Scavenger Chic

Pallet Wood Sawhorse Desk

• By Joan
• May 28, 2015
• 8 Comments

A couple of years ago I was scavenging the internet, looking for diy projects when I came upon a super  cool pallet wood desk over at Funky Junk Interiors. Donna did a fantastic job of combining sawhorses, a ladder, pallet wood, transferred lettering and an assortment of rusty junk to make one fantastic desk. It called out to me…make me, make me.

You can see why it had my name written all over it.

I had the perfect place to put it, in a newly bought beach house which I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on furnishing.  The house had no office area but everyone liked to bring their laptops and computers, which ended up all over the dining table.

I had one little problem, I didn’t have a pair of sawhorses and I didn’t have an old ladder.  I did manage to find an old ladder in an antique store for $65 but for some reason I didn’t buy it. Maybe the $65 price tag?

Well I solved the sawhorse problem.Back in January I showed you how to make sawhorses out of pallet wood.  

I know there are tons of sawhorse plans out there, but I think mine was pretty easy and best of all it was free. It was pallet wood after all.

 Now for the top of the desk.

 Sorry, I don’t have pictures of this build in progress, but I’m pretty sure you can figure this one out.

The pallet wood was cut to size and sanded really well with a palm sander  (just the tops).  This was probably the step that took the most time.

The pallet wood was then attached to  two lengths of 2×4’s with finishing nails from the top.  The 2×4’s expand the entire length of the desk. On the front of the desk the 2×4 sits about an inch and a half from the front edge of the pallet wood.  On the back of the desk, the 2×4 is about 6 inches in from the back edge of the desk.  Can you tell that this was a salvaged piece of 2×4? Pretty, huh?

Along the sides and back of the desk, additional (well sanded) pieces of pallet wood create a ledge.  These pieces were again attached with finishing nails, this time from the bottom. That was the reason for the 2×4 so far in from the back edge..to give room to nail.

The front piece (underneath the pallet wood) is actually pieces of salvaged oak flooring, used to give the desk a little more bulk.  Of course pallet wood could be used here too. These were nailed directly to the 2×4 support.

Entire piece was then given a couple of coats of  dark walnut Varathane , the kind with the stain and polyurethane in one can. What I like about the Varathane is that it’s water cleanup…I can’t tell you how many brushes I’ve ruined not getting the polyurethane all the way out of the brush bristles and then it’s rock hard the next day.  Water cleanup is the best!

If you find that the desk has little bumps in the finish after the first coat of Varathane, try buffing it lightly with fine steel wool and wiping with a lint free rag.  Then go ahead and apply the second coat.

With a jigsaw, cut out a notch in the oak flooring trim on both ends of the desk so that the desk will sit directly on the 2×4 supports.

This was originally an unused space and now it’s a great space to set up  a couple of computers.

 I mean seriously unused space.  Where the floor is, used to be a balcony overlooking the front door.

An old ice crusher holds pens on the desktop.

Total cost for the desk and two chairs…$10.  I think the ice crusher was $12.

Shared at Think and Make Thursday, Handmade Hangout Party, Friday Favorites, Catch as Catch Can,

Furniture Feature Friday, Link Party Palooza, Funky Junk Party Junk, DIY Sunday Showcase,

Silver Pennies Sundays, Amaze me Monday, Metamorphosis Monday, Trash 2 Treasure Tuesday,

Be Inspired Tuesday, Vintage Inspiration Party, Wow us Wednesdays,

Home Matters

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