Custom Kids Homeschooling Work/Computer Table
This desk was built by Gary P., a homeschooling father who needed to build a work desk for his kids in a particular location. Using his DIY skills and some Kee Lite aluminum pipe fittings he was able to put together a simple desk that suited his family's needs.
As a homeschooling family of 7, we need a lot of work spaces for the kids. Plus, I saw that the single person desk we were using didn't fit both the computer keyboard and a workbook for a single person. So I started thinking about getting a desk to be deep enough to fit the computer keyboard AND a workbook, and wide enough to fit a 2nd or 3rd student.
At first, I looked into obtaining a piece of kitchen countertop as the table top. But as we didn't want to attach it to the 90 yr old bookshelves in this room, we still needed a table leg solution. Plus, I wasn't finding any cheap countertop that would fit the entire space between the bookshelves (69") -- the most I was finding was 48" sections.
That's when I remembered seeing the custom desk made by Chris Pollock at Simplified. It seemed perfect -- simple, sized right, and priced right. I copied most of his desk idea.
The great part of DIYing a desk like this is you can build it to fit your needs. It can be made shorter for children, wider for books and the exact length to fit into the perfect space in your home or office.
As Gary mentioned, he used a lot of the concepts found in the ergonomic desk project. He used an MDF top, that he painted and sealed for the desktop. The shape of the desk was made with a router and jigsaw: the jigsaw to give the desk its basic curves and a router to bevel the edges.
He cut cord management notches in the back of the desk to make it easier to control the computer cords.
Gary used Kee Lite Flange fittings (see the list below) to attach fence post to the bottom of the desk.
The legs are stabilized with an H brace that is at the bottom of the unit. Kee Lite Slip On Tees were used to connect these pipes together.
Plastic plugs were inserted and glued into the bottom of the fence post to keep the desk from scratching the wood floors.
Sketchup Version
In order to better visualize the desk, our project team created a sketchup version of the desk using parts from our Sketchup Library. You can download the Sketchup file for this table right here:
SketchUp File: Simple-Table.skp (4.6M)
Project Costs
The desk was a complete success. Our compliments to Gary on the install. Here is a run down of the basic costs of this desk (pricing as of March 2012):
| Item | Cost |
| Kee Lite Piipe Fittings (see list below) | $130.00 |
| 3 x 8' length of 1-5/8" Fence Post | $25.00 |
| 3/4" MDF Top (4' x 8') | $25.00 |
| Finish Materials for MDF | $15.00 |
| Hard Work | Free but not Cheap |
| TOTAL: | $195.00 |
The fittings can be purchased on this site in a special Simple Table fittings bundle.
