If you’re looking for a home office project, this one could be for you. This wrap-around desk will give you some great workspace and an individual look.
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You’ll need these materials:
- 2 – short filing cabinets of equal height
- 1 piece – 4’x8′ of 3/4″ double-faced plywood.
- 1 or 2 table/trunk latches.
- 4 pieces – 1/2″ radius quarter round trim, 18″ long.
- Metal Strapping or Corner Brace
- Paint or Stain
- Polyurethane
- 12 feet of real wood edging with heat-sensitive glue on the back (optional)
And these tools:
- Jigsaw
- Screwdriver
- Circular Saw and Long Straightedge (optional)
- Clothes Iron (optional)
- Sandpaper of varying grits
- Paintbrush/Drop Cloth
Steps to make a DIY wrap-around desk:
To start with your wrap-around desk project, make the long diagonal cut all the way through the sheet from a point 2 feet from the corner along one long side to a point 2 feet from the opposite corner along the other long side. (it’s the long straight cut diagonally side-to-side in the drawing) Use a circular saw with a long straightedge clamped into place, if you have such. The straighter, the better.
2) If you have a long enough cutting blade for your jigsaw, clamp the two pieces of the wrap-around desk together, lining up all the sides (rotate the top cut piece 180 degrees to line up with the bottom piece)
3) Using a pencil on a non-stretchy 12″ string and anchoring the string at point “A” in the diagram, draw an arc from the short edge of the sheet around about 120 degrees. Point “A” is 18″ from the (previously) long side of the sheet, and 12″ from the end. (see drawing)
4) Lengthening the string to 18″, draw an arc centred at point “B” in the diagram from the edge you just cut around until it meets the other arc centred on point “A”. Point B is 6″ from the shortest edge of the quadrilateral you’re left with after the diagonal cut, and on the cut diagonal edge (actually 30″ from the end of the sheet). (see drawing)
5) Cut along the long curved line you just drew.
6) Take the pieces left over and cut a 12″x30″ shape and a 12″x12″ right triangle shape from them, in the manner shown on the diagram, outlined in orange and blue respectively. These will form the corner support stand.
Trim the long leftover rectangular pieces to the height of your filing cabinets, in my case, 29″ tall. You want the final height of the stand to be the same as your filing cabinets.
Use glue and screws to assemble the corner support of the wrap-around desk in the picture shown. I used 1.25″ drywall screws, just because I had them around. Since you’re screwing into the edge of the plywood, pilot holes are a good idea. These are all just lap joints, nothing fancy. It’s not very visible anyway.
Clamp the two halves of the wrap-around desk top together again and sand the edges to try to make them as symmetrical as you can. I used a mini-drum sander bit for my electric drill, but sandpaper on a curved surface should work well, if slower.
Orient the top pieces of the wrap-around desk in the way they will be assembled (one top piece has to flip over and join with the other at the diagonal cut). Mark or somehow assign which is the top side and sand with progressively finer grits of sandpaper until it’s as smooth as you like it. You may wish to sand the bottom to a medium fineness—the stain applies easier to a smoother surface.
If you want the edges to match the top, apply the wood edging to the exposed edges with a heat source, either a clothes iron or (possibly—I didn’t try this) a curling iron. The curved surface of the curling iron may work better on the concave curves.
I really liked the look of the coloured stain for this, so I chose a blue-tinted Minwax stain. I stained the bottom sides first, then the tops, and repeated for a total of 2 coats on each side.
I then applied 3-4 coats of water-based polyurethane, sanding between each step. I poly’d each of the surfaces which would be seen, including the “front” of the corner support stand.
Note: I did not then nor have I yet attached the desktops to the corner support. I had planned to do it, but when I place my monitor on the desk in the corner, with the file cabinets in place, nothing seemed to move, so I didn’t bother. Feel free to attach them if you wish – I’d use 1.25″ screws from the bottom.
Turn the desktops face down on the floor, and diagonal cuts together. Place the two-piece latches, closed, on the joint and mark and drill pilot holes for their screws. Be careful not to drill through the top side. Attach the latches. Unhook them and separate the pieces.
Place the corner support in the corner and the file cabinets on either side of the corner in their approximate positions. Place each desktop half, top side up, where it’s supposed to go supported by the file cabinets and corner support. Latch the two halves together with the latches you just installed above. Hopefully, both halves will move as one now.
Line up the file cabinets along each wall, maybe moving them 1-2 inches out from the wall to allow cords and such to go behind them. Put them under the fattest part of the outer curves and mark the undersides along the sides of the cabinets.
Unlatch the desktop halves and turn them over. Align the pieces of the quarter round along those marks, flat sides toward the underside of the desktops and toward the filing cabinets. Make sure they’re short enough to not be seen when the wrap-around desk is right-side-up. Pilot drill and screw them down with 1″ screws.
Place the desktops back up on the cabinets where they belong and latch them together. You most likely need a little more support in the middle right under your arms since the latches are the only things holding the top together and they occasionally become uneven.
I used a corner bracket screwed into each side. In elegant perhaps, but each half is level with the other and there is plenty of support for my hands, keyboard, forearms, yada yada yada.
The wrap-around desk is ready to use – enjoy. I have. Mine has been great, even with my honking big desk chair (see picture). The centre sitting area is about 32″ wide – plenty of room in general, and there is a metric buttload of deskspace to fill up
Here’s a great tip: If you want an easy cord pass-through of the desktop, you can cut the tip of the corner off each desktop half prior to staining. Enjoy!
Thanks to themostbob for this great project.
