Charleston, SC & surrounding areas

843-513-2528
Belican Builds.

§ Had to mullet over.

Big L Desk

A personal L-shaped desk built from birch plywood and pine, designed around having two things to do and not enough room to do them.

Big L Desk Fig. — cover

I had two things happening at my desk: a day job and music. They were fighting over the same surface. That is not a hard problem to solve if you are willing to build the right tool for the job.

Before

Desk before
Fig. Desk before

Build

Felix supervising the build
Fig. Felix supervising the build
Felix is a half a bubble off plumb, but the desk isn’t.

After

I built an L-shape. Day job on the left, music on the right. Each side has enough room to spread out without crowding the other.

The top is birch plywood with the edges left exposed. I did not try to hide what it is. The grain at the edge tells you exactly what you are looking at. The legs are 4x4 pine, cleaned up on the table saw and sanded to 220 grit. Three coats of satin polyurethane on everything.

Desk after
Fig. Desk after

Exposed plywood edge detail
Fig. Exposed plywood edge detail

Music side of the desk
Fig. Music side of the desk

Details

  • Birch plywood top with exposed edges
  • 4x4 pine legs, cleaned up on the table saw, sanded to 220 grit
  • Three coats satin polyurethane
  • L-shape layout with dedicated zones for work and music