So our built-in wall-to-wall desk already made some good progress this week with the painting and making-taller of our cabinets. But something was missing.
Yes, remember the view from before?
Yes, we were devoid a counter (aka, the desk top). John and I were actually quite indecisive about what to do when it came to that part. And whatever we did, we needed about thirteen feet of it (a length that we learned most kitchen counter suppliers wouldn’t even deliver since 12 feet was usually the max before you ended up with a seam). At first we considered ordering a legit kitchen counter top (maybe butcher block, maybe silestone, maybe this from Ikea – although they would all have a seam). I think after having saved so much with our $6 cabinets we thought that maybe the top could be our splurge.
But, then again, we’re not very good splurgers. Also, I was leaning towards something white (to keep things light, and to tie into the top of the nearby built-ins in the dining room) but John was Mr. Hesitant about white overload (and worried that the white tone of the counter could clash with the white of the cabinet). I know, it’s shocking to hear a guy worry about clashing white tones (especially when he usually can’t tell one white paint chip from another) but he can own it. In short, we were stuck.
But after seeing this DIY-ed desk that Aubrey and Lindsay built, John won we both realized that wood was the way to go.
We’ve always loved the combo of white and deep wood (we did something similar but flipped when it came to refinishing Clara’s dresser), so why not? And rather than “matching” a white counter to the tops of the built-ins in the dining room, we thought referencing the rich wood tabletop in there could really look great.
So with the “rich wood finish” decision made, we tracked down our materials. We wanted something thicker than the 3/4″ console table top (just to stay proportionate with the four chunky cabinets below and the thirteen foot length), so we picked up some 2 x 10″ untreated framing lumber. It was as thick as one of those jumbo cutting boards and I walked around the store talking lovingly to it, which was completely embarrassing but I could. not. help. it.
While there we had the guy at Home Depot cut a bunch of eight foot pieces in half so we could fit them in the car (it would also make maneuvering them at home much easier). And this is the most exciting thing. Total cost: $27.30. Yup, it came to less than a dollar a square foot (which is a heckova lot cheaper than most other countertop options, even butcher block or laminate from Ikea).
So with everything home, we did a rough layout on the floor of our basement workshop to figure out which pieces had the nicest edges (for the front lip) and which ones should be hidden in the back. We didn’t have 13 feet of floor space to work with, hence the overlapped look.
Since I was going to do the staining, John helped me label the back of each piece with clear directions so I didn’t end up staining the wrong side. The X meant “don’t stain this side” and STAIN FRONT meant, well, “stain the front edge” since it would show on the outer boards if it was a front board.
John’s duty (besides cutting a few end pieces to size) was sanding (since I still had memories of my vibrating hand from sanding the cabinets in the priming step of the process). John used the same cheerful little mouse sander to go over each piece thoroughly with some coarse 60 grit sandpaper first (to smooth out any big imperfections) and then went over things again with some finer 150 grit paper afterwards – just to give it an even smoother finish.
One potential challenge with lumber like this is the prints and stamps that come on them. We ended up using only the sides without marks, but if that weren’t the case we could’ve just used some extra sanding elbow grease to buff out the ink. But thankfully the other sides were just fine.
With everything sanded, we brought the boards into the sealed-off sunroom so I could stain them. We decided to use stain we already had on hand (leftover from the console project, actually I think it was from another project before that one) and ultimately decided to use the dark walnut and not mix in any of the ebony this time. Although we had done a combo of the two for the console, we weren’t really going for that same weathered / distressed look. Instead, we were trying emulate the deep, rich finish of our dining table.
So as usual, I brushed on a coat of the stain with a paintbrush (and a mysterious gloved hand)…
…and then wiped it off with a rag after letting it soak in a for about a minute.
Once they dried overnight, we were left with these beauts (I did the staining at night and shot these after photos in the morning, hence the different look/undertones – you’ll see the actual finished look later in the post though).
