DIY Butcher Block Desk for my Home Office

Earlier this year, we built a DIY butcher block desk for my home office.  It was one of the easiest and quickest ways to put together a large desk space.  We basically got two file cabinets and placed a piece of butcher block on top and….Voila!

DIY Butcher Block Desk

DIY Butcher Block Desk

My main goal was to have a LOT of desk space to work on, and this DIY butcher block desk definitely fit the bill!  We got our 8 ft piece of butcher block from Lowe’s.  They sell 6 ft and 4 ft pieces as well, but 8 ft is exactly what we needed, so we didn’t have to make any cuts at all.  

The Baltic Birch Butcher Block 8-ft Natural Straight


You can’t see it in the picture, but Cy took a 6 foot 2×4 and drilled it into the studs of the wall at the height that we wanted the desk.  So the butcher block is resting on that “lip” and the two drawer units on each side.  He also used a few screws and attached the butcher block to the drawer unit from underneath to keep it from slipping.

We applied one coat of Minwax stain in Dark Walnut, and then we sealed the wood with a satin polyurethane.  (I wish I could say that my desk always looks this clear and clutter-free, but that would not be the truth AT ALL!)

But I do like how I have plenty of room to spread out my papers, planners, laptop, and more on a day to day basis.

I found the two gray drawer units for each side of my desk at IKEA.

KLIMPEN  Drawer unit, gray light gray $89.00

The drawer units came with silver hardware, so I just spray painted them black to get the look I wanted.

DIY Butcher Block Desk

I also printed out some labels on my computer and added them to each of the drawer pulls. 

The drawer units are not very large, which I love.  They give me a little bit of storage without taking up a lot of space underneath my desk. 

DIY Butcher Block Desk

The cute little mail holder on the wall was a birthday gift from my Aunt Tassie.  I put some white envelopes in it for these pictures, but when school starts, I plan on making a file folder with each of my kids’ names on them to hold important school papers.DIY Butcher Block Desk

 

I wanted to keep the shelving above my desk simple, so Cy made these open shelves for me. DIY Butcher Block Desk

I had fun decorating them with some faux greenery, books, and office supplies.

DIY Butcher Block Desk

 

 DIY Butcher Block Desk

I hope to show you the rest of my office in a future post.  I really do enjoy this little corner of our house that is ALL MINE. :)

DIY Butcher Block Desk

Do you have a “home office” or a space in your house that you like to “work” at?

 

Here are some other DIY DESKS that I have created in my home…

 

DIY SAWHORSE DESK

 

DIY FLOATING DESK with WINDOW SEATS

 

DIY DROP CLOTH SKIRTED WOODEN DESK

HOW TO BUILD A SKIRTED DESK

54 Comments

  1. Your office space is beautiful! Where is your “In the morning when I rise give me Jesus” sign from? Thank you!

  2. I really love this idea and have been wanting to do something similar but I have a question about how you attached the work surface.
    He also used a few screws and attached the file cabinet to the drawer unit from underneath to keep it from slipping. — I’m confused. Is there a separate drawer unit.

    Thanks for the inspiration!

    1. Hi Lucinda!

      Thank you for catching my typo! That should have said “butcher block” instead of “file cabinet.” I went back and made the changes in text. Thank you. Basically, he took the drawers out of the base unit, and then installed a screw upward from inside the drawer unit, up into the bottom of the butcher block. Probably makes more sense now. haha! :)

  3. That looks like a great work space. I could use a long desk like that right now with the editing project I’m working on. I have all the reference materials I need stacked on a chair next to my desk. Not efficient. One thing I do like about my desk is that it’s under a large window and I can rest my eyes and gaze out into the green fields and watch the neighbor’s cows. My husband and I work in the same room at different desks (he’s full-time, I’m part-time) and we each have our own windows and separate views. Our last home office was in a basement and it was dark and depressing.

    1. Hi Kate! Your desks in front of windows sounds amazing! I would love a beautiful view to look at! :). Thanks for stoping by and leaving a comment. xoxo
      Traci

  4. I created the same “office space” and enjoy it. I was so envious of your clean desk and glad to hear you say it doesn’t always look that that! Mine seems to always be cluttered.

  5. How creative you two are! Such a nice desk and I love the amount of work space you created. My husband and I have a wall unit desk in our office that has a desk top that is wide enough for us to share and then a wall unit with more work surface and book shelves built into it. I am going to take your idea on the wall file folder storage and use it so I can get rid of the mobile file folder that now is taking up space on my section of the desk top.

  6. So beautiful, what an inspiring place to work!! As another reader asked, where did you get the “In the Morning When I Rise Give Me Jesus” sign? I really love that, and could use the inspiration!!

  7. I love your new desk. I have been toying with an idea like this for my new office – converting our single car garage. I’m going to take it further by making it an L shape, or maybe even a U shape. Thanks for the tip on the butcher block at Lowe’s.

  8. I love the clean, open, simplicity of this space! I’ve been wanting to put shelves up in a corner of my house and debating on what type of shelves to do. When I saw this picture on Instagram, I knew that was it. I want those shelves! Where did you find your brackets for them?

    1. You don’t have to stain and seal it, but it will be natural wood. It’s a beautiful color, but if you spill something on it or get marks on it, they may not come off. I would at least seal it with a little something.

  9. Looks beautiful!! How long did you keep your dark walnut stain on? It looks like it hasn’t some grey tones. Did you use any other colors of stain?

    Thank you
    Heather

  10. I LOVE the space you created! For the life of me, I can’t find anywhere online that answers one burning question: will the bottom drawer of the Klimpen drawer hold files sideways if I added some file folder rails? Thanks so much!

    1. They will not hold file folders in the same way that a regular filing cabinet holds folders. I had to turn my folders sideways for them to fit in the drawers..

      1. I know this post is old but I made this desk. What hardware did you use to hand your files sideways in the draweers?

  11. Love this desk! I just bought the cabinets and am now on the hunt for the butcher block . When I inquired at ikea they said if I was to buy their butcher block I would need support every 33inches or the counter could sag. Do you find the Lowe’s counter strong enough without something in-between the cabinets? Thanks so much!

  12. Hi. Great inspiration for our project. How has the butcher block held up over time without a vast support in the middle? Any bowing in the middle or is the butcher block strong enough?

  13. I love the look you have going. Do you remember the name of the wall paint color you used? I’m trying to match it with a similar office reno we are about to do.
    Thank you!

  14. Hi! I’m getting ready to recreate your desk! I love it especially the length!! Unfortunately the Klimpens are sold out and rumor has it the grey won’t be coming back so I’ve found some other filing cabinets to substitute but honestly the Klimpens were perfect!

    Question for you though – do you use water or oil based polyurethane? I haven’t done many projects with it. Thank you!!

  15. I’m about to totally copy your project, but I’m just curious: Do you ever find yourself wishing you would be able to plug something in behind the desk? Lamp, power cord, etc.?

    1. Yes,but you can easily drill a small hole in the desk to drop a cord down. You can buy a cover for the hole so it looks professional. :)

  16. Hi! I am using your office for my inspiration. I am about to seal my butcher block. Did you use polyurethane or poly acrylic? And how many coats? Thank you!

    1. Hi there! In the post, I mentioned that we used a satin polyurethane. We usually do two coats, then lightly sand and clean before applying the third and final coat.
      Thanks!

  17. Hi! I love you sign too! Your desk area is beautiful! Are you happy with the stain color? Does it feel too dark? I’m trying to decide whether to go more natural or this walnut stain. Thank you!

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