A Desk with a View
July 11, 2010
MANHATTAN NEST HAS MOVED! THIS POST CAN NOW BE VIEWED HERE!
I made that.
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Manhattan Nest 
omg. you really are my hero. i mean could you be anymore creative and inventive? i love every lit bit of you. every little bit.
xxoo
Awwww shucks! Thanks so much, I love and miss you tons and tons and tons.
Holy shit, that looks awesome.
I may have to blog about this — you okay with that?
Am I OKAY with that? I’m hyperventilating about that! Blog away!
Post is up!
Holy, moly that is cool! I love all the details you included and especially the way you glued the wood together – I know nothing about that sort of thing so I’m glad I’m not the only one who just makes things up as I go along 🙂
Excellent desk! You are cooler than me. I have some power tools and I never use them!
You have inspired me, I’m off to try my hand at using the sander…
I am kvelling. You might need to look that up in your English-Yiddush dictionary.
Holy crap, that is awesome! I wish I were this resourceful, or had your same compulsion to care for my living or work space.
this looks fantastic! Great work! Found your blog from Anna at D16 and will keep reading!
Another new reader who found there way from D16. Will definitely be coming back! Love the desk and the colour of that Eames chair is beautiful!
Great job! Also found you through Door16 and just read the whole way through your blog. Adding to Reader now and looking forward to seeing what comes next – thanks 🙂
GORGEOUS! I am inspired. I think I may have to blog about this as well (so much better than actually attempting it myself! Blogging is all about living vicariously…) And what the heck were you doing in Regina Sask?
Lisa,
Blog away! I worked as an intern for an indie film company up there for a year. Good times!
I made my way over from Anna’s blog and I am so in love with your desk. It’s one of the nicest diy’s I’ve seen in a long time.
Genius! I love the feeling you get when you’re resourceful and handy and everything turns out great.
That desk is nothing short of fabulous. Like you, I had been looking for a desk for months that would fit a very specific space. I finally found something, but I would’ve been good months ago if I had the guts to attempt building something like this in my own apartment (although I have painted furniture on the patio and sanded in the walkway in front of my door). Kudos for having that vision!
This desk looks amazing! What an inspiration…Thanks for sharing.
WOW. beautiful.
here’s a tip from another apartment dwelling, power tool using crazy (in a good way) person: get a friend and have him or her hold the tube of the vacuum next to the blade of the saw (but not too close!). works like a charm for me! about 75% less sawdust to clean up!
i seriously hope you are a design student of some sort because your taste is too good not to share with the world!
Thanks for the tip, I like that! Now if only I could find some friends that I could wrangle into my manic DIY shenanigans! Then I’d really be in business…
I’m not a design student, but I’m flattered! Eva and I are both in the Gallatin School at NYU, a hippie-dippy lovefest where we just make our own majors from a hodge-podge of classes and then hope we can get jobs!
SHAZAM! This is incredible!
What an awesome achievement. Love your writing style too, you’re a crack-up!
great desk. you’re very clever. isn’t jacobean the best stain ever?
Thanks Donna! I do love that Minwax Jacobean stain– I’ve always heard mixed reviews about how stain adheres to pine, but I love that it’s dark and rich without being red. And it’s so easy to work with. And after staining this nightstand (I mean desk!) a few time over and even getting a little action on some old pot handles, I’m convinced that tiny can will last forever.
Very Cool Daniel Kanter…a long way from that house in Maine a few years back!?
Thanks Mrs. DiGi! How in the world did you find your way here?! And yes, Grampie trained me well in the art of painting (and painting… and painting…). Hope to see you soon!
Wow! You have completely inspired me to make a desk rather than buy, been looking for the perfect one. It’s not out there. And the plug for Value Village in Regina, Sask., double wow! I shopped there non-stop when I was a student. I still do, but in a different city, and no longer on a student budget!
