Hey friends!  As many of you know, I am knee-deep in the process of redoing my oldest son’s room.  A couple weeks ago I shared his new DIY thin brick wall, and today I am sharing his DIY desk!  Check it out!

DIY Desk by Shanty2Chic

How fun?  I wanted a good mix of rustic and industrial for the space, and I think the style fits the bill.  This may be the most simple project ever.   You really only need a drill to get it done.  I knew I wanted to use metal standards to create the desk and shelf supports.  I started looking online and pricing everything considering the sizes I wanted as well.  I found several options, but settled on the Container Store.  They offer two different finish options.  One is a matte silver color and the other is white.  I debated a bit about keeping his silver (which would have been easier), but decided to paint them black.  Let me show you the pieces I bought first.  He has 9ft ceilings to help you plan your own space.

For the metal standards that you attach to the wall, I purchased two of THESE in the 63″ length.  They were $15.99 a piece.

For the smaller shelf brackets, I purchased six of THESE in the 10.5″ size because I wanted 3 shelves.  They were $4.99 a piece.

And, for the desk supports I purchased two of THESE in the 18.5″ size.  They were $6.99 a piece.

I spent right around $80 for the metal pieces which sounds like a lot, but I do get a desk and a bookcase out of it, so I thought the price was excellent.  Now for the wood!

Lowe’s sells these great project panels.  They are basically strips of pine that have been laminated together to form larger pieces.  They are affordable, and stain beautifully.  They come in several sizes.  I chose to go with sizes that didn’t need to be cut down at all… Easy peasy!

They can be found in the lumber aisle and are wrapped in plastic.  This is the size I used for the shelves.  I purchased 3 of these.

Wood for desk shelf

And for the desk top, I purchased one of these…

Desktop wood

I started by spray painting all of my metal supports and brackets.  Make sure to use a primer if you decide to spray paint yours.  These have a great finish on them and spray paint will chip off.  I used Rust-Oleum spray paint for mine.  I laid them all out on brown paper to spray them.

Metal shelf brackets from the Container Store

This is the paint I used… Make sure to let yours dry fully before working with it.  I did have mine chip in a few places when I installed it, but I bought a really small cheap bottle of black acrylic paint and used a small paint brush to cover them.  You can’t tell at all.

Rustoleum Black Spray Paint

After painting those, I stained each of my boards with Varathane Wood Stain in Early American…

Varathane Wood Stain Early American

After my metal pieces dried, I started the install.  I was able to attach my metal supports into the studs in the wall.  If you are unable to do so, the Container Store also sells anchors for this system.

I started by installing my first support.  I used my Ryobi Impact driver instead of my drill for this part.  It’s just a lot more powerful and makes driving screws into studs a breeze.  I chose to use 2.5″ Spax screws to attach mine to the wall.

Ryobi Impact Driver

After eyeballing level, I attached one screw to hold it in place.  After that, I used a level to make sure it was perfect before attaching the other screws.

check for level on desk

Here is my first support hung and ready!

building a metal and wood desk

To figure out where to hang the next support, I used one of my shelf pieces with the brackets and placed the level on top to make sure they were hanging at the exact same height.  I held it in place and drove in one screw, and then added the rest.  I believe each support uses 5 screws.

Hanging the metal supports

My final step was putting in the brackets and adding my other shelf and desk pieces.  These are adjustable making this great for customizing.  Once you have them where you want them, the supports have small openings on the bottom.  I used a small screw through each of these that go through that opening and into the wood to hold it all in place.

DIY metal and wood desk

 To cover those gold screws, I used the same black acrylic paint with a small brush.  Again, you can’t even see them!

And here it is all finished up!

DIY Wood and Metal Desk by Shanty2Chic

DIY Desk

DIY Desk by Shanty2Chic

What do you think??  He loves it, and I love the function of the whole thing.

I found his great desk chair online at Industry West.  It’s called the Lucia Chair and I chose to go with a clear seat and metallic base.  You can see that chair HERE.

His lamp is a really cool clamp lamp that attaches to his desk.  I found it on Amazon for $19.  You can see it HERE

His wall color is a Sherwin-Williams color called Mindful Gray (7016).  It is a perfect gray… Not too beige and not too blue.

I found the great hat hooks on Amazon!  I LOVE them… They come 2 in a pack and you can find them HERE

That should be it!  I think I covered just about everything.  If you have any questions at all, just ask!  Thanks so much!

Whitney

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17 Comments

  1. ⁣????❤❤❤❤❤❤

    I built my own using the plans at www. WoodworkPlans.info – highly recommended you check those out too. They are detailed and super easy to read and understand unlike several others I found online. The amount of plans there is mind-boggling… there’s like 16,000 plans or something like that for tons of different projects. Definitely enough to keep me busy with projects for many more years to come haha

    Head on over to www. WoodworkPlans.info if you want to learn more – click the pink link above for some more plans! Best of luck on your building adventures!

    ⭐?⭐?⭐?

  2. Thank you for sharing and for all the hard work you do!
    I’d like to know where you bought the hat hooks too.

  3. Did I miss the part where you mentioned the hat hooks? Do they come with the bracket system? Or did you just find them somewhere else? Thank you. This is so very cool for a young boy or anywhere for that matter!

    1. I’d like to know where you bought the hat hooks too.
      Thank you for sharing and for all the hard work you do!

  4. This is a great idea, I think I need to borrow it for my daughter’s room! I’m curious, what height did you mount the bottom of your supports?

  5. Simple, practical, and it looks perfect with the amazing brick wall that you put up.
    I just love everything that you do.
    Thank you for the wonderful detailed instructions, and where to buy the items.
    Always soooooo impressed with your ideas. And work womanship!!!!!
    Marsha

  6. Was this an idea you saw somewhere or is it your own idea? regardless, this is really a sharp and quite functional (appearing), space saving desk and shelf idea. I might have to steal the idea for my use!! As long as you don’t mind. Great job and Thank You!!

    1. Hey Karl, Thanks so much! I have seen shelving systems used in different ways before, but this particular setup was my idea… I appreciate your compliments and good luck on your own version!