I know it's a little silly that I am posting these photos now, seeing as it has been over a year since this desk was built. But I figured this labor of love still deserved a feech, tardy or not, and also figured that some of you might consider building furniture yourselves in the future, and would want a little peek into the process. Let me start by saying, this was the first large piece of furniture I had EVER built, so it took a long long time to complete. But the hours spent routing and sanding and staining were worth it in the end because they allowed me to build a work station that is 100% customized to my needs as an artist and 100% customized to my own taste. When you build things yourself, you don't have to worry that it's not quite your style, or won't fit into your home (style-wise, or measurement-wise). You get to plan every feature- every edge, the curvature of every table leg, the color and intensity of the stain, a glossy or matte finish- you name it! You get to be a kid in your own D.I.Y. candy store! It's sort of amazing. But did I mention, it's A LOT of work.
So D and I began building our own desks with the help of our trusty, 75-year-old carpenter friend, Chuck. Chuck is this amazing renaissance man when it comes to building things. You name it- he's built it. And he's not content with just a wood glue-and-nail combo, oh no, he insists that you use artisan dado techniques, which means you literally create joints that fit together like puzzle pieces. The entire desk could actually fit together without any adhesive or nails and stay together! Amazing!
So without further adieu, here is the finished piece, complete with a secret compartment within one of the drawers, a skinny pencil drawer, and a special full-extension drawer to fit my custom paper trimmer. Also, it was built for a smaller person (me!), at just 27 inches tall, so no knee or back problems sustained from long hours in front of a monitor! Hooray!
