Studio Desk Makeover – Part 1

That meant the desktop needed a makeover. With its black base and thick brown lid, it seemed too dark and heavy for the room. So my plan is to reconfigure the base, paint it a light color (I haven’t decided if it will be white or gold yet), and then paint the desk white. I also wanted to add a decorative detail to the sides, and add two drawers.

I started this makeover by removing the boards that created the “V” detail on the front. These were held in place with nails and wood glue, so I removed them very easily with a few good, quick hits with a rubber mallet.

I then removed the bottom horizontal support board. This was secured with four screws through pocket holes, so it’s very easy to remove using my drill with a screwdriver bit.

I rotated the base so it was facing up and replaced that board toward the top. I will eventually add some plywood to the inside so this section is not see-through and that will provide the cover needed to hide the new drawers.

After placing it, I placed the base back upright and this is what it looked like…

I then repeated the same process on the side…

And then I wanted to figure out how to attach these decorative leaf cutouts I found at Hobby Lobby. I started by cutting some 1″ x 4″ wood to form a rough frame around the leaf design and to figure out exactly how I wanted the leaf pattern to sit within the frame. I decided on this, with the leaf design touching the frame at four points, one on each side of the frame. At this point, my main goal was to calculate the approximate dimensions of the inside of the frame.

Once I determined the interior dimensions, I ran those boards through my planer three times each to plane them to 1/2 inch thickness to match the cut of the sheet.

Next, I needed to determine how wide those boards needed to be for the frame. The space they needed to fill on the desk is 29 inches wide, so I measured the total width of the cutout with the frame, subtracted 29 inches from that width, and then divided that number by two to get the amount of width I needed. Cut each board so the finished product is 29 inches wide. I used my table saw to cut the boards to the correct width.

I started by assembling the top and side pieces using wood glue and 1.5 inch 18 gauge nails shot through the edges of the side pieces to the ends of the top piece.

With those pieces assembled, I placed the sash cutout into the frame and was then able to determine precisely where the bottom piece needed to be. I attached the bottom piece with wood glue and nails just like the other pieces.

And then I nailed the sheet trim into place by shooting the nails through the outside edge of the frame and into the four points where the trim touched the frame. Then this nail went through the frame and into the edge of the sheet.

And it went through the frame and into the edge of the stem.

You understand. So I needed to make sure the blade cut made contact with the frame on all four sides.

On this side, I had a misfire before a nail went into the blade. But that’s nothing my Dremel Multi-Max and some wood filler and sanding can’t fix. I generally don’t remove misplaced nails (although it depends on the exact scenario) because there is a risk of ripping and splitting the wood. I usually use my Dremel Multi-Max with a nail cutting blade and just cut off the part that sticks out of the nail. If the blade cuts the wood a little, I fix it with wood putty.

Once I finished all of this, it was too late to use my miter saw to cut the extra pieces on the frame. (Matt had a HORRIBLE day yesterday, so I spent most of my time taking care of him and didn’t get as much work done as I expected.) But I put the leaf design in place so we could preview what it will look like.

But again, you’ll have to imagine it with those extra pieces cut off and a new 2″ x 2″ piece placed under the frame. And then you will have to imagine the entire base painted in one color.