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bedroom, Build It, Chalkboard paint, desk, Furniture, hanging shelves, Home Tour, Kids Room, painting, Tutorial, Upcycling

Wall-Mounted Desk Tutorial

Need a desk but lack floor space or the funds to buy a desk? This Wall-Mounted Desk tutorial will meet your needs! Plus, you can customize the length to meet your needs.

Wall Mounted Desk Tutorial

Hey, I hope you had a fabulous weekend! Was it productive? Full of DIY activities? Well, I’m back with a tutorial for building a wall-mounted desk. The great thing about a desk that is wall-mounted is it can be small or large and it won’t take up any floor space! This gives a nice clean look and makes the room feel larger. Plus, the materials will almost certainly cost less than buying a desk.

My son is starting to have more homework in school. (I didn’t realize that first grade was the new 3rd grade!) I figured soon enough he’s going to need a spot to sit and work on homework. Plus, he’s an avid Lego builder and this makes a great surface for him to build on.

Materials:

Finish grade plywood (my desktop is 16″ x 40″)
Painter’s Tape
1 – 2″ x 4″ x 93″
2 – 9.5″ x 9.5″ bird’s mouth brackets
4 – 3″ cabinet mounting screws
Paint
Paint brush
Drill
Drill bits
Level
Pencil

Instructions:

Begin by assessing where you want to mount your desk. For better perspective, you can outline the desk area with painter’s tape on the floor.

Cut your finish grade plywood to size. Using the Kreg Rip Saw with my miter saw is much easier than hauling out the table saw and getting as assistant to help lift the plywood. If you put a piece of rigid foam insulation underneath, you can cut almost anywhere! Just set your saw blade depth slightly below the plywood.

Cut your 2″x4″ stud 4″ narrower than the length of your desk top surface. (My desktop is 40″ long, therefore my mounting stud is 36″ long.) Locate the studs in your wall. Mark their location.

Pre-drill holes in the mounting board at the stud locations. Use a small bit slightly narrower than your screws. Then use a larger bit the width of your screw head to create a countersink hole. Drive the cabinet mounting screws into one end of the mounting board and into the stud. Use a level to make sure your mounting board is level, then drive the additional mounting screws into the other studs.

Cut two pieces of 2″x4″ at 8″ long. These will create the supports for the shelf brackets. For a clean look, bevel the end at a 45 degree angle when you cut them. Attach the 2″ x 4″ pieces below each end of the mounting board as shown below.

Your mounting boards should look like this:

Set two small screws into the shelf bracket keyholes. Line the bracket up with the top of the mounting board and center it on the vertical supports already attached to the wall. Make a pencil mark where the screws need to be set.

Use the pencil to mark the depth of the keyholes on the screws so you know how deep to drive the screws into the bracket support.

Attach the small screws to the vertical support where the pencil marks were and drive them to the point where you marked on each screw.

Slip the bracket onto the screws.

For added support, pre-drill one hole through the top of the bracket and into the mounting board. Pre-drill a second hole through the bird’s eye bracket at the narrowest point.

Drive screws into the two pre-drilled holes to further secure the shelf brackets to the mounting boards.

Repeat for the second bracket.

Lay your desktop surface on top of the brackets. You can either drive small screws through the top of the desk and into the mounting board. Or drive a small screw up through the underside of the bracket and into the desktop. I prefer the latter because you won’t have to wood putty the desk surface.

Wood putty all your holes. Allow the putty to dry and sand the putty smooth. Paint your brackets, mounting boards, and desktop. I chose to paint my desktop beforehand with a chalkboard surface.

Let the paint dry. If you want to protect the desk surface, you may choose to paint a few coats of polycrylic on top.

And my son has a spot to do homework, legos, or create a little book.

Don’t you just love his lego pencil holder he created?! I think he needs to start an Etsy store ;-).

I had fun decorating the wall with some vintage signs and an adorable London themed tea towel calendar from Spoonflower. Making tea towel calendars every year in November/December has been a tradition I started over a year ago. We anxiously await the release of the newest calendar designs on Spoonflower.

Source List:

Lumber from Lowe’s
Wooden corbels found here
Nickel Lamp from Ikea
Chair from a Craig’s List (similar chairs at Target)
Exit sign from Hobby Lobby
Vintage “G” from Hobby Lobby
Tea Towel calendar from Spoonflower
White star (forgot, I’ve had it so long)
Wall (& desk) paint color: Benjamin Moore Aura custom gray color: Base 1: 524-1x Gallon size S1 0 x 16.75 | Y2 0 x 1 | O1 0 x .50

I hope you found this tutorial helpful. It was an easy solution for my son’s room. Best of all, you can expand the width, but if you do add more brackets.

Pin for later!

If you liked this tutorial, you might also like this inexpensive desktop for $40!