John’s original plan for building the counter was to recreate his process for the console top, just on a larger scale. That meant using his beloved Kreg jig to screw the boards into one another side-by-side so they became larger sections that he could then piece together on top of the base cabinets. But after going to town with his jig on a few boards, he realized these heftier boards weren’t gonna jive with that plan – especially when he had a seam straddling two cabinets. You can’t tell from this picture, but this set up was a bit wobbly. And a wobbly desktop (or something uneven that made our laptops wobbly) wasn’t the goal.
So he adjusted his approach to focus on screwing the boards to the cabinets first, and then to each other wherever necessary (for added support). It wasn’t a bad alternative, it just meant a lot more cramming his body into the base cabinets to drill screws up into the bottom of the counter planks while I leaned on things to keep them in place from above.
True to form, wherever he could, John used his pre-drilled pocket holes to secure the pieces to one another for added strength (did I mention the man loves his jig?).
Perhaps our favorite discovery of the day was realizing that our camera tripod could double as a great jack-substitute to keep the boards level while John screwed them together (this was a lot more precise than me standing there and trying to hold them at a consistent height). They make a good counter-building team, John and his trusty tripod.
The brevity at which I’m recounting this process makes it seem like it was fast and easy. It wasn’t. You know we like to keep it real, so the counter install (not counting a few hours of sanding/staining) took us the better part of an evening – maybe around four hours? And it was relatively exhausting, especially to poor John who was doing the bulk of the lifting and contorting himself into the base cabinets to drill. The most frustrating part was realizing that our boards, like most, weren’t all perfectly straight. So we had to do our best to counteract/deal with the whole slightly warped thing (once we screwed them down/together in a few places they seemed to level out, but it took some finessing to make sure the tops stayed level as we went).
But eventually it got done. Though it did teach us a lesson in staining: be sure to stain about a centimeter over each edge, even if you don’t think it’ll be visible, since some of the tiny cracks between where the boards met revealed slivers of unstained wood. Luckily it was nothing a little stain touch-up with a small brush couldn’t fix (I dabbed it in there and then wiped the seam with a rag to blend it).
With the touch-ups dry, I later added three thin coats of our favorite non-toxic low-VOC poly alternative (Safecoat Acrlacq). This is the can that we originally bought for our bathroom vanity project over a year and a half ago and it’s still going strong (we use it for almost everything).
The Safecoat seal will not only protect the finish and add lots of long-tern durability, but it also gives the wood a richer glossy look – just like our nearby dining table.
Once we’d given the whole thing 24 hours to dry, it was time to take her for a spin. This is what our new desktop looked like empty…
…and here she is with some “styling” (come on, do you know me at all? I love to put a bunch of stuff on newly completed projects – just to help us get a sense of what it might look like when it’s in use). Of course everything was just shoved there in four minutes so it’s safe to say that nothing is permanent and I obviously want some larger art to actually hang on the wall (which we still have to paint, hence the swatches) and a bunch of other things will likely change/evolve as we actually get into using our new desk.
And yes, I borrowed the lamps from the console table in the living room and added some fun shades that I spotted at Target (they still have the wrapping on them, which is why they’re so shiny). But eventually we’ll have to grab two more lamp bases for in here (where we might keep the two-toned shades – we’ll see).
We’re so happy with how the office looks from the dining room. The wood top ties right into the wood table and doesn’t look weird with the white topped built-ins in the foreground. Whew.
And the chunky wood top is such a rich counterpart to the white cabinets, we really couldn’t be happier. Oh and see that vintage green library box (found for $4 at a thrift store a while back)? That’s our new drawer system for pens, pencils, tape, and scissors – so the file cabinets are full of larger things (like the shredder, some storage boxes, etc). So far it’s all really functional- so I owe you a photo of the insides of those cabinets once we’re more settled in.
Oh and as for writing things down atop a wood plank counter, there are a few seams, but they’re four feet apart and the boards are nice and thick. We also generally use notebooks and notepads anyway, so getting bumps and lines when we write isn’t an issue. In fact in the square foot of counter space to the right of each of our laptops there’s not a single seam cutting through – so any pad or piece of paper could be written on easily without any seam-conflicts. Which is a nice accident because we just laid the boards in a staggered zig-zag pattern and they happened to fall without any seams to the right of our computers. Holla.
