Introduction: 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

Step 2: Work Horses

Work horses are a very easy and cheap solution for a desk, and in this case they are the main pieces of construction. I could bought some but I barely spend a dime building this two. This is what i did:

First of all keep in mind the hight of your desk surface, usually desk tops range from 27" to 30" , I use 29" for the top of my. I subtract the thickness of the panel 1-1/2" which gives me 27- 1/2" for the top of the horses. The length of the top piece (horizontal) is 28", the same depth of the door panel. I set back the legs 2 - 1/2" from the edges, (see note 1 in the pic).

Keep in mind the angle of the legs, which will be roughly the same as the hight 27 - 1/2".
For this I attached a piece of 1 -1/2" x 3/4" under the main runner of the bench between the two legs to get the angle. (see note 2). At the bottom of the horse I got 8 - 3/4" between the legs (see note 3).

Next I drill a 3/8" hole on the horizontal piece, at roughly 1 - 3/8" from the top , and also in the two pieces for the legs to drive the 3" machine screws, keep in mind that the machine screws are 1/4" dia, but the legs are in an angle, that's why we need a 3/8" hole to bare some room for the screws (see note 4).

When I fixed the hight of the work horse tighten the screws and every thing was in order I put two drywall screws into the 1 - 1/2" (the angle piece) to secure them, see images.
At this point the horses are still a little bit wobbly.

At the bottom of the legs I put a 7 - 3/4" piece from 2 1/2" from the floor to secure the legs, and also as support for the 2 last pieces of pallets (shelves).
When everything is in place and secure, the work horses were very stiff. From here the rest is very straight forward.

Step 3: The Panel Door As a Desktop

The panel door as a desktop is a great work surface, the dimension of my is 6'-0" by 28", plenty of space, I add a trim of 2" x 1/4" around the sides just to make it look better (see Note 5).

I attached a scrap of wood under the panel just to keep the work horses in place and symmetrical, (see Note 6).

And the desk it pretty much done.

Step 4: Final Product

Finally, I redo my studio with my new desk, I reuse the keyboard tray from the corner desk and I put it in the new one. all the materials where recycle besides the 4 machine screws, I spend around two days working on the benches and no more the $5 in materials..

Step 5: Final Note: Wine Corks

Just a little note here, I use wine corks and double side tape as padding for all the furniture around my place, way more cheaper than the ones from the store. Salud! or cheers!