Grand Little Place

For all of you saints who have stuck around while I’ve shared allllllllll the details on our basement – thank you!  After the carpet, walls, ceiling, and back grid wall were completed added one more project to complete this space, a DIY built in desk!

We’ve always wanted to allocate a space to have a desktop computer when our kids are older.  After finishing the ceiling and wall last year our original plans for built in shelving were discarded since we liked this wall so much.  But this side of the basement still felt empty.  We tried putting furniture on that side of the room but it didn’t feel right.  It felt like it needed something built in.  That’s when inspiration struck for a wall to wall DIY built in desk. Sometime last summer I found the file cabinet at salvation army.  I think it was $20.  It is very heavy solid wood.  The left side is all file cabinet, which is something we have needed ever since we moved into this house.

1. To build the desk Chris measured how tall the cabinet was and then marked that height on the wall.
2. He then used 1 x 2 boards and screwed them horizontally into the studs along the back and side walls to create a lip for the top to sit on and be screwed down into.
3. The top of the desk is made from 3  – 1 x 12 boards that we kreg jigged into one another.  In a perfect world we would have used a thick slab of plywood but our desk was too long.  Once those were secured together he laid them on top of the cabinet and 1 x 2 support beams.  He then screwed the top down along the sides into the boards he had previously secured into the studs.  We used a solid wood piece of standard base trim as the front of the desk.  Chris used a nail gun to secure it to the face of the desk.

After adding wood filler and sanding I pulled out the drawers from the file cabinet and gave them a quick sand with my sanding block.  I also sanded the base of the file cabinet with the block.  Although I loved the color of the wood it needed to be painted or refinished because the top coat had come off in places.  Sometimes when you sand a piece it takes a lot to rough it up.  This finish barely had to be touched and it was flaking right off.

I did lay down a few trash bags when I was sanding but in general I don’t recommend sanding inside over mostly new carpet….

Once those were sanded, wiped down and the wood filler on the top of the desk had dried it was time for paint.  I used the same color as the walls for the desk and drawer fronts.  Initially I had wanted to stain the desk but I’m SO glad that we didn’t!  We love how the paint makes it all look so built in.  That area finally looks like it’s finished.

Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me through these last several posts about the basement.  I can’t wait to show you the final ‘afters’ of this space.  This is probably the biggest before and after we have ever completed so please come back next week to see just how far this space has come.  In the mean time tell me about your basement or family room in the comments.  Do you have a desk down there?

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