I am so excited to say that the built in’s are finally done! This project took me way longer than it needed to because for once I was letting myself complete as I wished rather than rushing through it. I have to say it was kind of nice. I shared the plan and mood board for this project last month and ironically it as just in time for the boys to be finishing up school for summer break! I am going to have to get some workbooks for each of them to get some use out of these desks.
Let me break down each portion of this project and give you all of the sources as well.
The main objective of this project was to remove clutter and create an area that could house all of my boys school things, electronics and yet still appear to be something that did not. I started out by removing everything and creating a “built-in buffet” with cabinets I got from Lowe’s.
I went with two 36″ wide base unfinished cabinets that had drawers on the top to be able to create the desk portions of this build. The bottom cabinet was going to house backpacks and other miscellaneous items. I then flanked those cabinets with 18″ wide drawers cabinets making for a total length of 108″ wide.
After I leveled and secured them to each other and to the studs in the back wall, I decided to make things a little more difficult on myself and attempt to creat rounded corners on both ends. I thought this would be a great way to make it look more like a piece of furniture rather than stock cabinets. In order to create a curved edge, I needed to kerf my wood. Basically the dumbed down explanation for kerfing is to make a ton of notches/grooves with your table saw into your wood the length of the area you want it to curve. Creating these gaps gives the wood room to bend.
The main reason for this build, like I said prior, was to have a workspace for my two boys. The modifications I did to the base cabinets were pretty simple. I removed the drawer fronts on the two 36″ cabinets and cut out the front portion of those drawers. I then reattached the drawer front using a butt hinge and added a magnet closure so it could stay closed, and pull down when accessing the “desk”. These drawers now were able to function as workspaces for my boys and we keep their laptops, tablets and other electronics inside here.
Once I had those curved edges secure to the edges of the cabinets I was ready for finish work. (I secured the kerfed wood with wood glue and clamps, the tape helped as well)
I used Bondo Wood Filler, to create a seamless look between all of the cabinets and the curved wood I added. I sanded them down and was ready for paint.
After all the prep work I was done, I was ready to prime this unfinished wood first. I partnered with Dunn Edwards DURA and used their Wood Primer to give a good base coat for the color I would be painting next. After that dried I went on to the color.
I painted the cabinets a beautiful blue/green color call Unchanted Eve from Dunn Edwards DURA. This paint had really gtreat coverage that only required one coat. I followed up with a Polyurethane top coat.
Once the paint cured I added the hardware and it was time for the wood posts and the countertops. I added a 4×4 post on either side of the cabinets that I joined together with a 2×10 going across the top. I thought this would be a perfect frame/border for the tile I had planned for above the built ins.
The other thing you can see is the countertops I made. I decided to go with a chevron pattern that V’d out from the middle using a mix of 1x2s, 1x3s and 1x4s. I glued them on a piece of 1/2″plywood and tacked in place with a pin nailer. I capped the edge with a 1×2 to make it look bigger and then sanded and wood filler any gaps. I stained it all with one coat of Minwax Special Walnut followed by a coat of Dark Walnut. Lastly, I applied 3 coats of Polyurethane doing a light 600 grit sanding between coats.
Once I got to this point, it was time to fix the back wall between the two 4×4 posts. I decided to go with a tile from my curated collection with Tile Club, the Sultana Celeste tile. Since this was a larger tile it made for a much quicker install. I love how it appears to be a small tile though.
The final piece to this puzzle was to add a floating shelf. I made an 8ft long wood shelf made from sanded plywood. I assembled these with only wood glue and made a brace to hang it from 2x4s.
Now finally I was ready to decorate! I have been wanting to keep things on the simpler side lately. So I just went with a vine made from faux stems and a few candlesticks on the opposite side.
This has been such a fun project to complete and has improved the organization in our dining room. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below and the budget breakdown is below. In full disclosure I did collaborate with Dunn Edwards DURA so the paint was at no cost to me and I used tile from my collection so that was gifted as well.
Budget Breakdown:
- Cabinets: Drawers x2 $358, 36″ cabinets x2 $298
- Primer $42 Paint $27
- Wood for beams $36 & kerfed sides $23
- Hardware bars $21, knobs $20
- Tile $500, Mortar $51 & Grout $15
- Shelf $41
- Vines $39
- Countertop $51
Total: $1,522
Overall, this was well worth it to me in order to bring function and beauty to our home.
