Building the Desks

The trickiest part of this whole playroom project were the two desks.  The dimensions of my new "built-in" meant I needed two 5-1/2' long x by 15-7/8" depth pieces of wood.  I considered going to the hardware store, buying wood, having them cut the wood down to the size I needed, sand it and paint it, but then inspiration hit.  I ended up buying another Expedit Single Shelving Unit and using only the two long pieces of "wood" included.  They are each 6' long, so we needed to cut them to the correct length, but the depth was a perfect match to the other shelves and cabinets already installed.  And here is where we ran into two problems:

1. The long boards on the Expedit unit are not made of real wood or even partical board on the inside.  They are honeycombed.  This made sawing through them difficult
2. Our walls weren't level.  They bowed in places, so getting a tight fit against the walls wasn't going to happen. 

Next up: Attaching the boards to the wall.  Here's where a big shout out to my dad comes in!  He helped with everything and came up with the plan for attaching the desks.  Here's a peek at my Lowe's shopping list

The plan of attack was to attach 2x2 wood walls and then screw the desk tops to the wood.  First up was cutting and painting the wood

Wood pieces painted and ready to install

My dad (and the dog) installing the 2x2s

We used a combination of "L" brackets and "T" brackets to attach the desk tops to the 2x2s.  We chose to do the sturdiest construction possible as I have a 3 year old dare-devil son and an acrobatic 5 year old girl.  We could picture them climbing up and jumping off the desks when we weren't looking, so we wanted to make sure they were very secure.  As you can see in the picture directly above, we also screwed a 2x2 to the Expedit shelving unit already in place to create one solid piece that wouldn't move.

Desk attached.  You can see here how due to the bowing of the wall, the desk doesn't fit flush against the wall.  I amy fill in later with caulk, but right now it doesn't bother me or the kids

We also drilled a hole in each desk for cords to run through

Desks complete.  Final pictures of the desks coming in the reveal!

Other Playroom Posts

Playroom Construction Begins

Playroom Color Scheme

Stencil, oh stencil
Window Seat
Playroom Window Treatment