craft room desk

Aaahhh yeah Operation De-Crap Room in full effect. Except one small detail. I’m moving my office out of, well, my office and moving into the dining room. If you missed the most embarrassing photo I’ve ever shown then you’ll want to view it here.

I know, I know. What kind of crazy transforms a dining room into a crap craft room?

My kind of crazy that’s who. 😉

Here’s the scoop. Big Daddy and I aren’t “Jeeves can you bring us our hamburgers into the dining room” kind of people. We also don’t have family in the area so no need for the big holiday table. When we moved in I knew we weren’t going to use the dining room as a dining room so I dubbed it the “coffee shop”. I envisioned a library-esque with comfy club chairs kind of room. However, since we moved in I’ve made no progress in that room.

Enter my big idea.

I decided to move out and into the dining room and allow Big Daddy to move out of the back office and into my office. Then we would convert the back office into a dedicated guest room. Make sense?

Big Daddy’s office is in the back of the house and even with two windows it’s a bit dim. While my office on the other hand is in the front and has one very large window. My office is cheery and bright and his is more ’bout to get down with my bad self in this dimly lit martini bar.

What’s with all these references anyways? We don’t drink martinis or coffee. Literary license I suppose.

I originally bought these two white cabinets (along with a bookshelf) for 50 bones last year off of Craigslist. I loved the clean white look and the simple modern lines. These beauties have been playing musical chairs cabinets all over my house. And every time I thought it would work in the space, it just didn’t.

One of my last ideas was to place a 8ft long board on top of each cabinet to create a pretty craft desk.

Each cabinet is 33″H x 30″W x 17″D. Even though the depth of my cabinets isn’t a lot, it’s plenty big enough for me to get crafty.

The process is pretty simple. I decided I wanted the entire unit to span the length of the wall which is about 8ft. Big Daddy and I went to Home Depot and found a white melamine predrilled shelf (I think they use these to build closet shelves) that was 1″ x 16″ x 8′. Perfect!

But what wasn’t so perfect was that white top. I wanted something a bit rustic to balance out the modern design of the cabinets. Of course, Big Daddy and I discussed the possibility of using several pine boards and attaching them to each other as a table top but in the end I didn’t have the clamps needed and we didn’t want to spend more money. The big clamps are really expensive!

Big Daddy was/is ultra worried about the middle sagging which is another reason he wanted to use one strong board. After a little pouting I finally conceded.

But I wasn’t going down without a fight Plan B.

To get the wood top I was looking for I headed over to the tongue and groove pine wood paneling and found something similar to this. A pack included 6, 8ft. boards that were unfinished and ready to be stained.

I used the same process and the same Dark Walnut stain as I did in my DIY Sofa Table.

I bought a tube of Heavy Duty Adhesive or Liquids Nails and a caulking gun and went to town. You’ll have about 10 minutes to adjust before it begins it’s heavy duty adhesive thang.

This part was a bit tricky because I had to center the boards but I also had to make sure their tongue and grooves were snug.

You’ll need access to a few very heavy objects that you can weigh down the pine boards overnight.

We still need to drill the top into the the cabinets and I need to find trim to fit around the top but it looks good and it’s already functional.

Super groovy.

Budget Break Down:

1 8ft. Melamine Board-$25

1 Pk. Pine Tongue and Groove Paneling-$16

Liquid Nails-$2

Caulk Gun-$5

Stain and Poly-$0 (had it on hand)

2 Base Cabinets-$16 (had it on hand from previous purchase)

I’m calling this project at $48 bucks. Definitely more than I wanted to spend but still not bad when you’re talking about an 8ft craft desk with storage.

So, what do you think is Operation De-Crap Room getting the job done? If you have organizational tips for the office lay it on me!

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54 Responses

  1. Jaclyn B

    I LOVE it! I’ve seen that type of setup a couple of times and I am green with envy…maybe one day! Love the blue chair and curtains too!

    Reply
  2. Vel Criste

    more than wnat you wanted to spend? wow, this desk looks and feels WAY MORe than $48!! Great job Christine! If you see my craft room ,it has a desk built in it already, looking at this makes me wanna wish it didn’t!!! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  3. Franki

    I dream of having a space like this. As it is my ‘craft room’ currently consists of a corner of our living room and the lower half of the wardrobe in the spare room! Gorgeous desk, I love the dark stained wood with the white. Really fresh.

    Reply
  5. Jill

    I love the way this looks and that fabric on the chair is fantastic! I’m buying myself a condo pretty soon, and my second bedroom will be a craftroom! 🙂 I’m pinning this for sure!!

