We’re making a desk: the assembly

Happy Thursday Friends! When we left off on Tuesday, our desk shelves were painted, waxed and ready to be installed. Here is a picture of the space as it was before. Perfectly fine but time for a switch up.

Here’s the blank wall. Fun fact: Where the wall ends, that was a door way to a small sitting room. We have removed many doors and many walls in our 8 years here.

Back to the desk. Remember we were basically going off of these plans from Ana White. The crossbar was attached to the leaning supports and the whole thing was attached to the wall. We have kids and cats so the support bar was screwed into the studs.

I wanted to install the pieces from the desk up so that I could make sure the height of the desk was right for me. We held it in, clamped it, leveled it again and again and attached it from the inside on the leaning part and again into the studs.

To place the shelves I just eye balled the height I wanted. It’s very technical.**   The smaller shelves only have 3 thicker sides to them. Just like in the plans but installed upside down and backward. Make sense now?  Since they are smaller and will only hold decor, they are only attached to the side supports, not the wall. (the open side is against the wall)

You can kind of see the open side on the top shelf in the picture below. Making and attaching them this way, gave us the look I wanted. They look bulkier and keep this piece more balanced in the room.

 **In case you’re wondering, the desk is 28 1/2″ from the top to the floor.
The middle shelf is 27 1/2″ from the top of the desk to the top of its
shelf and the next shelf is 13 1/4″

I loved it so much already but my favorite part is yet to come.

Styling the shelves! I tried to gather things that I already had, like framed pictures, some vases, books…but I bought a few new things as well. I got a few little glass storage containers and a couple plants from IKEA.  I found this industrial looking beauty at Goodwill.  Maybe ‘beauty’ isn’t the right word but I love its shape and that the seat twists up or down to be at the right height. And castors..

It needs to be recovered really bad but I’m just waiting to find the perfect fabric for the job. Can’t really decide which direction I want to go with it. Also can’t decide if I want to paint the base or leave it as is.. REALLY IMPORTANT STUFF HERE, PEOPLE.

Here’s a quick montage of the shelf as I was staging it. Disclaimer: I don’t have a tripod so the pictures aren’t exactly in the same spot.. you get the idea though.. Also, Kels, if you’re reading this, aren’t you proud that I MADE A GIF?! What!?

Come back Tuesday I’ll give you the full tour! Also, if you have any questions, just ask.

Thanks for reading, friends.