Scavenger Chic

File Cabinet L Shaped Desk

• By Joan
• March 6, 2019
• 8 Comments

This is a follow up to the file cabinet makeover from last week. If you missed that last post, those file cabinets started out as ordinary, find at any thrift store, plain metal file cabinets.

When we last saw our little blue file cabinets they were just beginning to take the form of an L shaped desk. On top of the cabinets and forming our desktop  is a 4 foot by 8 foot piece of 3/4″ sanded plywood.  I had the nice folks as Home Depot slice a foot off, so it was only 7 feet long then that was sliced in half to give me two,  2×7′ foot sections of desktop. I could have done it myself but a 4×8 piece of wood does not fit in my car.

While you’re at the hardware store also stock up on enough 1×2 lumber to encircle your desk.

Those white  legs are only temporary but homeowner Kevin (2nd son) doesn’t want to use them.  He would like the file cabinet on the right to go where those legs are now standing.  Back to my storage room they will go.

A little refresher, the blue file cabinets were a thrift store find that got their makeover last week.  You can find the DIY for their transformation here.

I left my son’s house with the temporary desk in place. The desk couldn’t be used unless we could come up with something to hold up the corner.

Shutters to the rescue.  Does this count as one more shutter project?  The corner consists of just one shutter chopped in half.  I removed a couple of slats on the bottom of each half so I could insert the thicker end piece of the shutter.  It makes it look like 2 complete halves instead of shutters that were just chopped off in the middle which is what they really are.

The shutters are nailed to each other and I used a deck spindle for a little more support in the corner.

The one foot piece of plywood that was cut off the original 8 foot board I’m using as a color board.  You can see exactly how the stain will take to the wood because this is the wood we’ll be using on the desk top.  Stain does look a little different depending on how porous a board is and how much grain there is so you can’t always go by the color on the can.

Kevin chose the “stain” all the way on the left.  This is actually the vintage wax I often use over top of chalk paint.  The advantage of using the wax is that I don’t have to polyurethane or varnish after applying, the wax is the finish.

We decided to do a 45 degree cut for the corner.  Overlap the boards first to determine where they’ll meet and mark a straight line.  Cut with a circular saw.

Sand any rough edges.

Along all the edges attach the  1×2 lumber, mitering the corners.  Match up the top edges and use (hopefully) a nailgun to attach.  Of course you can use a hammer and finish nails, but the nailgun is so quick and easy.

The 1×2 not only hides the edges of the plywood, it gives the plywood strength and it also prevents the plywood from bowing.

A 4×4 is currently holding up the front corner of the desk. The 4×4 can be screwed on from the top.  Countersink the screws and cover with wood putty.

I’m not sure if the 4×4 or the shutter will be permanent, there is some talk (and not by me!) of making a built in cabinet for that area of the desk.

This is just one coat of vintage wax.  After the vintage wax had a chance to dry, the desk got two more coats of clear wax followed by a little buffing with fine steel wool.

A sturdy and fully functioning desk and it all began with a couple of file cabinets.

I had to take the pictures quick before it got cluttered with papers, coffee cups, afternoon snacks….

Desk made from File Cabinets

For a little more inspiration, this was the last file cabinet desk I made for my youngest son.  Until next time…

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