    Reply
    • ccleahy

      Don’t you just love the possibilites of moving into a new place?! Good luck with your move! Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply
  6. Diane Piwowarczyk

    Looking good. Can’t wait to see the whole room completed.

    Reply
  7. Marty Oravetz

    Love, love, love this. How perfect and it looks fabulous. Thanks so much for joining Inspire Me. Hugs, Marty

    Reply
  8. sweet violets

    This is a great idea and will work well for you!!! I love changing rooms to suit your needs, this is perfect!! You can buy that same malamine board, put brackets on it and mount on the wall above for a shelf……add baskets to hold supplies, so it doesn’t look messy………..I moved myself to a small back bedroom and use the master bedroom as my craft/sewing studio….why not???

    Reply
    • ccleahy

      That’s awesome Sweet! Your craft/sewing studio must be awesome! If you want, send me a pic. It would be fun to feature others and their crafty space!

      Reply
  9. Jenny from DIYwithjenandb

    That is nice! You did a great job, I love that stained wood with the white! I wish I had some extra space to make one of these!! Pinning this for sure.

    Reply
  12. Sheena Anderson

    I am loving the cabinets. Great storage!! My husband built me a desk last year for my craft room but I am lacking on storage. Right now I have plastic drawers under it for storage. The desk is really deep though so they are hard to get to since they are pushed all the way back to the wall.

    Reply
    • ccleahy

      I’m working on the right storage bins to be placed in the cabinets…I want something pretty but practical….always a tough job!

      Reply
  13. Jamie

    Wow, this looks great! What a fantastic idea!
    Jamie @ somuchbetterwithage.com

    Reply
    • ccleahy

      Yay! Thanks Heather! I’m so excited that you’re here to stay! 🙂

      Reply
  15. Kristen Rosecrans

    i LOVE this! I would be sooooo happy working in this office. very inspiring space!

    Reply
    • ccleahy

      Kristen….it’s amazing how great you feel in a space you feel great about! I still have a lot to do but I’m excited about the progress!

      Reply
  16. Jacqueline Benotti

    Your desk you made looks gorgeous! Like a very high end built in. Thanks for visiting Simple Home Life and leaving a comment!

    Reply
  17. Judy Ainger

    Oh My Gosh…your desk looks AMAZING! Love how it turned out, it was worth the effort. I had to go view your most embarrassing photo too. lol I missed that earlier post! Have a wonderful weekend! ~ Judy @ Vintage Street Designs

    Reply
    • ccleahy

      Judy, thanks for the compliment! I still cringe thinking about what people must think of my housekeeping abilities!

      Reply
  18. Deborah Smith

    That is one awesome stretch of desktop! Love the way it turned out. Thank you for sharing it at What We Accomplished Wednesdays. Have a great weekend!

    Hugs,
    Deborah

    Reply
  20. Laura @ The Experimental Home

    I love your new desk! It totally looks like a built-in. I hope that it is home to many wonderful future creative endeavors!

    Reply
  24. Camila

    This so clever and crafty!, Love it!!! Thank you so much for Co-hosting with me Christine!!! You Rock!!! Aaaand thank you so much for stopping by and linking this up hope to have you there next Sunday with a new awesome creation!

    Hope you are having a lovely day

    Hugs
    Cami @ TitiCrafty by Camila

    Reply
  26. Mylinda

    Where did u get your cabinets?
    I love this desk but I’m having a hard time finding cabinets at a reasonable price?

    Reply
    • ccleahy

      Mylinda,
      I’m so sorry you’re having a hard time finding similar cabinets! I did buy the two cabinets and a white bookcase that went on top of the one cabinet off of Craigslist. This is definitely one of those projects you’ll have to be patient with. I hope you hit the Craigslist lottery soon! Send me a pic when you get your desk together, I’d love to see it!

      Reply
  27. Amy

    Before you attached the top to the cabinet- did it slide around much? We
    live in apartments and I would love to do this without permanently
    attaching the top to the cabinets for easier portability when moving
    etc. Or if you have any ideas on how to keep portability I’d appreciate
    it! It looks so awesome! Thanks. ~Amy

    edit: maybe velcro… or some sort of liner like the stuff that goes under rugs to stop them from sliding… hmm

    Reply
  28. Lisa Huff

    Wow that is AHHH MAZING!!! I LOVE IT and how you finished the top and that ruler trim. fabulous!!!! Thank you again Christine for linking up to the Something to Talk About Link Party and talk soon, Lisa

    Reply
  29. Vicki And Jennifer

    Man, Christine! This desk project is fabulous! You are obviously talented and uber creative! Thank you so much for linking up to Something To Talk About Link Party 🙂

    Reply

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