How to Build an Office Desk

By John Vivian
Published on December 1, 1995
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A homemade office desk using hollow doors for the design.
A homemade office desk using hollow doors for the design.
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Mounting door on wall and assembling console.
Mounting door on wall and assembling console.
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A pull-out keyboard shelf:1. Glue-backed veneer2. 1/4 inch plywood3. Contact cement4. Hollow door5. 2 by 4 spacers6. 2-1/2 inch drywall screws.7. 1 inch flathead screws8. Hollow door or breadboard.
A pull-out keyboard shelf:1. Glue-backed veneer2. 1/4 inch plywood3. Contact cement4. Hollow door5. 2 by 4 spacers6. 2-1/2 inch drywall screws.7. 1 inch flathead screws8. Hollow door or breadboard.
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Shortening a hollow door. To avoid splinters, put a board on top and tape on the bottom of the door.
Shortening a hollow door. To avoid splinters, put a board on top and tape on the bottom of the door.
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Attach to wall:1. Fasten horizontal support board to vertical wall studs.2. Connect door/desktop to backboard with flat brackets (inlet for best fit to wall).3. Fasten door to support with
Attach to wall:1. Fasten horizontal support board to vertical wall studs.2. Connect door/desktop to backboard with flat brackets (inlet for best fit to wall).3. Fasten door to support with "L" brackets at ends and middle of door.
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Building a cabinet to go with the walll-mounted desk.
Building a cabinet to go with the walll-mounted desk.

Make a modem desk and typing/computer console from hollow doors for under $100. (See the homemade desk illustrations in the image gallery.)

How to Build an Office Desk

One of the very few things I liked about working in a city was office desks arranged in an “L” shape with room for papers, a typewriter (now a computer), a drafting table, and plenty of storage all around. I wanted one for my home office, but a country-compatible wooden desk costs $1,500 new, half that used. Even a well-used, ugly, institutional-gray metal desk was beyond my meager means. So, recalling my student days, I designed my own using hollow doors hung to close off rooms in almost every house built since the ’50s. Made from sandwiches of 3/32 inch plywood glued on a 1-3/8 inch-square wood frame, they are light and strong. New (without hinge-insets or latch-set holes cut in them), they are flat and smooth and cost $20 to $30 from any lumberyard. You can support them on customized, simple supports, and have a sizable office desk for under $100, with a few handy drawers and extra shelves in the bargain.

The Plan

The key to build an office desk with a quick, easy, and sturdy assembly is to arrange two doors at a right angle in the corner of a room so you can fasten their back edges to the wall rather than try to build the rigid framework and rock-solid leg supports needed by freestanding furniture. Best is to arrange at least one desk–the one you will sit at most of the time–facing a window. Most ergonomic is to locate the right angle where the two desks meet to the right of your chair if you are right handed. That way you have a full-length work surface to your best side.

Fastening a desk to the wall is unconventional–making it a semibuilt-in–and requires you to put a few holes into the walls. For some reason, people who will “cheesehole” the walls to put up curtain rods or pictures recoil at the idea of fastening a desk to the selfsame wall a few feet lower.

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