Show & Tell: DIY Sawhorse Desk

Good Evening!

I've been on an office remodeling streak the past two weeks. Since I work from home, my home office is where I spend a good part of each day. The way I had it set up just wasn't cutting it. Things were cluttered and crowded. I would look around and just feel irritated. Not a great way to work or live. Just ask my husband and kids. I was, to quote my daughter, "crabby."

One of the major issues was the desk. I love, love, love the desk we inherited from my husband's grandfather. It was completely transformed with some white paint and glass knobs. (Click here for the before & after). The shape of the desk is very unique, and it has tons of storage. One problem though was the surface space. I have two large monitors as part of my work set up, and the little desk wasn't cutting it. I looked like a T-Rex when I typed.

I had originally thought I would keep the curved desk as is, and then create a narrow desk/workspace along my north wall. (Click here for my office remodel plans) Late at night a few weeks ago, I was thinking about the issues in my office. I realized that creating a larger surface for the monitors should be my top priority. I switched up my plan, and decided to create a large desk and flip the curved desk to the other wall.

The problem with large desks is they cost more than small ones. (Shocking, I know) So, how was I going to create a large desk on budget? Adding another wrinkle to the plan is that anything I made had to be done within a weekend. The office had to be up and running before I started work on Monday.

I did some heavy research i.e. played on Pinterest, and decided I liked two ideas: 1) create desk from a hollow door and table legs, 2) create a desk with sawhorses.

My husband and I went on a "date" to Lowes one Saturday afternoon. (Anything is a "date" if we're without the kids) He didn't like the idea of using table legs. He thought it would look weird with a cheaper top. He also didn't like the hollow door idea since we'd have to cut it down to the fit the space.

What he did like was sawhorses. Probably because they are strong. I decided that instead of using a hollow door or individual boards, I would use one of my favorite surfaces: wood paneling.

The entire thing cost us about $70.00. The breakdown is $20.00 per sawhorse and $30.00 for four interlocking panel boards. The desk size is customizable, but at this cost, I could have gone up to 8 feet long. I used white paint I already had for the top and grey stain (Weathered Grey in Rustoleum) for the saw horses.

The concept is pretty easy. You simply have to cut the boards to the desired length and lock them into place on the top of the sawhorses. Then, I just screwed down each board. The only problem you need to watch for is making sure you find straight boards and level sawhorses as you can. We found that many boards were warped and almost all the sawhorses were slight uneven (so they would wobble when you moved them).

I'm pretty happy with my sawhorse desk, and it's a huge surface for my computer. I don't write on this desk, but if you wanted a smooth surface, you could easily add a glass or plexi-glass top. I may also route the ends eventually to create a more finished look. The entire project took just an hour or two.

I will be hiding the cords behind the sawhorses when I have the chance to pick up some velcro for the cords. 

The sawhorses are Burro Brand and feature these lovely donkey logos. I turned them so they would be facing away from you. My husband thought I should embrace them and let them show. That's why I get to design the upstairs.