My new work area

[agnat]

My girl friend and I have spent about $300 dollars on materials to build our new work area and office.
That included paint, MDF, trim, screws and border.
My gf and I needed both an office and a work area so we devised this plan.
The room (a spare bedroom) is 12' X 12'. We had originally planned to put a
wrap around work surface...
but ended up going with an E shaped surface, the middle part holding our
massive monitors, one in one direction and the other in the opposite direction.
This arragement works great.
Will post pics shortly of the whole process.

[agnat]

First pic was what we originally planned...
http://jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8682609_1024.ts1172173733082.jpg
and second was what it evolved into...
http://jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8682646_1024.ts1172173859666.jpg
Ok and here's a pic of just starting... Basically I put up 2"X2" around the walls to attach the worksurface to, these were mounted using lag screws into the wall studs.
http://preview.jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8682554_1024.ts1172173614570.jpg
Here it is with the first two pieces of MDF cut and checked for fit...
http://preview.jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8682574_1024.ts1172173648375.jpg


It's going to have 1/2" wood trim around the edges - so I had to measure and cut for these

[agnat]

This is showing what the wood trim is going to look like sort of...

http://preview.jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8683012_1024.ts1172175003272.jpg

Not a great picture - but shows what the end of the desk is going to look like...

http://preview.jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8683047_1024.ts1172175096515.jpg

This is what the three legs at the end will look like. They are cut out of 2" X 10" Pine

http://preview.jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8683022_1024.ts1172175030079.jpg

We kind of carried the 'diamond' theme throughout in the legs and shelving


This is how I'm supporting the desk at the outer corners... 2' X 4" at an angle from the outer edge to the baseboard...

http://preview.jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8683136_1024.ts1172175569896.jpg

This is what the outer corner looks like with the trim attached (before painting)

http://preview.jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8683139_1024.ts1172175589739.jpg

What the middle leg looked like originally - we changed it shortly to make it look better...

http://preview.jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8683141_1024.ts1172175611729.jpg

The desk/work area is starting to take shape...

http://preview.jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8683200_1024.ts1172176110609.jpg

[agnat]

Starting the painting... we decided to do a faux finish(?) anyway it is a paint technique that makes it look like old leather - it actually turned out looking great!!!

http://preview.jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8683260_348.ts1172176348799.jpg

Start with the base color, in ours we went with a dark burgandy...

http://preview.jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8683263_1024.ts1172176382789.jpg

What the middle leg is starting to look like... I'm beginning to see the fruits of my labor (I'm liking it!)

http://preview.jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8683267_1024.ts1172176410391.jpg

Starting to paint the legs...

http://preview.jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8683490_1024.ts1172177092272.jpg

And the diamond shape

http://preview.jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8683500_1024.ts1172177124635.jpg

Diamond theme carrying through to the shelves...

http://preview.jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8683622_1024.ts1172177356137.jpg

Now painted and mounted... one on her side...

http://preview.jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8683637_1024.ts1172177393258.jpg


and one on my side...

http://preview.jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8683647_1024.ts1172177419204.jpg

Sorry about the blurred pics - still learning how to use the cam and it is very sensitve to movement

[agnat]

Starting the faux finish...

http://preview.jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8683810_1024.ts1172177755764.jpg

Now on the other side...

http://preview.jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8683837_1024.ts1172177791933.jpg

some last minute hole repairs...

http://preview.jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8683869_1024.ts1172177841526.jpg

A better idea of how the 'leather' finish looks...

http://preview.jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8683880_1024.ts1172177869460.jpg

You would be amazed at how easy this technique is...
Apply base coat. Take a darker color, in our case the chocolate brown we painted the legs,
mix 1 part dark with 1 part faux finish glaze. roll it on and quickly lay down plastic sheeting
(all wrinkled looks best) then pull up the plastic sheeting and throw away.
It comes out looking like old worn leather like whats on old desks!

[agnat]

The final results... how the desk looks after paint completion, but before the trim was
attached... Also the last step in this paint process was to apply several coats of clear
polyurethane (satin finish) to protect the paint.

http://preview.jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8684055_1024.ts1172178422060.jpg

And here the trim is attached and looking good if I say so myself!!!

http://preview.jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8684056_1024.ts1172178423542.jpg

The middle leg...

http://preview.jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8684067_1024.ts1172178459414.jpg

And here's the end of the middle leg...

http://preview.jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8684066_1024.ts1172178457846.jpg

What the middle leg looks like with our monitors...

http://preview.jwalker114.photosite.com/~photos/tn/8684151_1024.ts1172178800396.jpg

Pay no attention to the wolf blanket hanging up over the window... we had to block
the light out before my gf got the curtains sewn.