Overall, the current setup (although the “styling” is ever so un-permanent)…
… is definitely an update from the old office setup (you can read more about the floor-planning process here). Only now do we realize how cramped that desk really was:
Of course we’re not 100% done with things. We still want to put some sort of molding around the bottom and sides of the cabs to give them a more built-in look. Plus we’re still not sure if we’re gonna stick with the shiny silver hardware finish that came with the cabinets (of course I’ve thought about ORB, but don’t know if that’ll look too matchy with the black glass pulls on the file cabinet nearby- I’ll keep you posted though). Even with those little things still on the to-do list, our budget’s looking pretty darn good for the ol’ wall to wall built-in desk project:
- Cabinets (from Habitat For Humanity ReStore): $6.30
- Kilz Clean Start No-VOC Primer$0 (leftover from painting the kitchen paneling, but it would be around $20 to buy for those wondering)
- Electric sander & sandpaper: $0 (already owned, but would be around $25 to buy)
- Benjamin Moore Advance paint (in Decorators White, satin): $40 (thanks to 10% off haggling/begging)
- Pre-primed & unprimed wood to build up cabinets (from Home Depot): $51
- Framing lumber for counter (from Home Depot): $27.30
- Stain & poly for top: $0 (already owned, but would be about $8 and $20 respectively if you didn’t have any)
- TOTAL: $124.60
We’re psyched, especially since a white laminate counter from Ikea that would span the 13′ length would be around $125 on its own (not counting any cabinetry, paint, etc). But of course just like any upgrade, our new desk is making the rest of the room look terrible. Haha. We need wall paint. And window treatments. And to actually update the chipped navy chairs that we grabbed for $35 a while back. And art. And a chair for the corner. And a lighting upgrade. And about a million other things. But thinking about everything at once gives me hives. One step at a time is the mantra these days.
Has anyone else out there gone with a wood topped something (be it a desk, dresser, kitchen counter, etc)? Do you do things backwards (like build a desk before you paint the walls)? Do you find it hard to resist stroking and talking lovingly to lumber at the home improvement center? I gotta get a handle on that.
Psst- To follow our desk makeove from the beginning, here’s the post about office floor planning, the post about finding our $6 cabinets, the one about other places we looked, the post about sanding and priming the cabinets, and the post about painting and building up the cabinets before adding the countertop.
She-Ra says
Love it!
Gloria says
It looks great! You guys have so many paint swatches up, I feel this compulsory need to get a bunch more to carry it around the rest of the window and chair rail. It’s seriously all I could think about, what’s wrong with me! I can’t wait to see what color you actually do pick out! But I love how it is perfectly framed from the dining room!
Kristen says
Love. Love. Love. I can’t believe this is so easy. I mean, beyond the contorting to drill and attach it, but to actually create that awesome countertop? I would never think to just buy boards and stain them. SO simple and what a great outcome! You guys are awesome!
Katie C says
Have you considered painting one color above the chair rail and a different color below it? That was the first thing I thought of when I saw those two-toned lamp shades!
YoungHouseLove says
We thought about that a little, but really have no idea where we’ll end up! Nothing has grabbed us yet so we’re pretty far away from actually making a decision. Haha.
xo,
s
Jenny Murphy says
How are you feeling about having “ridges” in your desk?? I love the look but when I would go to write something, I would go a little nuts having my pen break through the paper into one of the ridges…I guess always have a clipboard or book to write upon handy!
YoungHouseLove says
We write on notebooks and notepads so it’s all good! I usually have a stack of them beside my desk along with my thick covered day-planner so… so far so good!
xo,
s
Kelly says
It looks great!!! Just wondering if you have thought about what you are going to do with the cords for your computer chargers, printer, etc? I noticed that you didn’t cut any holes for them.
YoungHouseLove says
We’ll be adding two holes – one behind each computer. Just for lamp and computer cords (and they’ll be hidden by our laptop). Better get moving on that (right now the cords are around the front and they’re so ugly!).
xo,
s
Rad Designing says
Wow! That really looks great! I’m still in shock you guys found those cabinets for 6 bucks… have you considered using them for next to your bed? Though im sure they are too short!
