Our daughter asked for a desk in her room to study at. After shopping at a couple of stores we came across an idea at a coffee shop to make a desk/table out of an old door. A trip to the local antique market produced the door and a trip to Home Depot for the remaining lumber for the frame. The legs were salvaged from a table that was found on the curb in the neighborhood. The rest of the table turned out to be in worse shape than initially thought.

Step 1: Prepping the Door.

The door had numerous coats of paint and needed to be stripped and sanded. This was a multi night project. The joints were also separating so those needed to be cleaned out, glued, and clamped together. Once the door was relieved of years of paint it revealed a beautiful wood grain.

A word of caution: Be careful with old items since they may have been painted with paint containing lead. Take appropriate safety measures to prevent exposure.

Step 2: Frame

The frame was made with 1" x 4" pine. All joints were screwed together with the Kreg Pocket Hole screws. These produce a strong, hidden joint.

The front board was also cut for a drawer.

Step 3: Painting and Assembly

Our daughter loves anything chevron and picked the colors.

First, a base white coat was put on the entire door and frame. Once dry the chevron pattern was printed and traced onto the inner panels. I masked the area off before painting. All painting was done with an air spray gun and it really produced a tough, smooth finish.

The hole for the door knob was left to pass cords through.