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Home » Build It » Building a Kitchen Counter Height Desk {Lowe’s Creator Idea}

Building a Kitchen Counter Height Desk {Lowe’s Creator Idea}

June 7, 2013 Brittany Bailey 38 Comments

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counter-height-kitchen-desk-tutorial

Where do you drop all your mail, papers, reminder notes, kid’s school notes, business cards, etcetera, etcetera…etcetera? If you answered the kitchen counter, I’m sure you are among many including myself who dropped everything on the counter. And then it piled up there until someone filed the papers and threw away the reminders of events past.

(As a Lowe’s Creative Ideas blogger I was tasked with creating a “drop zone” for my June project. And I was provided with a gift card to purchase the supplies.)

I was determined to keep our countertops clean in our new kitchen. Which meant I had to create a space that would hold it all and act as our drop zone! The idea of a kitchen desk seemed like the perfect spot. However, I didn’t want a regular height desk. I wanted a desk that was counter height so I could stand and write a note, file papers, put away the mail then dash off to complete my next DIY project. This handy girl really doesn’t have the time to sit still ;-).

When I stumbled across a desk marked down to $35 at our local Habitat ReStore, it seemed like it had potential. A quick check of the drawers proved that the desk was still in perfect working order.

desk_table_top_legs_materials

I was talking to my friend Holly about my idea of the countertop height desk and she pulled four table legs out of her garage and gifted them to me! And, I had a heavily loved craft table that a neighbor gave away. I thought it would make the perfect top for the desk.

Here’s how I put them all together to make a cottage-style counter-height kitchen desk:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Materials:

  • Kitchen desk
  • Table top (or Plywood or your material of choice)
  • Legs (1 table and 3 furniture feet)
  • Circular saw
  • Level
  • Ruler
  • Kreg Jig
  • 3″ wood screws
  • Drill with screwdriver bits
  • Scrap 1×4″ board
  • Clamps
  • Painter’s tape
  • Wood putty
  • Putty knife
  • Sander
  • Sandpaper
  • Primer
  • Paint
  • Stain
  • Optional: new drawer hardware
  • (*Maybe a hack saw for stubborn screws)

If you don’t have a great friend who can gift you table legs, check your local Lowe’s Home Improvement center. They have a great assortment of legs and cabinet hardware!

knobs_legs_from_lowes

Instructions:

Start by removing all the desk drawers. Usually there is a small lever on the side that needs to be pressed down on both sides before you can remove the drawers.

press_lever_release_drawers

Remove the end panel from the seated side. Look for interior screws holding it on and try to release it by unscrewing them. If they won’t budge, use a hacksaw to cut through the stubborn screws to remove the side of the desk.

remove_side_wall_off_desk

Once the side is off, cut the 1″ x 4″ board to the same depth as your desk. Attach the board with screws to the underside of the drawer. This will be the support for the table leg.

add_support_under_drawer

On the side with the drawers, remove the toe kick with a pry bar. Cut off the bottom of the side panels with a circular saw. (I like to mark my cuts with a piece of painter’s tape. It helps keep the wood from splintering.)

cut_off_base_of_drawers

Flip the deck upside down. Measure your desk height and your table leg height. Your goal is to create a desk that is 36″ tall. Trim any excess off the table leg first (from the top of the leg). Then measure the height of your desk with the table table leg propped on it. Figure out how tall to cut the remaining three legs to create an even height.

measure_cut_little_legs

Cut the legs with a miter saw. (Use a stop block to make sure all three small legs are the same height.)

cut_legs_on_miter_saw

Attach the longest leg to the 1″ x 4″ support with Kreg joinery (you can view my tutorial on using a Kreg Jig here.) Attach the smaller legs by driving the 3″ wood screws through the bottom of the drawer cabinet into the legs.

attach_legs_to_desk

This is how the desk should look after the legs are attached. A little Frankensteinish…but no worries.

desk_with_legs_added

Sand, prime and paint the desk and drawers.

sand_prime_paint

I highly recommend using a cabinet grade paint (Sherwin Williams ProClassic or Benjamin Moore Advance) and coat the desk with two layers of paint.

painted_kitchen_desk

Before setting a desk top on the desk, secure the desk to the wall by driving a few screws into the back and side of the desk (preferably into wall studs.)