May 19, 2014/20 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

arts and craft, bedroom, Build It, Chalkboard paint, desk, painting, Painting & Antiquing Techniques, priming, Trash to Treasure, Tutorial

How to Make a Chalkboard Surface Desk

As part of the makeover of my son’s bedroom, I wanted to create a fun chalkboard desk surface for him to write and build legos on. The idea of a chalkboard coated surface came to me when I remembered how much he liked the mini-chalkboard decals that used to be on his room wall.

Creating a chalkboard surface on any desk or flat surface couldn’t be easier with the right tools. Here’s how you can create your own chalkboard desk!

Materials:

3M fine grit sanding block
Valspar High-Hiding Primer tinted gray
Rustoleum chalkboard paint
2″ paint brush
Foam brush
Small craft paintbrush
Desk surface (I used pre-cut finish grade plywood)
ScotchBlue painter’s Tape
General Finishes Water-based sealer (or satin Minwax Polycrylic)

Instructions:

Begin by lightly sanding your desktop with the sanding block. Wipe any dust off with a damp rag.

Paint one coat of primer on your desktop surface. (A little note about my primer: I asked the Lowe’s paint department to tint it as dark as they could with black colorant. This helps when you are painting over the primer with a dark color.)

After the primer has dried, create a border on your desktop with painter’s tape. Press the edges down firmly with your fingers. Paint one coat of chalkboard paint with the paint brush. Brush the paint in one direction. Let that layer dry. Repeat with a second coat brushing across the original strokes (i.e. vertical then horizontal.) Read more

May 16, 2014/3 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

Bed, bedroom, Build It, DIY, Furniture, Kids Room, Ladder, painting, Painting & Antiquing Techniques, stain

A Blue Loft Bed for My Son

Guys and Gals, I am here today to tell you that you can build a loft bed for your child! However, unlike most of the tutorials you find on my site, building this loft bed is not one of them. Instead, loads of gratitude goes to Ana White and her fabulous plans for building a loft bed. You can follow her plans for the build. I assure you, they are detailed and easy to follow.

The only modification I made to the plans was to move the ladder to the foot of the bed instead of the side. What I will show you is how to color stain the bed blue in two simple steps. I’m absolutely in love with the Minwax Express Color wiping stains. They go on super easily, and clean up is a snap with soap and water. Then you seal it as easily as you stained it. Coolest product EVER!

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Materials:

Read more

May 9, 2014/6 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

accessories, art, bedroom, decor, Decorating, light fixture, moulding

Ceiling Mounted Art – How to Hang Spheres & Lanterns

Hanging Ceiling Art | Spheres & Lanterns | Pretty Handy Girl

It’s Monday, and I have a cure for the Monday doldrums! Let’s hang some fun colorful spheres and lanterns to lift your spirits!

I came up with a great way to hang lanterns and spheres from the ceiling (regardless of where the studs were.) Plus, I reduced the holes from 7 down to 4 in the ceiling.

This is a simple project, here’s what you’ll need:

Materials:

1 – 8′ long slim piece of flat moulding painted with ceiling paint
Tape measure
Pin
Pencil
Drill with drill bits
2″ wood screws
Cup hooks
Finishing line
Paper lanterns and a sphere (or other objects to hang)
Scissors
Touch up ceiling paint
Small paint brush

Instructions:

Start by determining where you want to hang your art. Begin by knocking on the ceiling (or use a stud finder) to determine where your first stud is. Gently insert the pin until it stops (indicating a stud there.) Read more

May 5, 2014/4 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

bedroom, Before and After, dark wood, Furniture, Home Decor, Kids Room, painting, Painting & Antiquing Techniques, priming, ReNew, storage, Tutorial, Upcycling

An Easy Way to Add Color to a Dresser {Lowe’s Creative Idea}

Easy Added Color to a Dresser | Pretty Handy Girl

Adding color to dresser drawers is definitely an easy way to add a pop of color to an otherwise boring piece of furniture. Add some new knobs and your dresser will look like a new piece of furniture! (Tutorial for creating custom knobs coming soon.)

You could say that I finally got that Kick in the Pants I needed to start working on my son’s room. One makeover I had in mind was giving his dresser a pop of color. The top and sides of the dresser were in great shape and it has a tough laminate top. Instead of painting the entire dresser, I decided to paint only the drawers because — knowing my little guy — he would have it scratched up in no time.

Materials:

Pencil
Sanding block
Damp rag
Screwdriver
Primer
Paint brushes
3 Valspar Sample paints {white, red and match Symphony Blue by Benjamin Moore}
Optional: ScotchBlue Painter’s Tape

Instructions:

Start by removing clothing from the drawers. Then firmly pull the drawers all the way out. Some drawers have a clip at the end, just pull straight toward you. Others may require you to lift up on the front to release the drawers from the track. Mark the inside of the drawer so you know which slot to return it to.