Home office build

[StRacerDuke]

I don't usually share very much personal stuff online but I figured you guys may appreciate some of my recent DIY/Craftsmanship home improvement stuff. This was my first woodworking project attempt. Must of my other work has been hot rods/metal fabrication work.

Recently having completed a custom home build we started out with an empty office. Both my wife and I require a functional and highly efficient work space.

Here's what it started out as:

After a series of paper designs and measurements I started to build. All the materials were box store purchases or online. Boxes are MDF, door faces are poplar/MDF, drawers are finish grade pine. All joints are biscuit/glued and pinned. I routed all the doors with a Freud 3 piece door frame router kit. All the drawer edges I used iron on edge banding. The crown is Canamould.

Dad's little helper:

Prep and painting:

The desktop first attempt started out with solid maple hardwood flooring. The stain ended up blotchy so I sanded them down and re-stained. The desktops then warped a little so I scrapped them and started over with finish grade 4x8 sheets of hardwood.

Installation:

I ran a 3" PVC pipe behind everything so we could string wires between each base cabinet if needed. Keeps everything nice and clean.

Final result:

 

[woodrail]

Really nice job! 3/4" drawers? I'm guessing your planning on holding your socket collection in those

 

[ODIS]

Great craftsmanship! Did the project take as long as first anticipated? Turned out NICE!

Ody.

 

[StRacerDuke]

Yea, good eyes. 3/4" drawers since the local box stores didn't carry have 5/8" finished hardwood sheets and I wasn't in the mood to special order from the local lumber store.

The project took about 2m longer than expected. This was mostly nights after 8pm/ every other weekend depending on family schedule.

 

[KULIWOBBY]

That turned out beautiful! Nice job. The colors blend in real nicely.

 

[Mike.ASC]

That's first class work , beautiful job .

Mike

 

[EOC_Jason]

Very nice, I especially the details with the molding blending the bookshelves and also the area above the cabinets.

If any of your neighbors have a home with the same floor plan they are going to be sooo jealous...

 

[ed_v]

Beautiful job done! Thanks for sharing.

Ed

 

[DoyleDee]

Awesome work! I bet it is alot nicer to be in that working environment now.

 

[ny1]

One heck of a first attempt! That's some nice work!

 

[sam_i02]

Beautiful work. Redoing the study is on my to-do list for this winter. I plan to build a "stand-up" desk (on recommendation from my physical therapist) as my back has been giving out on me from sitting in the office chair and staring at a computer screen for 10 hrs a day...

 

[JasonW]

Very Nice! Good thinking on the home made cable chase.

 

[EastTXSierra]

If you hadnt said this was your first woodworking project, Id have guessed you did this for a living. Great job.

 

[wbrian63]

Extremely well done. My hat is off to you for attempting your first project in white. I've done three kitchens in white and I'll say one thing...

Never freakin' again...

I'm a perfectionist bordering on OCD, and on all of these efforts, I was never ever completely satisfied with the outcome.

White shows every single flaw.

Brilliant idea with the PVC pipe.

I see you used those lovely Blum undermount slides. If those aren't the bee's knees, I don't know what is.

Where did you source your beadboard? The last kitchen I did that wanted beadboard I ended up making my own because the **** I could source locally was all pine, complete with biscuit patches in the face - more suited to a cabin at the lake than an all-white kitchen in an upscale new home. That was misery beyond all description.

Also - good choice on a vacuum. We've got one of those and it still works wonderfully after several years of regular use.

 

[LutzTD]

nice job, looks great., hope my wife doesnt see this. I am still giving her the impression that it is beyond the skills of most all men and we need to hire out interior house work such as this.

 

[MHORTON79]

Damn. That's nice. Real nice. Great job.

 

[KCarGuy]

looks Great. Very Clean and Classy looking.

 

[KEH]

Very nice. Good looking workbench in pics 3 & 4, good help in pic 5. I think I counted the pics right.

Do I see his and hers desks there? My wife is left handed so I built her a left handed desk for Christmas one year, out of cherry sawed from a tree in the yard.

KEH

 

[Nighttrain]

Nice work.

 

[archirelic]

Excellent transformation.

 

[CudaChick1968]

Hey Duke, I apologize for dredging up your old thread but have to say it's an amazing inspiration! You give us metal workers lots of hope in the carpentry department.

After a few years' delay in the home improvements around here, Billy and I are now back in the swing again -- YAYYY!!! -- and I've been scouting the forums here for The Perfect Desk now that I have my office back again. This one you put together is almost identical to the picture I had in my head.



Your craftsmanship is off the charts sir! I love the beadboard and moulding especially, a very classy touch.

Anyway, now that it's been a few years on your office conversion project, I was wondering if there was anything you would do differently if you had to build it again?

Thank you for your time, and most especially for sharing this project with us. You went above and beyond for sure!