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
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.
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.
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.
I wanted to keep the shelving above my desk simple, so Cy made these open shelves for me. 
I had fun decorating them with some faux greenery, books, and office supplies.
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. :)
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
Your office space is beautiful! Where is your “In the morning when I rise give me Jesus” sign from? Thank you!
I found that at Hobby Lobby. Thank you!
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!
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! :)
Wow!!!! Amazing. You are so talented. Love all you do.
Thank you, Kathy!
does this mean it’s moveable if you needed to ?
It is attached to the wall, but would be easy to remove and move if needed. I would need to do a little repair to the wall when I do.
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.
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
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.
Hi Judy! Oh my goodness! My desk is always a mess! I just cleaned it up for pictures. haha! :)
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.
Thank you, Linda! Glad you found this inspiration helpful. :). xoxo
Please tell where your aunt got the mail folder.
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!!
Hi Shawna!
Thank you! I got the sign from Hobby lobby. :). It was one of my mom’s favorite songs, so I had to have it. :)
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.
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?
Those are corbels from Home Depot.
Can you purchase the butcher’s block as is and use it as an office desk? Or do I HAVE to stain/seal it?
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.
Can you please take a photo of how the desk drawer is screwed onto the countertop?
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
Hi Heather! I just did one light coat of stain and did not use any other colors. Thank you!
I ❤️❤️❤️❤️ your office! Can you please tell me where you purchased the file cabinets?
Hi There! Thank you! The link to the file cabinets is in the post that you just commented on. :)
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!
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..
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!
Gorgeous!!! Can you share a link to where you purchased the chairs?
Love the 1,2,3 file holder on wall. Source please.
Thank you. That was a gift, so unfortunately I don’t have a source. :(
Beautiful! Where is your chair from?
Thank you. The chair is from Arhaus. Bought it several years ago. They have similar ones at wayfair.
I have read mixed things about poly finish on butcher block desktop, what is your experience?
I love it! I’ve used it on every butcher block project we have ever done, which is probably over 10.
Hi, love your desk/room! Can you tell me what color the walls are?
White Dove by BM
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?
No bowing at all! It’s super strong. :)
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!
Hi there! It’s BM White dove
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.?
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. :)
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!
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!
Thank you!!!