This simple, modern laptop desk is easy to build and is a great way to take advantage of an unused nook! My girlfriend, Eden, and I live in a small, one-bedroom apartment, which means that we only have a couple spots in the apartment where we can read or work on our laptops. I was craving a third space, and we don’t take full advantage of our cozy, bright bedroom. Eden recently moved our bed which created this great nook right next to the window. One day last week, I realized that this nook has the just enough space for a small desk with the perfect tabletop area to work comfortably on our laptops. So in a state of pure excitement, I immediately got to designing on AutoCAD 😊
The basic design is simple – a small cantilever desk with a cubby below the work surface where we can stow our laptops, mouse, a couple notebooks, etc. Size and functionality-wise, this is basically a modern-looking DIY school desk 😉.
The desk is made of ½” plywood, and you can get all five pieces from a single sheet with plenty of room to spare. I drive a little Hyundai Accent, and can’t fit a full sheet of plywood in the back, so I made sure that you can also get all of the pieces from a sheet of plywood cut into thirds.
All of the pieces are held together with glue and screws. Since the screwheads are highly visible in this desk, I wanted to highlight them as a design element. I spaced them uniformly at 4 inches, and inset them at ¼” from the edge. The screws in the top are aligned with the screws in the side, which creates a really cool effect! Kind of reminds me of @Giaco Whatever airplane wing desk… maybe a source of inspiration?
I hand sanded the desk up to 220 grit before finishing it with wipe-on satin polyurethane. If I were to change anything about this project, I would use a smoother finish. Satin poly has a bit of a texture to it, and I like having a really smooth tabletop.
In the end, I’m really happy with how this desk turned out. Spending a lot of time iterating through a few designs on AutoCAD really paid off – the desk has a clean, modern and semi-industrial look. But, more so than how it looks, this desk has really transformed our apartment. Having the ability to work in our bedroom with its abundant natural light, beautiful macramé plant hanger (by Eden) and quiet, relaxing vibe is an absolute gamechanger. When we only had a kitchen table or couch to work on (and in the same room, mind-you), it didn’t take long to feel cooped-up and need to escape to a café. While this is a simple project, it essentially doubled the working space in our one-bedroom apartment. It’s the small luxuries that really make a difference!
Thanks for watching :)
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