Home office custom furniture build

[ogosh]

My partner and I were lucky enough to move into a beautifully renovated 1914 Spanish Mission house in September 2017, and since then have set about turning it into a home. A few window locks, a side gate to keep the dog in, getting all the original internal doors swinging smoothly and a few new bathroom fixtures.... and we were done!

With no kids yet, we have a few spare rooms, so I decided to turn what was a formal lounge into a home office.

dressy estate agent "before shot"

After some inspiration from a local trendy cafe, it was straight onto pinterest and google and then down to bunnings with some measurements and plans in hand to pick up a few bits and pieces.

 20mm Galvanised pipe Acacia bench/panel 2200 x 600 x26

Then off to complete our gumtree purchase/pick-up and we were ready to begin:

 

First step was to pull apart the filling cabinet sand back flaking paint & rust then taping up the shiny bits ready for primer and paint.

 sanded and taped up  first coat of primer

The galvanised pipe comes with an oily coating and barcode stickers, which had to be soaked and scrubbed off with hot soapy water and turpentine:

hot soapy soaking  more buckets on the turps 115 pieces all up

Then it was time for a basic assembly for a test fit...

constructing the legs  shelf supports coming together  test fit - frame  test fit - desktop 

Next step was some basic asembly and to prime and paint all the pipe and fittings - 115 pieces all up!

homemade mini spray-booth primer 2nd coat of primer more priming priming shelf uprights

After the last coat of primer it was time for 2-3 coats of matt black spray enamel.

last coat of primer 

Once all the coats of spray enamel had dried it was onto final assembly.

THE FILLING CABINET was the easiest job with just a soak and wpe down of the polished handles and fittings in vinegar solution.

THE DESK legs and feet were adjusted for level, a few mini coach screws from underneath the table top and that was done.

BOOKSHELF was the last to be assembled ... First the uprights were grouped in 4's of the same height to aid in levelling the unit, then with only 96 holes drilled and filled with 96 specially ordered matt black nuts and bolts it was all done...AND....

The final product is below....

Lower leg & footing  Leg upright  Shelves    

Only additional bit of work was to bring in an electrician who put in some down lights:

[ogosh]

5 years on from completion and after moving house I can happily report that both the desk and bookshelves are standing strong and in good order. The ability to easily adjust every leg/foot for level is super convenient and the only wear was from a few knocks in transit and from using the footrest under the desk as intended where some paint has rubbed away an way $5 paint fix/touch up.

As for cable management I’ve continued to use the ikea cable basket mentioned above but also just tucked in and velcro strapped a few cables behind the filling cabinet and it’s all neat and tidy.

[Akanksha]

Thanks for coming back to update us, @ogosh. Great to hear the desk and bookshelves have held up well. 

Congratulations on this terrific project once again. I'm sure you have inspired many members to build their own home office furniture. 

Look forward to seeing more of your handiwork. 

Akanksha

[Dave-1]

@ogosh 

Wow, I hadnt seen this project before. It certainly came up nicely and fits with the style of your house! Five years and its still going strong Couldnt ask for more from something you built yourself! 

I actually like the wide base of the feet for the table. It would give it a lot of stability without marking the floor.

Dave

[ogosh]

Hi Dave,

Yeah it’s really been problem free, and especially through Covid etc it got heavy use working from home.

The wide feet and using 6 legs really babes it VERY stable indeed, Felt pads stuck underneath the feet protect the polished timber floors.