Anyone ever done something like this?

[ABQmom]

http://www.diyideas.com/images/pdf/pp_doubledesk.pdf

 

 

I think this desk is so cool! Dh and I are thinking of turning our living room into a place for the kids to do their school work, and we came across the above desk. If you haven't done something like the above, then have you made your own desk or storage space?

[Irishmommy]

OH, that is REALLY cute! Can you build me one too? It's like their own little cubbie spot for learning!

[Irishmommy]

We converted half of our garage into a school room (okay, well we hired someone to do it for us - my dh is diy-phobic). We love the converted garage (we just put up a wall, cut a window for an a/c unit and a door to the garage part, carpeted it and bam - school room). It has encouraged us to get rid of lots of stuff we didn't need and has given all my school stuff a home that is not all over my home.:)

[amydavis]

I have never done anything like that, but I love it! That is just the cutest idea! Too bad I don't seem to have one bit of building skill... :glare:

[birchbark]

LOVE IT! Thanks for posting.

[1bassoon]

Oooh - I want to make this! Thanks!

[Momof1plustwins]

That's the cutest workspace ever! It looks perfect. I hope you're able to make it happen.

[Diviya]

It's absolutely adorable! I just wanted to point out that the actual desk space is really small. Seems to me you could have a laptop, or one book, but not really more than that to comfortably work there. I don't know about your kids, but I'm imagining my kids doing math, with the workbook, text book, and scratch notebook all splayed out, thinking it would never work on this. And I couldn't teach a student there from a TM for instance. Also, with the bookshelves on only one side, the other person would either have to have all their books in a stack on the floor next to them, interrupt the other person to get books from their side, or have another bookshelf to access from.

Wow, I sound like such a downer. :( I do still think it's really cute, and could work depending on what you want it for.

[plain jane]

It's absolutely adorable! I just wanted to point out that the actual desk space is really small. Seems to me you could have a laptop, or one book, but not really more than that to comfortably work there. I don't know about your kids, but I'm imagining my kids doing math, with the workbook, text book, and scratch notebook all splayed out, thinking it would never work on this. And I couldn't teach a student there from a TM for instance. Also, with the bookshelves on only one side, the other person would either have to have all their books in a stack on the floor next to them, interrupt the other person to get books from their side, or have another bookshelf to access from.

Wow, I sound like such a downer. :( I do still think it's really cute, and could work depending on what you want it for.

 

:iagree:

 

I don't think you're a downer at all... simply observant. :)

 

I think the angle of the photo certainly gives the idea that there are shelves on both sides and that both desks have the same "view", which is not the case. It is a disappointment that the other side of the desk is likely staring at a blank wall while the one side has all the nice books and decorative features. I also agree that the surface work area would not be big enough for my kids to work at comfortably... they tend to sprawl their stuff out when they're working.

[Leeandrea]

I like it, except it looks like only one of the desks would get the benefit of the bookshelf. I'd have to rework it so both desks had the same amenities. We have 4 desks, 2 sets back-to-back. We used pegboards to separate them. Each desk has a 2 sided pegboard (back and side, like a sideways "L"). Think office cubicle. The desks we have are just 4 legs and a top, the legs are adjustable. They were inexpensive from Ikea. They don't have storage, so we got some plastic drawer units that fit under them, and some smaller plastic drawers for the tops to hold pencils, markers, crayons, etc. They can keep scissors and all kinds of things on the pegboard hooks, and since the board is thick, they can use binder clips to hang things from the top like calendars, math charts, handwriting guides, whatever. The pegboard came in white, but two of my children painted theirs with beach scenes. Our set-up isn't as pretty as the one in the picture, but so far, it works. It has been the longest-standing school arrangement yet ;)

 

Lee, homeschooling 5 kiddos and 1 baby/toddler

[Diviya]

Leeandrea,

How big is the work surface on the desks? Sounds like a great setup.

[fhjmom]

Why can I not get the link to work? :confused:

[plain jane]

Why can I not get the link to work? :confused:

 

It's a .pdf file that you download. Either your computer has blocked downloads or it's already in your downloads folder.

[ABQmom]

:iagree:

 

I don't think you're a downer at all... simply observant. :)

 

I think the angle of the photo certainly gives the idea that there are shelves on both sides and that both desks have the same "view", which is not the case. It is a disappointment that the other side of the desk is likely staring at a blank wall while the one side has all the nice books and decorative features. I also agree that the surface work area would not be big enough for my kids to work at comfortably... they tend to sprawl their stuff out when they're working.

