Minimalistic Desk

My little Ikea Corner Desk work wonders, but it was ok when I used to live in a little apartment, now I have more space and I decided to build my self a minimalistic desk - kind of-, out of a door panel and some pieces of wood (from a Lade Ikea Bed) that I used to build 2 work horses, at a very low cost.

Step 1 Materials

I save from the street a Lade Bed from Ikea, at least the wood pallet, great for all sort of stuff, and I also found a door panel in craigslist for free. this are the mayor components of this project.

7 Pallets (from the Lade Bed) for each work horse (2 work horses=14 pallets)
some other scrap pieces of wood.
1 Door panel, - hollow doors are the best-
4 Machine screws 1/4" - 3" long - bolts and washers
Drywall Screws - Assorted sizes

Comments

[acoleman3]

omg mate....your old desk looks like a *nightmare*. i bet you're totally chuffed with the new one.

e·hwÿ -qnⶤ¯-
(kenkou to choujyu -kage no mozaiku-)
(good health and long life -shadow mosaic-

[acoleman3]

oh....is the set back on the top of the sawhorse legs to keep the ends of the support rail from spiting out? i have a feeling they are.

[acoleman3]

this is the desk i am going to build for my scriptorium. i can appreciate its design since i am *also* a minimalist. im deffo giving this 5*.

e·hwÿ -qnⶤ¯-
(kenkou to choujyu -kage no mozaiku-)
(good health and long life -shadow mosaic-

[MXR789]

Best $5.00 Desk Ever! I want to make one, but I might need more storage space than the work horses provide.

[Viaticus]

Very nice Instructable! Thanks for making this contribution!

[mportal]

is a amazing idea! hope make this in two weeks, thanks for sharing!

[cajoberg]

AH! I've been looking for some kind of instruction or something because this is my dream desk, which is maybe a little silly, but I love the simplicity and architectural look, the workhorses are my favorite! It's exactly what I want to make.

[ms.moth]

It looks great!!

[Handsy]

Hollow core doors are great. But why stop at just the work surface? - Ditch the sawhorses. - Take a second hollow core door and cut it in half. These are now the legs of your table. The top and bottom of hollow core doors are not hollow, they are braced all the way across with solid wood. - Using 3.5" - 4" woodscrews, screw your legs to each end of your desk. Note: I ended up using a drafting chair because I like me desks to double as a tall workbench, but you could just as easily saw the second door (legs) to whatever height you needed. Just be sure to saw from the middle because you need the solid wood at the top and bottom for the screws to bite. Enjoy.

[Lance Mt.]

Thanks for the input, but i honestly like the SawHorse design/look.

[paupi]

¡¡¡Excelente!!!

[johnrogers]

wall mount those guitars

[Ean Uchiha]

(removed by author or community request)

[casey321b]

?

[Ean Uchiha]

(removed by author or community request)

[casey321b]

?

[Ean Uchiha]

(removed by author or community request)

[casey321b]

?

[james32174]

Is there a more detailed section on the wooden workhorses, I'm a beginner woodworker and would love to know the angled cuts and perhaps a step by step process

[shamanwhitewolf]

If I remember correctly, Ikea has wooden workhorses very much like these, and for this very purpose. It'll be more expensive than building them yourself, but not by too much.

[tyler.willmon]

did you put any type of varnish on this bad boy? i enjoy the natural wood look, but as far as the desk goes it would probably get a fair amount of stains if i had it (coffee/drink rings, etc.).

[arte.sano]

I'm on it, I also like the natural finish of the wood, but I'm going to put at least one coat of a clear finish. thanks

[abc123ll]

gets rid of that terrible glare off the window

[didi60]

I like your desk. I might get my husband to build one for me. Also I am going to find some win corks as we have a new laminate floor.

[Markp.com]

This is great! Are the work horses sturdy enough? I would think a "leg" on each corner would be more stable. Anyway, the real reason I'm posting... did you make your guitar rack yourself? Is there an instructable on it? That looks amazing!

[static]

This design is plenty stable. I built a desk using a solid core door. I used a leg on each corner. When you do that you need to add stretchers to the legs to insure stability. One method isn't necessarily better than the other

[dt00map]

I too have done exactly this several times. The trestles are a must for stability. U used some Ikea legs at first and they were gash since you really need something very substantial to screw them in to. The door is great because its 1) stiff, 2) normally veneered, 3) if it's not it has some kind of plastic laminate, so it's ready to go straight away, 4) it's really light weight for a table of it's size, most importantly, 5) it's CHEAP. I got a veneer effect door from MFI or somewhere for about £14. Wallop!

[arte.sano]

Actually I have to say, they are quite sturdy, very, and doesn't wobble at all. The triangular configuration of the horses is what makes it so stable. And thanks for the link of the guitar stand, that's a very fun project and extremely simple, I'm glad you like it.

[Markp.com]

Ah damn! Just found it... here's a link for everyone else!
http://www.instructables.com/id/Multiple-Guitar-Stand/?ALLSTEPS

:)

[mehfridge]

I did something similar to this. I bought a prefab formica counter top, a set of folding table legs, and some 1x4 from Menards. Then you just screw the 1x4 to the counter top, and then the folding legs to those. You end up with a lightweight, sturdy, and portable table. Works great in the dorms, also you can pick up L shaped prefab if you have enough space.

[rodie82]

Nice desk! And what a great use for old wine corks!

[mcbarnicle]

In the San Francisco bay area, building resources is a great source for doors and other large flat table top possibilities www.buildingresources.org

[aardvark]

We have a desk Great-Grandfather made from a door. It uses 2 short file cabinets as the supports. It also has center drawer he made, but the file cabinets are very easy!!

[arte.sano]

Hi all, thanks for the comments: Drinkmorecoffe, yes that's a dulcimer in the wall, Jake, trebuchet is right, the approach to the construction is minimalistic, very simple I'll say, tho there's only two screens the pc's are undernit. cheers

[drinkmorecoffee]

Cool. Do you play your dulcimer, or just hang it on the wall? :-P

[modelmanjohn]

I've done this several times, but just used 2x4s for the legs. Need to be braced with a cross piece, but still very sturdy. I usually get 3 legs out of a 96" 2x4, so 2 of them usually are enough for the bracing.

[gmjhowe]

i picked up a cheap kitchen workside cheap from my local wickes (got it cheap as a corner was damaged) for my desk , good if u need summit a bit longer, or more hardwearing special for messy instructbles, I like your desk, i mite upgrade to two horses, as mine is currently just sat on two other desks.

[JakeTobak]

I find it amusing that a Minimalistic Desk would have two computers on it.

[trebuchet03]

I think s/he meant more that the desk construction itself is minimalistic (just two saw horses and a door panel) - rather than the desk space :p

[drinkmorecoffee]

Nice instructable. This is my kind of desk, very cheap, very simple. :-) Is that a dulcimer on the wall, or something else? Can't really see it very well in the picture.