Hope ya'll like my little project, it is working out great for us and it was kind of fun to
work on. Let me know what ya think.

[agnat]

No one is going to post any comments? Good or bad, I just wonder what fellow modders think of my room mod.

Thanks,
Agnat

[TheTechLife]

looks good, but take some pictures so we can get a view of the whole room :up:

[xmastree]

Looks good. Do you find the monitors interfere with each other? I used to have some like that, and when one switched resolution, the other would flicker.

And I agree, a pic of the whole thing would be nice, if you can get far enough away from it. (smaller pics would be nicer too...)

[jdbnsn]

Awww, how cute. You made a "his n' hers" desk...lol. And if you get annoyed with each other you can throw up a cubicle! Ok, just kidding. I actually think the desk came out rather nice, good work. I also agree that we need to see some bigger pics showing the whole room.

[Commando]

Awesome. I'm gonna redo my office here in a couple of months.

How did you do the trim on the desk? It looks great.

+Rep

[d_stilgar]

Great job. I gotta get my room done. You inspire me, haha.

[agnat]

Thanks to all for the nice words. It took several weeks and the hardest part was working around all the stuff in there. I will try to get some pics from farther back but it may be difficult... I tried it before with my cam and I can't get back far enough, but I will kepp trying.

For xmastree... the monitors only interfere with each other ocassionally - mostly when I turn mine on and the other monitor is already on - or if I degauss it.

For Commando... the trim was prebought trim from Home depot that was
1/2" X 3/4" thick - just the thickness of the MDF desktop - I attached it using both woodglue and finishing nails. I knew I was going to do this before hand so I had to measure and cut all the MDF pieces 1" smaller on all the exposed edges.

Again thanks for the comments and encouragement.

Agnat

[xmastree]

For xmastree... the monitors only interfere with each other ocassionally - mostly when I turn mine on and the other monitor is already on - or if I degauss it.I thought that might happen, it used to happen a lot at my internet cafe (http://xmastree.34sp.com/inside.html) (that's me on page 5), when I had them in rows alternating like that.
Usually when someone started up a game and their monitor switched from windows resolution to game resolution.

[SgtM]

I like it.

[moojoe]

Nice table, I'm just concerned about its structural integrity though, especially on the outer support with the diamond cut out of it. pine already is an inherently weak wood, and putting a diamond like that would give it a great point to snap. do you have any support behind it? even a 1x3nom going perpendicular to it would give you an enormous amount of strength. also you may want to add a diagonal from the bottom of the leg, to the opposote side of the desk. both of these additions would give you more then enough strength, and what you're currently using simply is to weak. over the years, that wood will most certainly start to bend, and if you were to lean on it with those monitors, it could snap quite easily.
1x3nom is just a few dollars for a stick (you dont even need larger then an 8'), and it will certainly prolong the strength for years.

[DaveW]

Awww, how cute. You made a "his n' hers" desk...lol. And if you get annoyed with each other you can throw up a cubicle!

rofl @ Jon.

This is pretty sweet though, nice work! Although i just know my girlfriend would annoy me constantly if we had something like that.

-Dave

[agnat]

Moojoe, I understand your concerns but they are really unfounded. As you know, pine is used for almost all of the decks built in the south and when it comes to structural integrity, it is more than sufficient for the purpose used in my project. The middle leg of this set up is supported with one leg with the diamond shape cut in it, but it does not remove any wood from the center of the leg, leaving it structurally as sound as a 2" X 4" with t-braces at the top and bottom. There is a 2" X 6" running underneath the length of the desk top (somewhat like a joist) where it meets another leg made of 2 @ 2" X 6" boards cut in a manner where they make an x if looking at them at the ends. This goes under the long piece of MDF along the back wall as well as the middle leg. I have so much confidence in this set up that if needed I would have no problem standing on the middle leg with both heavy-ass monitors on there to change a light bulb in the ceiling!!! I am seriously confident in the structural integrity of this project and it has been standing for about 7 months without a single problem.

Agnat

[moojoe]

ah, I didnt see in any of you're pictures that you had a support running under the MDF, it looked like it was just lying on the legs.
pine is only strong when you support it by perpendicular supports. I spend a good portion of my day building all kinds of things out of pine (I work in a theatrical scene shop), and if one of the things you learn is that unless there are those verticals, you can easily snap the wood if you're more then just a couple of feet between supports.

[agnat]

I know exactly what you mean Moojoe! I have built all kinds of stuff using all types of media. MDF is very versatile and in conjuction with other materials is very strong, When used correctly, pine is a great and inexpensive alternative to hardwoods.

Agnat