Homemade Wood Desks

You can spend a surprising amount of money on a premanufactured desk: even the cheap particleboard models can set you back several hundred dollars. Alternatively, you can build your own simple desk using only simple tools and lumber you can get at your local home improvement center. Set aside an afternoon to build your desk -- a project within the reach of even beginning do-it-yourselfers.

Wooden sheet, ½-by-54-by-30 inches
2 wooden sheets, ½-by-30-by-30 inches
Wooden sheet, ½-by-54-by-18 inches
Wood glue
Nails, 1½ inches long
Hammer or nail gun
Sandpaper

Instructions

- 1
  Set the 30-by-54 sheet and one of the 30-by-30 sheets together in an L. The smaller square sheet should have its end resting against the face of the larger rectangular sheet.
- 2
  Glue the sheets together at the seam. Reinforce by driving in nails at 1, 12, 24 and 29 inches. Wipe away any excess glue.
- 3
  Attach the other 30-by-30 sheet to the opposite end of the larger sheet. Glue it together and reinforce with nails as you did in Step 2.
- 4
  Lay the 54-by-18 sheet against the back of the frame. Its top edge should align with the top of the larger rectangular sheet, which will ultimately serve as the desktop. Glue and nail as in Step 2. Drive the nails in at 1, 12, 24, 36, 48 and 53 inches.
- 5
  Sand all faces of the lumber. Sand the desk surface especially smooth; a rough desk top makes writing difficult.

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