was the exact length of desk so I made a quick riser. I got 4 wooden boxes from the dollar store, spray painted them, stacked them using wood glue and placed the wood plank on top. The cool thing is that I’m able to maximize space with this small addition. It can also be removed super easily because the only thing I glued together were the small boxes.