YoungHouseLove says
Yeah, they’re too short and now they remind us of the office- which isn’t what we want to think about in bed. Haha. I have big plans for them somewhere else though! Stay tuned…
xo,
s
Rebekah says
Looks great! Your staining pics looked like an episode of Dexter :-)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I should have been humming that intro song and snapping my gloves (as if to swat a fake mosquito).
xo,
s
Megan@reFind says
Love it!!! We also saw the same inspiration a while back and made our bar/desk area using it. http://refinddesign.blogspot.com/2010/10/man-cave.html
You will enjoy it!
Amanda says
It’s gorgeous! You guys are inspiring – I’m going to have to show the hubs this project…and I know he’ll like the proof that beautiful things can be done on the cheap :)
T.D. says
Great choices. The hard work has paid off again! So glad the built-ins match well with the wood and shelving units from the dining room.
Looking at the room in the wide angle shot, along with the shiny and pretty lamps, stripes would look pretty amazing above the ‘chair rail.’ Just my two cents.
Krystle @ ColorTransformedFamily says
I love the way the desk looks. Great job. It really ties the dining room and office together with both surfaces being dark now. I can’t wait to see what color you decide to paint the room.
jodi says
you guys are seriously awesome. it looks amazing!!
Ali says
ah-maazzzzz-innnng! :)
Love it!
Rachel says
Looks great! And when you restain your floors, the desk top will tie in with those too!
I’ll have to try the Safecoat soon! I didn’t know a low VOC poly existed! Exciting! LOL:)
Kristi says
It looks so great! I am glad you decided to build a top instead of buy! I think it looks FABULOUS! Two requests/ideas: Can you post a picture of what your desk was before – a before and after pic? Also I just LOVED the to do list you guys made for the laundry room. I know you said making a list for this room makes you dizzy – but it could be fun – right? :-) Keep up the wonderful work – you inspire us all!
YoungHouseLove says
Here’s a post with our old desk in it for ya: https://www.younghouselove.com/2011/08/the-office-madness-begins/ – good idea, I’ll update the end of the post with it too!
As for a to do list in here, we mentioned a bunch of things bouncing around our heads at the end of this post, but haven’t organized them yet. We’re all over the place. Haha.
xo,
s
Crystal says
Wow – I think the office looks great already. I like the view from the dining room. Great job! We’re turning our dining room into a home office for two also. Our layout has changed and now I think we are going with something against the wall simialr to yours. We are looking at some Ikea options because unfortunatley, I haven’t been able to find any $6 cabinets – curses!
Tiffany Morrison says
Man, all these DIY desks are really inspiring. I am lovin’ the lamps too. Can’t wait to see what wall color you go with. Happy DIYing :)!!!
Victoria says
I figured you would have already ORBed the chandelier by now! Either way, looks great and custom!
Lauren says
LOVE IT! You guys are amazing. VERY impressed.
Staci @ My Friend Staci says
My two cents!! I think the 4th paint swatch down would look fab in there to contrast with the gorgeous curtains (which I’m still totally jealous of, btw) and the deep blue backs of your built-ins!
Beth W. says
So…I might possibly have been caught by an Home Depot employee lovingly caressing a rug that was hanging vertically. Okay, so I basically had put myself as close as I could get to it and was stroking it’s fuzzy pattern and telling my husband how beautiful it was…when an HD employee popped up and mentioned that there were some other similar rugs on sale around the corner. Awkward! I blushed all shades of pink and red. So, yes, I get you being the lumber whisperer. Haha.
YoungHouseLove says
Hahahahahahah, that’s totally something that would happen to me.
xo
s
Anna says
I was burning to see your desk finished. It’s very elegant and timeless (and very inspiring). Love it!!
meghan says
LOOOOOVE it. My husband and I are working on a very similar piece (thanks to the site you originally referenced) but on a smaller scale (9 feet long). LOVE the way it looks though. Yay!
Hilary says
Your desk looks great! Ever consider putting wallpaper in there? It might be fun and you could pull in the colours from the dining room.
