In my house we have a formal dining room but we have turned it into my craft room. We have been remodeling it this past two months and I am loving the changes that we have done. In this formal dining room, there is a little nook that is about two feet deep and 4 feet wide. This space has been a struggle for me, I have never really known what to do with it We made it work but it wasn’t super pretty or functional. I decided that it was time to make the nook pretty AND functional. So we put in a built in desk with some shelves and a cabinet. I wanted to make the space look good whether it be an office/craft room or a dining room. It’s a nice place to store things in but also a nice work space. I love it so much and I’m so glad that we built a built in desk, it works perfectly for the space.
This is what the nook looked like before. We had some 2×4 feet shelves that were in our garage when we moved in and since it fit in the space we used it. Then I put up a tension rod and curtain to hide the craft supplies behind it. It didn’t look too bad… good enough for us for a couple years.
This is what it looked like behind the curtain, yikes!! And this is how it looked when I organized and cleaned it, so it rarely even looked like this. Usually the curtain would hide it BUT then we got a couple kittens and they would not leave it alone and pulled it down. Basically it just looked awful 95% of the time, so it was time to make a change.
When I was designing the built in desk, I decided that I wanted a pantry cabinet in there because they are big and deep and I can store a lot of things in it. I figure that the cabinet made it feel like a dining room too, so it works for both a office space or a dining room. I picked this cabinet because it was 90″ tall instead of the standard 84″ and thought it would look better with our 9 foot ceilings. I also liked the look of the doors on it.
The first thing I did when I got the cabinet is painted it white. I used Pro Classic paint from Sherwin Williams in a factory white and semi gloss. I did two coats of primer and then two coats of the Pro Classic. To see a full tutorial on how to paint cabinets white, check out this post.
Once the cabinet was all painted white, it was time to put it into the nook. We decided not to remove the baseboards, so we got 1/2″ thick pieces of hardwood to anchor the cabinet into the wall. First we screwed the boards onto the wall and then screwed the cabinet into the boards using cabinet screws.
Now for the built in desk and built in shelves. Using primed white 1×2 boards, we screwed (and nailed) three pieces into the wall and the side of the cabinet. We used a nail gun and finishing nails to nail the board into the studs and the cabinet. We used 1 1/2″ finishing nails when we nailed it into the studs and then 1 1/4″ nails when we nailed it into the cabinet. If we couldn’t find a stud, we used drywall anchors and screws. For the desk, we put it at 30″ from the ground.
Then we cut 3/4″ melamine board for the desk top. Then we started on the built in shelves. The first shelf is 24 inches away from the desk and 12 inches deep.
We added another shelf about 15 inches above the bottom shelf. We put them on the same way as the desk.
Now for the trim, we used a 1×3″ bull nose board that is 1/2″ thick. We then nailed the trim onto the desk. The trim makes a big difference!
We did this the same thing on the shelves.
We then put the doors back onto the cabinets. Now the desk, shelves and cabinet are in!
Using wood filler and caulk, I filled in all the holes and cracks. I used wood filler for the nail holes (and bigger cracks) and then caulk for the edges.
Then using the same paint as the cabinet, I painted the shelves and desk.
And that’s it!! Doesn’t it look so much better than before?!
Here is it at a different angle.
The desk and shelves are perfect for a little work space for me (or for my kids) and then I am storing my Silhouette machines on the shelves for easy access. And the pantry cabinet is perfect for lots and lots of craft supplies.
I am loving the built in desk!
And the built in shelves are great too!
Check out the rest of my craft room!
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