I had so much fun with this project! It was a true DIY, taking some inspiration from Pinterest and creating my own building plans. Most of the pipe desks I’ve seen are simple straight lines. I wanted a tiny bit more interest so I incorporated the crisscross design in the base of the desk.
When we first saw this house, the previous owners had a recliner and a small side table sitting in this little bay window alcove. It’s taken me a while to decide what to turn this area into. We thought about making it a bar, however, we don’t entertain THAT often that we need such a large area dedicated to alcohol. If we had kids, this space would make a great play area. My husband suggested we put a poker table there…veto. So I landed on an office space. A space for my blogging, my planning, and hopefully one day, my home based business.
The best part about this piece of furniture is that the plans can easily be altered to be shorter and narrower for a coffee table, or to just change the size to customize the desk for your particular space. It is also quick and easy to assemble with very little “building”. You can also use galvanized pipe for a silver base instead of the black cast iron pipe that I used and can stain or paint the top any color you want.
Supplies
(plans for desk 75″L x 27.5″W x 29″H, all pipe is 1/2″ fitting in black cast iron)
8 – floor flange fittings
4 – 1 1/2″ nipple fittings
12 – 2″ tee fittings
2 – 72″ pipe
4 – 18″ pipe
4 – 10″ pipe
2 – 12″ pipe
2 – 8″ pipe
4 – 5″ pipe
5 – 2×6 @ 8 feet long
1 – 2×4 @ 8 feet long
wood glue
2 1/2″ finish nails
Step 1 –
Begin with the 2 72″ pipes and 4 of the tee fittings. Attach a tee fitting to each end of the pipes so that each end looks like this…
Step 2 –
First, take the 2 assembled pieces and lay them in front of you lengthwise so they are parallel to each other, and space them about 2 feet apart.
Working with bar #1 (the bar closest to you) on the bar’s right end, attach an 8″ pipe to the right side of the tee and a 12″ pipe to the left side of the tee.
Now, on bar #2 (the bar furthest from you) but on the opposite end, the bar’s left end, attach an 8″ pipe the right of the tee and a 12″ pipe to the left of the tee.
You should have the left end of bar #1 and the right end of bar #2 with nothing attached. Now attach all 4 of the 10″ pipes to those ends.
Step 3 –
Attach tee fittings to all 4 end points on both legs. When the tee fittings are tightened, they should sit perpendicular to the existing pipes.
Step 4 –
On the right end of bar #1, attach the 1 1/2″ nipple fitting to the bottom side of the 2 tee fittings. Then attach a floor flange to each of the 1 1/2″ nipple fittings. This will create the feet of the desk. Do the same thing on the left end of bar #2.
(*Note* When I first built the desk, I used 5″ pipes instead of the 1 1/2″ nipple fittings but the desk turned out too tall so I later changed them to 1 1/2″ nipple fittings. This is why the feet of your desk may look shorter than the one pictured.)
Step 5 –
Use the 4 18″ pipes and attached them to each tee fitting above the feet.
Now, take bar #1 and lift the crisscross bar to sit on top of the legs of bar #2. This next part may be a little tricky. In order to attach bar #1 to the legs of bar #2, unscrew the tee fittings and attach them to the 18″ pipes, making sure when they are fully tightened, that the cross fitting is still facing the crossbars. Then to attach the crossbars, you will need to twist the bar into the tee fitting as you slightly untwist it from the tee fitting on the opposite end. This seems odd, but it will be sturdy as long as the pipe is partially screwed into each tee fitting.
Step 6 –
Attach the 5″ pipes to all four tee fittings followed by the remaining 4 floor flanges attached to the 5″ pipes.
Step 7 –
For the desk top, I took 5 2×6 boards cut to 75″ long and laid them out side by side. Then cut 2 2×4 boards to 23 1/2″, laid them crosswise across the 2×6 boards as supports and attached the 2x4s to the 2x6s with wood glue and 2 1/2″ finish nails.
Step 8 –
To attach the desk top, with the desk top laying 2×4 side up, turn the desk base over onto the desk top. The 4 floor flanges attached to the 5″ pipe should be sitting on the underside of the desk top. When the desk base is centered, attach the desk base to the desk top using 1 1/4″ wood screws through the 4 holes on each flange.
Done and done! Now you can stain or paint your desk top to your preference and work away at your new office space. Next up for me, a desk chair!
