Sewing Desks

On the basement project list is to make a U shape craft desk. Last weekend, Burke and I got 2/3 of the project completed and I love it! I found the plans from Ana White's website. In this particular project, she teamed up with Jillian from I am a homemaker.com. I really benefited from Jillian's great description of her build for the cabinets. I modified the plans a bit. :)

In total, I have 5 machines and I wanted a work bench big enough for all 5. Can you believe it? Who has 5 machines? This gal! AND ... they are ALL Brother machines, except for the cute little 1972 Kenmore (green one) I found for $20 at Salvation Army.

I really liked this desk design, but if I had to do it over again - I would design it with corner cabinets and not in rectangle modules. I am a beginner at this though so live and learn.

Burke and I started our journey with a trip to Fingerle Lumber in Ann Arbor.

Then we cut all the lumber according to the cut list.

I wanted 2 cabinets, one for each desk.

First mistake, when the guy says, "Is it okay that it's not exactly a 2 x 2? Say no. You can see the top trim piece - you can see how it's wider than the legs.

I bought spindle legs at Lowes for the opposite end of the desk for about $15/each.

Mistake number 2. Never use caulk to seal wood products, especially when you bought some lovely birch. *Sigh*

Check and double check squareness. These were my very first drawers and I had a heck of time - but they turned out pretty dang square.

Mistake #3 ...wait, no - related still to mistake #1. Because of the shorter 2 x 2, I had to double up the back otherwise my drawers came out past the back.

And so, I painted. It took me a whole weekend to get the painting done. I put several coats of paint on everything.

Burke and I used 1x4's to join it all together using my fabulous pocket jig. I didn't take a picture of it, but we reinforced the corners with cross pieces.

Now, for the countertop. Burke's sister Aileen gave us 4 boxes of cedar when we first moved into our house. I finally got to use them!

We took three 1x8's and joined them together by pocket screws and glue. The we took the thin layers of cedar and nailed them on top.

Using left over fake 2x2's, I reinforced the counter and will use them to join them to the outer edge of the desk. We cut those 2x2's to fit exactly inside the desk and they fit like a glove.

It was super solid. Burke sat on it and it didn't budge. Plus, we can disassemble it easily and move it if we had to.

And viola!

My basement smells amazing because of the wonderful cedar. I sanded them lightly and the top is super smooth.

The corner is reinforced for my monster embroidery machine.

I really love the nice wide area to move my chair between machines and the space for all 5 machines.

Not gonna lie ..... the drawers were a bear. Putting the slides in took nearly a weekend on their own. Lots of adjustments and sanding down to make them fit. The top ones work great - the bottom ones are stiff.  They work - but it takes effort.

The whole project took 3 weekends total and the cost was around $250.  I love that all my machines have their place and can be used quite easily. Mistakes were made, but they are my mistakes and were made with love. I really couldn't be happier.

Now on to the cutting table!