 

:iagree: That's why I was wondering if anyone had done something similar and maybe tweaked the idea. It looks cool, but has some problems. I too would want bookshelves on both sides. I hadn't thought about the possibly limited work space.

[ABQmom]

I like it, except it looks like only one of the desks would get the benefit of the bookshelf. I'd have to rework it so both desks had the same amenities. We have 4 desks, 2 sets back-to-back. We used pegboards to separate them. Each desk has a 2 sided pegboard (back and side, like a sideways "L"). Think office cubicle. The desks we have are just 4 legs and a top, the legs are adjustable. They were inexpensive from Ikea. They don't have storage, so we got some plastic drawer units that fit under them, and some smaller plastic drawers for the tops to hold pencils, markers, crayons, etc. They can keep scissors and all kinds of things on the pegboard hooks, and since the board is thick, they can use binder clips to hang things from the top like calendars, math charts, handwriting guides, whatever. The pegboard came in white, but two of my children painted theirs with beach scenes. Our set-up isn't as pretty as the one in the picture, but so far, it works. It has been the longest-standing school arrangement yet ;)

 

Lee, homeschooling 5 kiddos and 1 baby/toddler

 

Ooo, this sounds neat too! Do you have any pictures you could share?

[Leeandrea]

Leeandrea,

How big is the work surface on the desks? Sounds like a great setup.

 

The desk tops are 2ft x 4ft and the pegboard is 2 ft high. I think it came in 2x4 foot sheets, so there wasn't much cutting involved. Also, we joined them at the corners using metal "L" brackets. They are not attached to the desks. We can lift them off and stow them away if we need the desks for something else like extra dining or buffet serving.

 

Lee

[LunaLee]

Or...if you have a lot of room and an Ikea close, you can do this:

 

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40116070

 

with a desk on each side of the shelf for about $200. You could even put a nice backer on each half the bookshelves (one on each side) as kind of a divider.

 

I have the close Ikea, but not the room.:crying:

[Leeandrea]

Ooo, this sounds neat too! Do you have any pictures you could share?

 

I'll try...ooo, I think it worked :D

[iammommy]

I like it, except it looks like only one of the desks would get the benefit of the bookshelf. I'd have to rework it so both desks had the same amenities. We have 4 desks, 2 sets back-to-back. We used pegboards to separate them. Each desk has a 2 sided pegboard (back and side, like a sideways "L"). Think office cubicle. The desks we have are just 4 legs and a top, the legs are adjustable. They were inexpensive from Ikea. They don't have storage, so we got some plastic drawer units that fit under them, and some smaller plastic drawers for the tops to hold pencils, markers, crayons, etc. They can keep scissors and all kinds of things on the pegboard hooks, and since the board is thick, they can use binder clips to hang things from the top like calendars, math charts, handwriting guides, whatever. The pegboard came in white, but two of my children painted theirs with beach scenes. Our set-up isn't as pretty as the one in the picture, but so far, it works. It has been the longest-standing school arrangement yet ;)

 

Lee, homeschooling 5 kiddos and 1 baby/toddler

 

Would you post a picture of this? It sounds wonderful!

 

Nan

[tadbhoward]

It would need to be tweaked but it is a good starting off point if you have the money and skills to build it.

 

Since the desk is custom built, just have it built to the size that would give you or your kids the most comfortable amount of space. I would then want a bookshelf that had 5 shelves in it and would cut the back of it up so that the shelves would alternate for each side. Say, top shelf opens to desk A, next shelf opens to desk b, third to desk A, then the shelf that the desk goes through, and the last two shelves would alternate to desk B then desk A.

 

I like it. We would not be able to afford it anytime soon. Plus, while my dh is very handy he is very slow and something like that would not be finished until my kids were gone off to college. :tongue_smilie:

 

I am going to show it to him and see if it gets his creative juices flowing in a more manageable direction for us.

[Leeandrea]

Would you post a picture of this? It sounds wonderful!

 

Nan

 

I did a couple posts up. :001_smile: It probably sounds better than it actually looks.

[ABQmom]

I'll try...ooo, I think it worked :D

 

This is great! Thanks for posting the pictures. It really helps to see what others have done.

