Office desk and office revamp

[joejoeinc]

I wanted to upgrade my office space to something more functional with extra space and a better flow.  I like the look of a wood desk with modern attachments. I've bought items 2nd hand where I could to save items going to waste and to also save money. 

Materials

Desk-Side:

• 1 x Specrite wood benchtop acaia brown= $199 (2400 x 900 x 33mm)
• 2 x Steel legs $133.94
• 1 x Centre leg $7.90
• 1 x 1L Cabothane Clear Matt $40
• 2 x Wood Screws $10 12G 30mm
• 2 x Monitor arms  $20 (2nd hand)
• 2 x Cable trays from IKEA $30

Wall side:

• 1 x Wood Benchtop = $199  (2400 x 900 x 33mm)
• 2 x Kallax white shelves = $100 (2nd hand)
• 8 x Glass shelves inserts $40
• 2 x Kallax risers from Ikea = $40

Windows and other Items:

• 1 x Honeycomb blinds from Ikea  $55
• 1 x White bin  Ikea $2.50

Tools

Ozito circular saw

Ozito drill

Socket wrenches

The all-important Ikea alan key. 

Good quality paint brush

Sliding vice grips

ruler

measureing tape

levels 

Steps

Step 1

Cut the desktop from 900mm wide to 700mm as it'll be too wide for my office. also the desk legs are 700mm wide so I couldn't use a 600mm wide specrite board. 

Drill pilot holes for all the attachments (keep in mind of the depth. test fit the attachments and then remove as we need to seal the desktop before installing 

Note: You can see in the background how big that book case actually was.

Step 2

Seal the desktop  by lightly sanding the desktop and then apply a coat of clear cabothane and wait for it to dry properly (6- 8 hours per coat) repeat this process 3 times. I've used the oil-based one as goes on better than the water-based and will last longer. 

Step 3

Take the desk into the office and assemble and install it. 

Step 4

Enjoy your new battle station for a few minutes before starting on the bench side of the office.

Before

After

Step 5

for the bench side, I used 2 x white Kallax cube shelves with risers and then finished the top with the same specrite wood as the desk side with the same clear cabothane finish.

since the Kallax shleves stick out from th wall about 400mm I had to buy another 2400x900x33mm specrite wood to make it match the desk side. 

using riser on the shelves allow for things to stored under the unit which has already come in handy for the robovac.

Step 6

Final thoughts: 

• When cutting wood measure twice cutting once saves you a lot of time and money 
• Using the right tool for the right job makes a job easier. (I’m looking at you ozito saw you weren’t strong enough to get through the wood properly) 

• Documenting and planning before you start goes a long way to great end result and allows you to keep track of costs and the built process.
• Sourcing items second-hand saves you money.
• Cabothane sometimes takes way longer to dry than it says on the label. It really depends on the weather, dryer hotter days were faster but wetter colder days took a lot longer for the cabotahane to dry.  My suggestion, If you do a coat in the afternoon leave it overnight 6-12 hours before light sanding and applying the next coat.
• Pre-drilling all pilot holes makes for easy assembly when you move the desk to it’s final destination. 
• Applying cabothane to all sides of the benchtops will help seal the wood and also help prevent warping later on.  It’s important to seal the cut parts of the wood too. 
• Updating the window blinds can help with the finishing of the project
• I also have enough wood left over to make a few shelves or chopping boards or some extra shelves. 

[MitchellMc]

Well done, @joejoeinc! Your office revamp looks terrific, and you've done a great job with both the design and the execution. It's impressive how everything came together so well. Many thanks for sharing those extra tips.

Mitchell