This week we came up with a solution to help declutter Jen’s desk that was easy, cheap and really cute! Put down your tools, it’s time to take a Maker Break!
So my wife actually suggested this solution. She asked for a board that would have 3 slots for documents, a white board, a cork board, a place for her markers and if possible, a shelf for her Echo Show, which we use to communicate between offices.
So we started with a half sheet of ½” plywood, and cut it down to 3’ by 3’ on the table saw. In the process, I also cut off a 3” shelf that will hold the document slots and the Echo.
For the two boards, I wanted to stack a couple sheets of ¼” plywood, so I cut those out next.
Next I needed to cut out the supports for the document slots, and at 9”, I couldn’t fit them in my miter saw, so I used our cross cut sled, and that worked just fine. Each one of those supports needed a little notch at the top, which I cut on our miter saw.
I marked out the location for each one, and glued them in place. After they dried, we put the rest of our pieces in place to make sure it would all fit.
Next I needed some strips to nail over the documents slots, and found this nice looking piece of ½” plywood with a cool pattern on it. So I cut the strips out in order, so I could maintain the grain pattern on the front of the board. These are gonna look great.
Next I started gluing up the shelf and supports. I had planned to using some brad nails from the back, but after I got it all glued up and clamped down, I realized I could just take a break and let the glue do it’s thing.
Next I applied some lacquer to the pieces that would stay natural, and then let it dry with the glue. The next Day Sarah went down and painted the main board black, and the edges of pieces that would end up being our cork and marker board.
Once that was dry, I marked off the locations for the boards, and glued the first layer down. I clamped some large 2x12s to them to help hold them down, I knew this wasn’t going to be perfect, but the next layer would add screws.
For the second layer, I predrilled and counter sunk the holes, and then carefully screwed them down, not wanting to rip out any of this thin wood.
Next I used our brad nailer to nail down the front slats, using my square to make sure they were all aligned, and perfectly spaced apart.
Next I got this peel and stick marker board sheet, cut it to size, and applied it to the board. I carefully trimmed off the excess, and that board was done!
Then I grabbed this extra cork board we had from our kids study pods, cut it to a rough size, and then applied as much glue as I could to the board. Then I laid the corkboard material on the sheet, and used those 2x12s again to clamp it down. I left it for a full hour to make sure the glue did it’s job.
When it was dry, I once again carefully cut the excess off with my utility knife. But boy did that end up looking cool!
My wife found these rose gold wire baskets on clearance at Staples, that are designed to hang off of another wire rack. To make them work on our board, I ended up sawing off the hooks in the back, and then drilling holes in the bottom plate. After positioning them on the board, I carefully screwed them in place.
Finally, I wanted to position the Echo Show so it was facing down instead of up. It’s designed to sit on a table and look up your nose. Not a great look. Instead this would put the camera higher, so I needed it to face down.
I ended up of using the power plug in the back as a support. I drilled a hole the exact size of the plug, so it would stay in the board while it was plugged it, helping to aim the show at the right level, and this worked great!
After that, we screwed a simple French cleat to the back, and then the other half to the wall in Jen’s office. After leveling the cleat on the wall, we hung it in place. We plugged in the show, and got it plugged in. Then we left it to my wife to decorate… and here’s how it turned out.
Special thanks to @HART Tools for sponsoring this episode, and reminding us we can make anything we can imagine, if we #DoItWithHart