[hillfarm]

I agree, I'd shop the local thrift stores for a table half of which would provide adequate space, and then measure across the cut middle for the width of the 2 shelves you would need to buy. I'd then screw the shelves to their respective halves of the table and then screw the two shelves together back to back. Then if you later decided to move each student to their respective rooms, you could unscrew the two shelves and separate into two units again.

 

You could also add some of that chalkboard paint to the back of the shelving section at table height or glue some of those corkboard squares onto it to give the student a place to write themselves notes or list the week's work or pin up their own art work.

 

My only concern would be to secure the double shelf section to a wall just in case the book load became too heavy. Or perhaps to add low railings to keep things from falling out onto the student's head:001_huh:. (I've seen first hand how my dd overstuffs her shelving.)

[Sasharowan]

Dh built floor to ceiling shelves along the dining room walls and put a fold down desk in 4 areas. Basically you just reinforce a shelf and hinge a desk top onto it. He attached arms to the sides of the desks to keep the kids from pushing it down and magnets to hold it closed. They store their school books on the shelf and do their work on the desk. Except ds14, he brings his stuff to the table to work and just uses his to store his work. He used his the first year it was built, then dh built ds9's desk close to ds14 and they clash too much to be that close. Ds4's desk was just readied at the beginning of summer and he is excited to use it even though he doesn't do much being in preK.

[ABQmom]

Dh built floor to ceiling shelves along the dining room walls and put a fold down desk in 4 areas. Basically you just reinforce a shelf and hinge a desk top onto it. He attached arms to the sides of the desks to keep the kids from pushing it down and magnets to hold it closed. They store their school books on the shelf and do their work on the desk. Except ds14, he brings his stuff to the table to work and just uses his to store his work. He used his the first year it was built, then dh built ds9's desk close to ds14 and they clash too much to be that close. Ds4's desk was just readied at the beginning of summer and he is excited to use it even though he doesn't do much being in preK.

 

Ooo... I'd love to see pictures of this. Can you post any?

[yvonne]

I'll try...ooo, I think it worked :D

 

Wow, that is a great idea!! Relatively compact area for 4 children to work at once. (And I love all the floor to ceiling bookshelves! :) Makes me feel right at home!

[Sasharowan]

Ooo... I'd love to see pictures of this. Can you post any?

OK, I'll try. Here are 2 pics of my dd's desk, one open and one closed.

[ABQmom]

OK, I'll try. Here are 2 pics of my dd's desk, one open and one closed.

 

Sasharowan,

 

Oh! I get it now! I'm a very visual person. :) I've been out of town, and just saw this. Thank you for posting the pictures.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

I attempted something similar in a small school room I have. It just didnt work out for us. It looked really cute but it got way to small way to fast. My little school room is also way to small now and so now its my overflow books room and we have our main school area in the living room- where we just crammed bookshelf number 12 :001_huh: I need a bigger house

[Chris in VA]

Just use two bookshelves, back to back, cut a table in half and attach the table to one of the shelves. Pretty easy actually.

 

You could use a dining table that opens to insert a leaf. Then you'd just have to cut the edges instead of slicing the whole thing.

 

Sasharowan, I don't think the table/desk part would be big enough for us, but you gave me an idea--why not just make that part extend either for two shelves vertically or two shelves horizontally!

 

Wow, you guys are awesome and creative!

[Sasharowan]

Sasharowan, I don't think the table/desk part would be big enough for us, but you gave me an idea--why not just make that part extend either for two shelves vertically or two shelves horizontally!

 

My oldest uses the regular table to work and just uses his desk area for storage. The middle 2 (dd10 & ds9) work from their desk, but the started with them and weren't used to spreading out. By the time they are in high school oldest ds will be off to college, and they can each have half of the regular table to spread out on. Or, knowing dd, she'll have a desk in her room to work alone. Since the setup is in our dining room, we had to make sure there was room to move around when they were working.

[DarlaS]

You're bound to find something here:

 

http://www.knock-offwood.com/p/plan-index.html

 

I like the modular office collection. I also can't help but think something really cool and homeschool/living room friendly could be done with this:

 

http://www.knock-offwood.com/2010/01/plans-puzzle-bookcase-crate-and-barrel.html

 

You'd have to tweak the measurements to get a good desk height, but it could be made into a dual secretary desk of sorts like the bookshelf sasharowan's dh built.

 

(Edited since I didn't mean to quote anyone.)

[Mallorie]

Darla, that site is AWESOME!! Thanks so much for posting that, i'm getting my projects lined up...LOL