My Dad was a man with brilliant ideas. He was a DIYer before that became a household term. Remodeling both bathrooms, painting old pieces of furniture to give them new life and building beds for my brother and I were just a few of the projects he did back in the day.
He also had an idea for building a fully customizable desk on a budget. I loved the desk my Dad made for me because it was big enough to spread out all my textbooks & homework with room to spare. The best part is my parents didn’t have to spend an arm and a leg for it!
My Dad passed away in 2009. Now that he’s gone, I’m realizing more and more how much I miss him. One way I love to remember my Dad is to do DIY projects.
I took the inspiration from my Dad & made my own DIY desk on a budget. I think he’d be proud of it!
Dad really knew what he was doing! I love this desk because it’s totally customizable. I was able to choose the size and make sure all the components met my needs.
This is the perfect weekend project that is easy enough for anyone to do! This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. See my full disclosure here.
DIY Desk On A Budget Materials:
- 2 file cabinets I love this file cabinet with a small drawer for office supplies on top & big drawers to file papers. (If you need a less expensive option, try this one.)
- Plywood or an old door
- stain or paint in your choice of color (if desired)
- polyurethane in your choice of sheen (if desired)
Desk Accessories:
- space-saving vertical paper organizer
- Acrylic lamp and lamp shade
Directions:
1) Choose functional filing cabinets as the base of your desk. The filing cabinets will serve two purposes: it will hold up the desk top and store office items. I chose two file cabinets similar to this because they have tons of room for filing papers and a drawer at the top for office supplies.
2) Select a desk top. We bought a discounted unfinished wood board from our local home improvement store for about $20 and used it as our desk surface.
An old door can be used for the desk surface as well! That’s what my Dad did when he built my childhood desk. He patched up the hole where the doorknob was, painted it white and set it on top of white cabinets.
3) Customize the desk surface. My hubby sanded the top and the edges to give it smooth corners. Next, he stained the wood with this stain and coated it with a layer of satin polyurethane to seal it.
If you decide to stain your desk top, test out the stain first to make sure you have the color you want. Also be sure to allow enough time for the surface to dry before installing the desk. We let the stain sink in to the surface overnight to ensure it was completely dry.
The Finished Project:
Our desk has plenty of space to spread out, just like the desk my Dad made for me when I was a kid!
I absolutely LOVE how the top turned out!
My home office is now a beautiful place to work and be inspired!
We accessorized the desk with a lovely lamp that really gives the office area a warm feel. My hubby gave the lamp and lamp shade to me last year for my birthday! Still to this day it’s one of my most favorite birthday presents.
If you’re looking for an online source for a similar lamp, I found this lamp (but it’s more expensive)
Who knew a piece of plywood & 2 filing cabinets would turn out so lovely & functional?
This easy project was shared at: Project Inspire{d}, DIY Like A Boss, Tutorials and Tips, and Create it Thursday.