YoungHouseLove says
That could be fun if it’s subtle (since the curtains and bold built-ins in the dining room might make something bold a bit much). Hmm, definitely something to think about!
xo,
s
Maureen @ THis (Kinda) Old House says
Simply Amazing!!!
Emily says
This looks awesome. I just wish I had a place to put a built in desk. So inspiring!
Jeni says
Looks really great! And such a bargain on those cabinets. Oy.
On a totally different note, I have been trying to figure out why you misspell the name of the Safecoat Acrylacq *every* time you write about it. Is it intentional or just an extremely consistent and extremely rare case of misspelling on YHL? I am always impressed with your grammar and spelling (bet you don’t get that comment very often with all the other awesomeness there is for us readers to be impressed by) so this has been a conundrum for me for a while. Finally decided to just ask! ;)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, total accident! I even looked at the packaging. D’oh! I guess in my head the other way makes more sense and I can’t break myself. Yet.
xo,
s
seriouslysassymama says
I love the desk. I cannot wait to see what you do with the chandelier and other lighting in the room.
Elise says
Looks fantastic! I especially love the view from the dining room. This is going to be my inspiration for when we put together our craft room/office someday! Excited to see what it looks like when it is all finished!
P.S. I saw you have the “Design Sponge at Home” book. What do you think? I’ve been thinking about purchasing it for a while but haven’t taken the plunge just yet. I do love their blog too!
YoungHouseLove says
It’s an amazing book! Seriously so inspiring and packed with projects and eye candy.
xo,
s
Melissa Breau says
Love the new desktop and love the price even more. I think after the console table in your living room this is my second favorite project you two have done ever.
Seriously in love with it. It’s not 100% clear from the photos, so did you stagger the boards the way you did with the console (so the seams don’t all run in the same places)?
Also, you mentioned a shelf and doing art from that in one of the comments. I’m picturing a shelf like the one in Clara’s room. I think that could be great! Maybe we’ll see the other horse print come back into play?
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, we staggered the boards the same way as the console, but since they’re thicker and bigger it’s more of a subtle look (which is nice so writing on the desk isn’t hard due to seams everywhere). As for shelves or my ponies, they definitely could pop up. Haha.
xo,
s
ashlee says
um. WOW.
that’s all i’ve got to say.
incredible! amazing! okay, apparently i have more to say, haha. this is gorgeous, you guys! imagine – 6 dollar cabinets. you guys must be laughing hardcore over that one.
what is your take on painted ceilings? painted the same colour as the walls?
YoungHouseLove says
We love painted ceilings! I love them the same color or sometimes a shade lighter than the walls. I also like them a soft complementary color (like very very light blue) or even something subtly metallic. Someday we plan to tackle every last ceiling in this house!
xo,
s
ashlee says
i bought the paint for my daughter’s room today. oh god, wish me luck! it was ‘ballerina pink’ by benjamin moore, which was waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too pink. this time i went with pink damask. i’m hoping to god it works out.
YoungHouseLove says
Wahoo! Good luck!
xo,
s
ashlee says
okay, bizarre question time.
so…can you wash paint covered clothes in a regular washing machine? not PAINT COVERED exactly, but…clothes with a considerable amount of paint in strange areas, like my rear end, since i sat in the paint. yes, i sat in the paint. then i realized what i’d done, jumped up, freaked out while clutching my rear….and stepped into the paint tray. we have a brand new washer and dryer and i’d hate to ruin them. 6 hours later, i finished her room. & the worst part is…i’m not sure whether we like it.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah, we wash those babies (not with other clothes, just with painted clothes) and rags and drop cloths and other not-pristine things (just in case the paint runs- although I don’t think that has happened.
xo,
s
jackie g. photog says
beautiful!! love the contrast between the dark wood and white cabinets….btw…did you think about drilling a few holes for computer cords, etc? or did i miss that part? or has one of the previous 250+ posters mentioned it? anywhoo…love you guys!! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Yeah we have to go back and do that. We’re going to add one behind each computer just for cords and lamp wires, etc.
xo,
s
Devon @ Green House, Good Life says
Did you guys think about using a biscuit joiner to put the planks together?
