Guest Post Sawhorse Desk by

Today we have a super project from Anita @ Going a little Coastal. Check it out:

Thank you Gail for inviting me over to your place today. I am so excited to be here.
Gail was one of the first bloggers I followed. Once I learned what following was that is. I think the first project I saw was the little cabinet that she made out of a window. Old windows and bead board. I was pretty much hooked after that. Her talents make me a wee bit nervous about doing a project out of wood. What was I thinking?
I have been wanting to put together a sewing area in my guest room so I can just keep my machine out and be encouraged to do more projects. I really want an old vintage table but until I find it I thought I’d put something together on the cheap. I found some plans over at Ana-White.com for a sawhorse desk and thought it might be something I could do. I’ve used a power tool before. How hard could it be? All I needed was 4 2×2’s and 2 2×6’s.

Here’s what I started with. I haven’t mastered taking pictures while cutting wood. The wood was cut according to the plans from Ana. She has a nice little list and easy to follow plans. I had some old flat panel doors in the garage since we are replacing them in the house. I thought it would make a good top. I used wood filler to fill where the hinge was. Turns out I really didn’t need to. Oh well.

I made sure I predrilled all of the holes to keep from splitting the wood. I marked where the legs would be so I could get the screw in the center.

In no time I had this! Not to shabby. Actually it was pretty shabby. Here is a tip: Sand it all down really well PRIOR to putting it all together. The 2×2’s are really kind of rough. So either upgrade to better wood or sand the crapola out of it. Sadly I learned this lesson after I already had primed and painted it. It bugged me so much that I filled some more, resanded and repainted.

The door had to be cut down so it would fit on the only wall available at the moment. I added trim to hide the cut edge. I blobbed on some caulk on the cardboard inserts since I only had wood on the two ends to nail into. The rest was all nailed on. It has a nice rounded edge to it. I did need to fill a bit with caulk since the cut was not all that straight. Remember, caulk and wood filler are your friends. 🙂   

I hemmed and hawed about what to do with the top. I painted it all white and then I decided to add some words to the top using some really cute scrap book paper. I printed out the words on the computer and then just taped them to the cute paper and cut them out. No machine to do it for me. Just me and my scissors.

I used some spray adhesive to glue the letters on and used an angle to get them on straight. The adhesive gave me time to move them a bit. Then I applied some water based polyurethane. Water base is best for applying on light colors. It won’t yellow over time. Use several light coats. The first brush stroke went on rather heavy and my word started to ripple but I just smoothed it down it was okay.

I left the door knob hole there. I figured I could run the cord for my sewing machine through it. Then if company comes I can just place something pretty over it.

I still have work to do in this room. Painting and finding a daybed. I need to find my extra long needle so I can tuft the center of that poufy cushion. I love that I have this extra space to work at and I don’t have to worry about the mess. So there you have it. It’s a pretty easy project. There are a few angle cuts but nothing too confusing. I hope you all will come visit and see this room when it’s all finished. Thanks again Gail for this opportunity. It’s been lots of fun!

see ya,

Thanks Anita for a great tutorial. (and the kind words you said about me and my blog)  Be sure to hop over and see all the wonderful photos on Anita’s blog.

Today is the big day! My baby girl is getting married! I’m so happy to welcome Andy into our family and I am happy that Jamie is marrying into a loving family. We’ll have a few more guest posts while I recover from this weekend!

gail

Check out other door projects here: [categorythumbnaillist 18]