Oh my gosh, I’m so glad somebody can confirm the magic of that place!! Warms my heart so much that I feel like I’m wearing a bunnyhug and snackin’ on dainties. (Canadian code, people, this is between KJH and I)
This is the best! Your explanations and photos will help me if I’m ever brave enough to try this out myself! Also – you are so funny. I laughed out loud (really) many, many times. Thanks!
I just found you through Door16 too.
Great work you have done and you gave me a good idea. Thanks a lot!
That is utterly gorgeous and inspiring! Thanks for the detailed instructions. I’ve been wanting to DIY a desk myself. For a handy-capped person like me, step-by steps are a must. Don’t you just hate going to Home Depot? I hit up the local hardware store as much as possible. They are always so helpful and friendly about it, but they are much smaller so sometimes HD is a must.
Exactly– I’ll go out of my way to avoid HD, but sometimes the selection and size just can’t be beat. It’s not that easy finding a place where somebody can cut a piece of MDF to size in Manhattan, though! But I can’t stand that I feel more qualified to work in a Home Depot than any employee I’ve ever asked for anything. When I asked where the water-based poly was, I was told, “I’m sorry, I’m pretty sure all our polyurethanes are chemical-based.” Oof.
You now have one more reader, thanks to Anna. WOW, I love your writing. And I too have a really fugly night stand, and am in need of a desk. You may have just changed my life!
Thanks so much for the inspiration! My hubby and I are going to give this a try too!
I’m trying to remember how I stumbled upon your blog, but I think it was a friend of a friend’s facebook (unintentional stalking).
Anyway, she posted about your bed, but I think this desk fucking rocks. I didn’t know it was possible to have a Home Depot in Manhattan. I would have put that up there with Walmart (you don’t have a Walmart, do you?).
Anyway, great stuff. What are you majoring in? Any sort of design work? I just graduated from SCAD down here in Georgia for Photography, but I’ve got a couple of friends who studied furniture design and I love seeing what they come up with.
Thanks Chris! Yes, there are actually a couple of Home Depots in Manhattan, although they’re quite different than the massive suburban warehouses I’m used to. Luckily New York has had the good sense to keep Wal-Mart, what with all their employee abuses and union hating out of the city, but with plans for stores in Chicago and possibly D.C., who knows what the future holds. Currently I really don’t know what I’m majoring in (we formulate our own majors in my school), but there’s not really a program for design at NYU. Congrats on SCAD!
WOW, You really have inspired me to do more with what I have at home. I too LOVE trash night at my apartment, I have furnished my prewar( yes us Torontonians do have some cute buildings with lots of character in Canada) digs, mostly of vintage finds and trash cast offs. I really love your DIY spirit and will channel you when I find some lonely discarded piece staring up at me begging me to take it home. Cheers!
OMG! I just found you. You are hysterical. You are creative. You are talented. I will be coming back.
Beautiful job!
unreal! love your writing style and tutorial. great job on the desk. i have a random piece of bowling alley that I need to do something with – you inspire me!!
hi,
I love the end result and especially the way the VIKA INGE legs look – sooo much better in black!
I noticed you were using a hack saw, which are for metal, you might find it easier with a handsaw (i learned that the hard way…)
Thanks for the inspiration!
I am so happy to have come across your site–you’ve renewed my faith in shelter blogs. Like Laura above me I wanted to encourage you to ditch the hacksaw, in favor of a Japanese saw which cuts on the pull stroke instead of the push. They are so easy and accurate. I have been using the same saw inherited from my fine furniture maker-father for the past ten years and it’s gotten me through untold wood projects.
Thanks guys! Yeah, the hacksaw was an awful choice (thankfully I bought it for something else, so it wasn’t a loss, just the wrong tool for the job). Next time I have to cut wood though, and a circ. saw is overkill, I’ll definitely be investing in something better– the Japanese saw sounds like a miracle, I wonder if my little hardware store carries them…
That desk is completely awesome, but the weirdo in me really, really liked the nightstand before it became a desk… Maybe I’ll find its long lost twin along the side of the road someday.