Upcycled Door =
A Desk with Personality
The upstairs landing had previously housed an open clothing closet, which did not make sense to keep. It was visually messy and not necessary, since each bedroom already had ample closet space. Leaving the niche open created an airy arrival to the vertically confined half story. I could have left the space vacant, but as I looked at the space I remembered the narrow, hollow core door we removed from the master bathroom. I had put it aside thinking I could make something out of it. I didn’t know what at the time, but now looking at this space I knew it would make a perfect desk. I rushed down stairs to measure it. It was dimensionally identical. Kismet! I love when this happens.
Only a few minor modifications were made to the door to create this desk. The hole, which held the doorknob, was left open and I used it to corral electrical wires and network cables at the back of the desk. Placing that access at the back left the hinge edge of the door exposed. The hinges were removed, but the chiseled out areas that held them needed to be replaced. Fortunately, they were easily filled with a piece of wood veneer. A piece of wood veneer, a craft knife, wood glue and a pipe clamp is all it takes to repair these areas, and in my case an Uncle Pat with a huge wood workshop. Thank you, Uncle Pat for helping me with this project.
I secured the desktop on a ledger made of pine, 1” x 3” lumber, which I screwed to the wall at the studs. I cut the boards on either side shorter than the actual depth of the desk, so the edge of the ledger boards would not be seen. I set the desktop in place and secured it with pocket-screws. To learn more about pocket-screw-joinery visit www.gottagodoityourself.com.
