Pursuing Passions | DIY Floating Desk

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All opinions are mine alone. #SToKCoffee  #CollectiveBias

 Let's talk about passion, creativity, work ethic, and putting it all into action. For months, no years, we've been talking about me pursuing my passion for photography and story telling and what it would take to make that happen for both of us (my husband and I) to be able to invest more time in our kids.  It was hard to see for a long, long time. Then, over time as I spent many long days and late nights making my passion a reality and with a big leap of faith, quitting my full-time job, we are finally at a point where it seems possible. That doesn't make it easy and right now it seems like we might still be running on fumes of excitement and change. . . and let's be honest, I am running on a lot of coffee.

SToK™ has this as their first statement as to who they are:

"We're CURIOUS. We're TINKERERS. We're OBSESSIVE. We're a little NERDY.

We stand proudly with the maker generation – celebrating craft and creativity, and trading mindless consumption for authentic enjoyment. We believe that imagination has real value, and that when inspiration strikes, you may as well GO BIG."

Go big or go home, right? Well, I guess I did both. To go big and live life more authentically, I went home. Home to my kids, to my passion, to my tiny home office where I'm working and waiting to see where my God-given passions take me next.

When presented with the opportunity to tell a story in partnership with SToK™  a product we are already using to fuel my time spent right here, writing, editing, dreaming, I thought I'd share how my husband and I dreamt up where I would work and how it's coming along. But first... coffee.

You can find SToK with the cold beverages at Walmart. I like it black on ice or with almond milk and a little raw sugar to bring life to a long afternoon.  

When we moved into our new house, we looked for a small office for us to house our computers, my gear, and a place we could make our own. Well, this office is right off the kitchen and it was truly a blank slate. For months, I had a folding table set up for my computer and all of my photography gear and party stuff everywhere and then finally we made time for Wesley to use his creative skills to build our wall to wall desk. We dreamt it up together and he put it into action, while I was away with the boys one weekend. We still have a lot to do, like shelves all the way up the back wall, a filing system and a little decor, but this is a great start and a great place for me to work on my dreams. 

How to build a wall to wall wood floating desk.

Supply List:

• Wood: We wanted four boards with different grain patterns to create interest and compliment the wood flooring in the office. 
•  4 - 1x8 boards We used Select Pine.
• 2 - 1x2 boards
• 1 quarter round trim board
• Stain: We went a couple of shades darker than the floor to make the desk top pop against the white contrasts in the room.
• Polyurethane
• White Paint
• Caulk
• Wood Glue
• 2 Large L-Brackets
• 4 Small L-Brackets
• Nails

Tools used: Table Saw, Hole Saw, Biscuit Joiner, Nail gun (air compressor), Electric Screw Driver, Orbital Sander (however a band sander would have been better), measuring tape, paint brushes

Steps for creating the wall to wall desk top

1. Measure. We wanted 24" deep by just shy of 8ft wide (the length of the back wall of our office) 
2. Cut. Use 4 - 1x8s. 1x6s are only 5.75 wide so had to go up to 1x8 and cut down. Use a table saw to cut approximately 1.75 inches off each board to get to 6" wide each. To equal 24"
3. Make a solid piece. Use a biscuit joiner and glued the boards together. (YouTube is a great resource to learn how to do this!)
4. Fill. any small gaps in the joined boards with a mixture of saw dust and wood glue.
5. Sand. Using 60, 100, 120, 220 grit paper and random orbital sander. Note: To avoid swirls use a band or other type of sander.
6. Stain. Two coats got us to the color we loved. 
7. Poly. Apply two coats of Polyurethane to protect from scratches. 

Now, you have a unique, beautifully finished desktop, let's install it! 

Steps to install the desktop:

1. Determine your desired height. Do this by using a desk chair and sitting, taking into account where you will place your computer, keyboard, etc. Our desk is at 31" from the floor. 
2. Measure and marked wall for support cleat. Your desktop will rest on and be nailed into these supports.
3. Using a 1X2, make a cleat around the inside of the desk. Here we will leave an opening for the large L brackets that will be mounted to the wall studs in the center of the wall. The L brackets will support the weight of the center. Also, mount the cleats to studs where you can and use anchoring screws where you cannot mount them. 
4. Before placing the desktop on the wall, cut holes for cables and power cords. We have three of these holes using a hole saw. 
5. 5. Place the desktop on the cleats and nail into place from the top of the desk. 
6. Cut the other 1X2 to the same length of the desk and paint white. This is for trim board under the desk.
7. Nail trim board into from of cleat and mount under desk using small L brackets.
8. Measure and cut Quarter Round Trim for the top of the desk. This will cover your nail marks on the top of the desk. Paint and let dry before installing.
9. Nail Trim into place and caulk nail holes. Touch up paint as needed.

The END. I have a beautiful desk in my home office, built by my creative and hard working husband! 

NEXT UP! Shelves! Looks like we are going to need a little more SToK™... 

SToK™ is steeped for at least 10 hours. Cold Brew coffee is slightly sweet, smooth and full-bodied. They believe that better is always out there, just waiting to be created. That's a mind-set I can get on board with. 

Happy creating creators and happy making makers!