YoungHouseLove says
John’s married to his jig, so because that worked out so well with the console top we pretty much decided on that route early on.
xo,
s
Kelly says
L O V E. Wonderful job!
:)
Lauren says
LOVE it. The effect is just gorgeous, especially looking in from the dining room. What a lovely space!
Cindy says
I love how creative and practical the two of you are, great idea :).
Nancy says
The desk looks fantastic! I love the contrast of the dark wood with the white cabinets. What I especially loved about this post was that it went straight from no counter to counter in one post. I much prefer this to a thoughts post, a shopping post, a construction post, and a finished product post. Much more exciting! P.S. You probably already know this, but you can remove stain from your skin with vegetable oil. Comes right off!
YoungHouseLove says
We just blog in real time- so sometimes there’s thinking, shopping, and slow construction (building our console took forever- and this desk as a whole was a few phases long, haha) but sometimes things come together more quickly (sanding and staining took a few hours and putting the desk together took about four more). So in general, we just share whatever’s going on at whatever pace it’s happening. You know we love to keep it real. Haha.
xo,
s
Amy says
Wholly COW that is Uh-Mazing!! I definitely want something like this built in! :) Thanks for sharing!!
ruthie says
Love the contrast with the wood and the white. I’m so curious to see how you finish off the room! Any shelving plans?
YoungHouseLove says
Not really sure if we want to stare at shelves or art or shelves with art. Haha. We’ll make a decision someday!
xo,
s
samantha says
The nerve centre of YHL, looks great.
Sherry: “so John, what are we going to do today?”
John: “Same as we do every day Sherry, try to take over the world, or at least our corner of the blogisphere. (the pinky and the brain, its a cartoon in case you are wondering) :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha it might go a little more like this:
Sherry: “So John, what are we going to do today?”
John: “Write a few posts, edit some photos, return Clara’s library books, write some book chapter intros, and get trim for the cabinet bases before Clara’s bedtime.”
Haha.
xo,
s
Addison says
Wow, the desk turned out amazing! It’s the perfect inspiration I need to get started on my own desk. I’m hoping it will look similar to this, only I need to incorporate a corner section as well.
Erika says
Oh my gosh! It looks soooooo good! Right choice, for sure. I just saw those shades at Target today and I thought about you guys. Kind of a hmmm…wonder how long before these show up on YHL. HA!
Cathy says
I really think this is my favorite project you guys have done in this house yet. It is just so completely fabulous. Thanks for the poly tip – I’m gearing up to refinish our kitchen table and was worried about the poly part as I’ve never had good luck with polyurethane. This sounds like a great product!
weirdfishes says
You two are so inspiring, I have to say that your blog has completely changed my thinking about the money I spend and what I spend it on. That desk is so beautiful! And the price! Amazing!
Lindsey says
It looks awesome! (I’m trying to figure out a way to type “awesome” that conveys the New Yoyk accent I’m using to say that, but anyway…) Y’all are kinda killing me with all the symmetry but I do love the (un)finished product. :)
Would the couch fit in the awkward nook past your bed in your room? That could be a fun little snuggle corner until you get the chifferobe of your dreams. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Sadly it’s too big for that nook! It’s actually a really deep sofa since it’s a sleeper, and it has those boxy arms, so he might be a toughie…
xo,
s
Courtney says
Hehe, your sander has a “Smiley Face” on it! Look at the first picture with the sander in it, about 4 inches directly under the thumb…
:-D
I hope you always notice the smiley face every time you sand something.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I always notice him and say hi. John thinks I’m crazy.
xo,
s
katie says
We have a very small house and in our dining room there is a little nook that we want to put a desk/buffet and I have that picture as my inspiration on Pinterest. I love the way yours came out but after your honest description of how long it takes I think I might have to come up with a different solution. Do you think that One solid piece of wood stained dark would have the same effect?
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah! We would have done that if it was possible! I say go for it!
xo,
s
Tiffany says
Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
liz says
Love it!! Can wait to see what color you paint the room.