Home Office Desk Ideas

Old Door

• If you're desperate for a classy look, but unwilling to pay a classy price, scour a salvage yard or junk shop for an antique door. Mount the door on some legs and overlay it with a piece of glass or clear plastic for a writing surface, and you have a unique home-office space with a sophisticated look. Wooden table legs or banister supports are available at most big-box hardware stores and can be used to give further polish to these unique creations. Even if you end up using some pieces of scrap wood, they are easy to attach by drilling two holes about one inch apart in each corner of the door and on the tops of all four legs. Then, screw 3-inch deck screws into the holes until they are just below the surface of the door.

Dry-Erase Board

• If you have trouble finding a piece of paper to take a phone message, the answer is simple: Write it on your desk. Cut a piece of dry-erase board to the same size as your desktop, and affix it with screws or some adhesive. Now you just need some dry-erase markers and an eraser, and you're all set for when that next inspiration strikes you but you're out of paper.

Veneered Board and File Cabinets

• Sometimes low-tech is the best tech. For the simplest desk you could probably ever build, take a piece of veneered plywood and set it on top of two old file cabinets for storage; older file cabinets are a staple of office and government surplus websites such as Govdeals.com. This home-office desk gets the job done---a solid surface and storage.