DIY Kids Desk with Shelf Brackets

This post is sponsored by Crates and Pallet.  I’m so
thankful for the opportunity to work with them and as always, all
opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting brands that support House
Homemade.

Good morning! Today I’m excited to show you how I made the desk for the girls’ playroom. They have been big into “needing a desk” ever since we made mine last year. I was so excited to be able to give them a space that made them feel fancy and productive. ; ) You know, it takes a lot of work to be a kid who doesn’t have homework yet.

DIY shelf bracket kid's desk with Crates and Pallet

*this post contains affiliate links*

For this project you’ll need the following supplies:


Crates and Pallet 12″ forged steel shelf brackets 
A 1×12 for the desk top
3 various sizes of 1″ wood planks for the wall part of the desk. I used 2 1×8’s and a 1×10.
wood stain  a saw
a drill
a level
3″ screws

When I got the idea to make a desk under the window I thought about how I could protect the wall from kicking and, lets be real, dirty feet. I thought it would look really cool to have a plank looking wall as the base of the desk. I wanted the wall color to show through and for the planks to be different widths.

DIY shelf bracket kid's desk with Crates and Pallet

I measured the width of the window and measured the space from the window sill to the baseboard. I ended up buying a 1×12 for the top, a 1×10 for the wall and 2 1×8’s for the back part as well.

I brought them home and cut them down to the width of the window. Then stained them with my favorite stain color.


I  found the studs through the very sophisticated process of drilling a small hole into the wall where I thought there was a stud. If it was easy to drill..No stud. If it was harder to drill.. Stud. Now, this was only acceptable practice because I was going to be covering up the wall anyway. I didn’t have to make too many extra holes because once I found the first stud, the others were around 16” apart.

I made a pencil mark on the window trim where the studs were and drilled my first wall plank in flush with the bottom of the window trim.



DIY shelf bracket kid's desk with Crates and Pallet

I wanted the planks to be level but to have different spacing, but you could just as easily measure and install the planks at the same distance apart.
Once the top two planks were up, I installed the brackets. I wanted the desk to be shared and split into two even sections, so I needed 3 brackets. At first I installed the bracket to be flush with the window trim.. The desk was way too tall…I had planned the height to match table height so I’m not really sure what I was thinking but, no worries, I fixed it.

 I drilled pilot holes and then screwed in the bracket.

Now, if you were installing the brackets into sheet-rock you would, without a doubt, want to install them into studs. Because I was installing the brackets into wood, my stud (aka my husband…see what I did there?) said as long as the center bracket was in a stud, I’d be ok. I trust his judgement and it worked out better for the design so win-win. In the picture above, you can see where the line for the stud is and where I ended up installing the bracket. Luckily the center of the window and desk had a stud so that’s where the second bracket is.
This picture takes place after I realized that the previous installation made the desk too tall. I drilled a pilot hole, screwed in the top of the bracket and then made sure the bracket was hanging straight before I put in the bottom screw.
Once the first bracket was where I wanted it, I measured again and marked holes in the other two spots where the brackets would be: the center of the desk and over at the other end.
DIY shelf bracket kid's desk with Crates and Pallet
DIY shelf bracket kid's desk with Crates and Pallet

The horizontal part of the brackets have screw holes as well so once I put on the top piece, I used short screws to hold the desk top in place.

DIY shelf bracket kid's desk with Crates and Pallet



The brackets are perfect for this kind of project. They
are heavy duty and I love how they don’t have an angled support bar.
They’re low profile but also have such a pretty finish for places where
they’re displayed closer to eye level. I love the little part that
curves over the wood edge. It’s subtle and a pretty detail.

I saved the last plank of wood until the end because I had to make a cutout in the wood for the electrical outlet that’s there.  I measured where it was and marked it out on the board.

DIY shelf bracket kid's desk with Crates and Pallet

I drilled holes in each corner of the box I drew and used the jigsaw to cut out the rectangle for the plug.

DIY shelf bracket kid's desk with Crates and Pallet

This doesn’t require skill. Just the bravery to do it yourself and the ability to draw/saw straight-ish lines. I promise.

DIY shelf bracket kid's desk with Crates and Pallet

DIY shelf bracket kid's desk with Crates and Pallet

Luckily, I did it in the right spot and was able to install the last board the same way I had done the others. I just pulled the outlet a little further out from the wall and screwed it into the wood instead of the box it was originally in. No rewiring or anything.

DIY shelf bracket kid's desk with Crates and Pallet
DIY shelf bracket kid's desk with Crates and Pallet

The color doesn’t match exactly but I spray painted the plate cover and the little outlet covers brown so that they wouldn’t be as obvious on the wall.

DIY shelf bracket kid's desk with Crates and Pallet

The stools were second hand finds that I cut down to be table height.  The girls love the desk. I catch them sitting there working quietly. They feel so special to have this little space that’s all theirs. Zee-ba lovie and all…

DIY shelf bracket kid's desk with Crates and Pallet

Such an easy, quick DIY to give your kid a little creative space of their own!

Really, it took longer to buy the supplies and wait for the stain to dry than it did to install the desk. I did this by myself. That means it also wasn’t hard. Should I start a skill level rating?: ‘just me, by myself, easy’….That’s what this one was.
DIY shelf bracket kid's desk with Crates and Pallet
We love it. I love the warmth the wood adds to the space. The extra spot to ‘work’. The way the black metal of the brackets ties into the light fixture on the ceiling fan. It’s all great.
DIY shelf bracket kid's desk with Crates and Pallet
Scroll below to shop the room:

Thank you to Crates and Pallet for the awesome product. My original idea was open shelving and if I hadn’t gotten such pretty brackets, I’m not sure I would have come to this idea. Also the options are endless! Picture painted wood or smaller planks or even instead of a desk, a ledge for plant babies. A summer bar on your patio. See? It’s not just for kiddos, so, SCORE!
Pin image below to save or share:
Such an easy, quick DIY to give your kid a little creative space of their own!
Make sure you come back next week for another quick DIY I’ve been waiting to show you.
Thanks for reading, friends!
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4 thoughts on “DIY Kids Desk with Shelf Brackets

  1. What an adorable desk! I love how fancy it looks, but how simple it actually is to make! Sharing this on my blog for this week's The Creative Circle post. Thank you for linking up with us!

  2. Hi Jessica,
    I'm Lindsey at the blog Repurpose and Upcycle and I wanted to thank you for linking up with us at #iDIYedthat. I also wanted to let you know that we will be featuring you this week! I just want to confirm that this is your original work and your own pictures and have your permission to feature you. Thank you!
    Lindsey

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