Wall Mounted Desk Tutorial

Hey, I hope you had a fabulous weekend! Was it productive? Full of DIY activities? Well, I’m back with a tutorial for building a wall-mounted desk. The great thing about a desk that is wall mounted is it can be small or large and it won’t take up any floor space! This gives a nice clean look and makes the room feel larger. Plus, the materials will almost certainly cost less than buying a desk.

My son is starting to have more homework in school. (I didn’t realize that first grade was the new 3rd grade!) I figured soon enough he’s going to need a spot to sit and work on homework. Plus, he’s an avid Lego builder and this makes a great surface for him to build on.

Materials:

• Finish grade plywood (my desktop is 16″ x 40″)
• Painter’s Tape
• 1 – 2″ x 4″ x 93″
• 2 – 9.5″ x 9.5″ bird’s mouth brackets
• 4 – 3″ cabinet mounting screws
• Paint
• Paint brush
• Drill
• Drill bits
• Level
• Pencil

Instructions: 

Begin by assessing where you want to mount your desk. For better perspective, you can outline the desk area with painter’s tape on the floor.

Cut your finish grade plywood to size. Using the Kreg Rip Saw with my miter saw is much easier than hauling out the table saw and getting as assistant to help lift the plywood. If you put a piece of rigid foam insulation underneath, you can cut almost anywhere! Just set your saw blade depth slightly below the plywood.

Cut your 2″x4″ stud 4″ narrower than the length of your desk top surface. (My desktop is 40″ long, therefore my mounting stud is 36″ long.)  Locate the studs in your wall. Mark their location.

Pre-drill holes in the mounting board at the stud locations. Use a small bit slightly narrower than your screws. Then use a larger bit the width of your screw head to create a countersink hole. Drive the cabinet mounting screws into one end of the mounting board and into the stud. Use a level to make sure your mounting board is level, then drive the additional mounting screws into the other studs.

Cut two pieces of 2″x4″ at 8″ long. These will create the supports for the shelf brackets. For a clean look, bevel the end at a 45 degree angle when you cut them. Attach the 2″ x 4″ pieces below each end of the mounting board as shown below.

Your mounting boards should look like this:

Set two small screws into the shelf bracket key holes. Line the bracket up with the top of the mounting board and center it on the vertical supports already attached to the wall. Make a pencil mark where the screws need to be set.

Use the pencil to mark the depth of the keyholes on the screws so you know how deep to drive the screws into the bracket support.

Attach the small screws to the vertical support where the pencil marks were and drive them to the point where you marked on each screw.

Slip the bracket onto the screws.

For added support, pre-drill one hole through the top of the bracket and into the mounting board. Pre-drill a second hole through the bird’s eye bracket at the narrowest point.

Drive screws into the two pre-drilled holes to further secure the shelf brackets to the mounting boards.

Repeat for the second bracket.

Lay your desk top surface on top of the brackets. You can either drive small screws through the top of the desk and into the mounting board. Or drive a small screw up through the underside of the bracket and into the desktop. I prefer the latter because you won’t have to wood putty the desk surface.

Wood putty all your holes. Allow the putty to dry and sand the putty smooth. Paint your brackets, mounting boards and desk top. I chose to paint my desk top before hand with a chalkboard surface.

Let the paint dry. If you want to protect the desk surface, you may chose to paint a few coats of polycrylic on top.

And my son has a spot to do homework, legos or create a little book.

Don’t you just love his lego pencil holder he created?! I think he needs to start an Etsy store ;-).

I had fun decorating the wall with some vintage signs and an adorable London themed tea towel calendar from Spoonflower. Making tea towel calendars every year in November/December has been a tradition I started over a year ago. We anxiously await the release of the newest calendar designs on Spoonflower.

Source List:

• Lumber from Lowe’s
• Wooden corbels found here
• Nickel Lamp from Ikea
• Chair from a Craig’s List (similar chairs at Target)
• Exit sign from Hobby Lobby
• Vintage “G” from Hobby Lobby
• Tea Towel calendar from Spoonflower
• White star (forgot, I’ve had it so long)
• Wall (& desk) paint color: Benjamin Moore Aura custom gray color: Base 1: 524-1x Gallon size S1 0 x 16.75  |  Y2 0 x 1  | O1  0 x .50

I have a fun announcement! I’m going to be taking part in a Delta Faucet twitter party on Tuesday, May 20th 2014 at 9pm EST. It’s only an hour, but we’ll be talking about strategies to make home improvements for less money. I hope you’ll join us!