Place the desk top onto the desk. You can use an old table top and follow my instructions for cutting and finishing it, or order countertop material that matches the rest of your kitchen. Caulk, glue or screw the top down.

finished_kitchen_desk

Add drawer knobs onto the desk.

add_knobs

The top drawer on the right is for menus and miscellaneous papers, etc. (It will surely become the junk drawer). The middle drawer is Pretty Handsome Guy’s mail and the bottom drawer holds my mail.

close_up_desk_drawers_side

I fit the left top drawer with some organizational dividers from The Container Store.

add_desk_drawer_organizer

But, wait until you see what I did to the wall above the desk!

close_up_desk_planks

Now we’re talking organized! Each of us has a magazine file to fill!

command_center_corner

The tutorial to build that wall hutch is HERE! And the special distressed board treatment on the side of the desk tutorial is here!

pretty-handy-girl-kitchen-desk-tutorial

What do you think? Is this a project you could take on? Does your kitchen need a drop zone? Or a kitchen command center, as I like to call this corner.

You can find loads of other creative storage ideas at Lowe’s Creative Ideas:

LCI_post_badge

PHGFancySign

Disclosure: As a #LowesCreator, I was provided with a Lowe’s gift card to purchase supplies for this post. I was not told what to write. All ideas and words are my own.

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Build It, Decorating, desk, kitchen, Kitchen Renovation

Comments

  1. Vickie says

    January 6, 2016 at 3:17 pm

    What are the dimensions of your counter height desk

    Reply
    • Brittany Bailey says

      January 6, 2016 at 5:14 pm

      44″ wide x 25″ deep x 36″ tall

      Reply
  2. Allie Atkinson says

    April 8, 2014 at 10:33 pm

    Does it not drive you crazy having to work with the power plugs behind the leg of your new desk?
    Love the project though!

    Reply
    • Brittany Bailey says

      April 9, 2014 at 12:00 am

      Allie, actually I had our electrician install a plug on top of the desk so I can plug the phone and anything else into it. The other plug under the desk rarely gets used since there is a plug literally behind the wall in the living room for plugging the vacuum into. And, per our need to meet new code, we added several new outlets in the kitchen. I have more outlets than I will ever need.

      Reply
  3. Josette says

    August 29, 2013 at 2:48 pm

    Hi! What is the color that you used on this desk? Thank you!

    Reply
    • Brittany Bailey says

      August 29, 2013 at 3:42 pm

      Sherwin Williams Copen Blue 😉

      Reply
  4. jill says

    July 10, 2013 at 11:52 am

    Love the idea and will try it……but absolutely love the floor. What is it?

    Reply
    • Brittany Bailey says

      July 10, 2013 at 12:49 pm

      Jill, they are cork tiles, you can read more about the installation process and where to buy them here: http://www.prettyhandygirl.com/2013/04/installing-cork-tile-flooring-in-the-kitchen.html

      Reply
  5. Marti Giffen says

    June 26, 2013 at 1:22 pm

    This is awesome! I absolutely love everything you’ve done!

    Reply
  6. [email protected] Blue Clear Sky says

    June 13, 2013 at 8:02 pm

    What a great remake and love the colours!

    Reply
  7. kuchyne na mieru bratislava says

    June 11, 2013 at 3:18 pm

    Amazing! I like the detail with small legs … I love these creative ideas

    Reply
  8. Leilani says

    June 10, 2013 at 11:26 am

    You blow me away Handy Girl!! THis is frikin awesome! I love counter height desks because I am more comfortable standing than sitting (thanks to sciatica). Will try to find a way to make my own.

    Reply

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Hi, I'm Brittany aka Pretty Handy Girl. I like the smell of coffee and sawdust in the morning. I live to break stereotypes and empower you to take on your own DIY project.

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