When my daughter wanted a place where she could do homework, store supplies and display her many art projects, I set to work creating this desk, which is large enough to meet all of those criteria yet small enough to fit in any bedroom. Its classic design will serve her purposes for many years in both form and function.

Don’t let the long list of parts intimidate you: Simple joinery and straightforward construction make this a project that even a beginning woodworker can build. Because I intended to paint the desk white, I used birch plywood and 3/4-in.-thick solid poplar. However, you can substitute any furniture-grade wood and apply any finish you like.

Top cabinet and desktop
Dadoes and rabbets serve to align and join the plywood panels that make the top- and bottom-cabinet assemblies. Refer to the illustration on p. 12 to lay out the locations of the dadoes and rabbets on the top-cabinet panels. Cut the dadoes and rabbets with a router and a straight bit. The width of the dadoes and rabbets must equal the thickness of the plywood.

Drill the shelf-pin holes in the topcabinet sides (X and Y) before assembling the panels; a drill won’t fit between those parts after they’re joined together.

Assemble the top-cabinet panels with glue. Square up the assembly and attach the top-cabinet back (AA) with glue and 3/4-in.-long narrowcrown staples.

Make the edging pieces for the desktop and top cabinet (U, V, BB and CC) and the top-cabinet trim pieces (DD through GG). Attach the edging and trim with glue and 1-1/2-in. brad nails (photo 1).

Corkboard and frame
The corkboard is framed with molding pieces (HH and II) that are made from 3/4 x 2-1/2-in. poplar. Rout a 1/8-in.-radius edge bead along the top outside edge and then cut a 3/4-in.- wide x 1/4-in.-deep rabbet in the bottom inside edge. Miter-cut the frame pieces to length.

The frame is captured within the top cabinet and desktop, so the miters should be strong enough with only glue holding them together and no added reinforcement. I chose to create floating tenons in each miter because it makes the alignment and assembly easier. Do not glue the corkboard to the frame.

Corkboard is sold in a variety of thicknesses. The type that I purchased is slightly thicker than 1/2 in., requiring me to use spacers behind the frame pieces. Glue the spacers to the back of the frame.

Insert the corkboard and attach the corkboard frame to the topcabinet back after the cabinets and frame have been painted. Drive 3/4-in. washer-head screws through the upper back panel to attach the corkboard frame.

Legs
Glue and clamp together two 3/4-in.- thick pieces of stock to make each leg blank (the rough pieces that each leg will be cut from). The final width of each leg is 1-1/2 in., but it’s easiest to make the leg blanks slightly oversize and then rip them to the final width. This way the edges don’t have to be perfectly aligned when you glue up the blank. However, it is important to keep the pieces parallel so that you have a single edge that can ride against the table saw fence.

The legs feature a tapered foot. Use a router to cut the top shoulder of the feet (photo 2). Make a template (see Detail 4 in the illustration) to lay out the curved taper on each foot (photo 3). Use a band saw to cut the tapers; then clean up the saw marks with a sander. Finally, use a router and a 1/8-in.-radius roundover bit to ease all four edges of the leg.

The leg panels are centered between the outside faces of the legs. I used a Festool Domino machine to cut mortises for floating tenons that join the legs to the legs panels, but a router would do the job. As an alternative, you could attach the panels to the legs using dowels or pocket screws. (If you use pocket screws, you will have to fill the holes that are exposed on the inside of the left panel.)

Apply glue to the joint and clamp the front and back legs to the side panels (photo 4). The leg-panel trim pieces (C) feature a bead profile on the outside edge. Make the trim pieces (photos 5 and 6) and attach one to the bottom of each leg panel.

Bottom cabinet
The bottom cabinet is assembled similarly to the top cabinet. Refer to the illustrations to lay out and cut the 3/4-in.-wide x 1/4-in.-deep dadoes and rabbets in the bottom-cabinet panels (D through J). Assemble the panels, square the assembly and attach the bottom-cabinet back (K) with 3/4-in. narrow-crown staples. The side edges of the back panel should be flush with the side edges of the bottom cabinet. Make and attach the front edging pieces (N through R). Attach the back rail (L) and back cleat (M) to the back panel with glue, and drive 3/4-in. narrow-crown staples through the back panel.

Next, attach the leg assemblies to the bottom cabinet. Attach plywood spacers (S) to the inside of the leg assemblies to fill the gap between the side panels and the side of the bottom cabinet. I used two 1/4-in. plywood spacers to fill the 3/8-in. gap because the actual thickness of my plywood was 3/16 in. You may have to improvise and use another combination of materials to fill this gap. Position the spacers flush with the top and bottom edges of the bottom cabinet. Align the back of the leg assembly flush with the back of the bottom cabinet. Attach the leg assemblies to the bottom-cabinet sides (photo 7).

Drawers
The drawer-box corners feature rabbet-and-dado corner joints, and the drawer bottom fits in a dado cut in the front, back and sides. I cut these joints using a table saw and dado blade set (see "Make a Drawer Box" in Web Extras), but you can achieve similar results using a router and a 1/4-in.-dia. straight bit.

Temporarily position the top cabinet on the base, and mount the drawer boxes and epoxy-coated rolling drawer slides in the bottom cabinet (photo 8). Then attach the drawer faces with 1-in. wood screws and finish washers. Finally, bore a pilot hole for the drawer pull in the center of each drawer face. Remove the drawer faces, slides and pulls before applying finish.

Finishing
I finished the drawer boxes with clear satin polyurethane and painted the cabinet assemblies and drawer faces with one coat of primer and two coats of satin interior paint.

After the finish has cured, secure the front edge of the desktop by driving 1-1/4-in. screws through the top of the drawer openings, and secure the cabinet backs with figure-eight washers (photo 9). Do not use any glue when attaching the top and bottom so that you will be able to take them apart if you need to transport the desk.


Click to download Plans and Material List:
Desk Plans