Ideas for a desk?

[aamob]

DD8 wants a desk area in her playroom to do crafts at. I am having trouble finding a desk that she will be able to sit and do homework and also have storage for craft things like paper,paints,etc. Any one have any good places for me to look for something like this?

 

[Piper]

When I was little, my parents bought an old "dressing table" from a junk store. My dad then cut off the center part and put a long piece of plywood across the top. I had two sets of drawers to store things in and a long work surface (8 feet long.) A little paint, the framed mirror taken off the vanity and hung on the wall flanked by two wall lamps, painting and covering an old dining chair -- voila, a perfect work area!

He took the other half of the plywood and put it on top of two old file cabinets and made a "boyish" work area for my brother.

I did everything at that "desk"--put on makeup, homework, crafts, and even practiced my flute.

 

[nsmith]

we made corner desks and storage for both of our kids when they hit grade school. we purchase cabinets from target with draws and shelves and bought and installed cheap counter tops on top. we did this as an L patterns with the corner of the bedroom as the area where the kids did homework and each length of the L for crafts, decor, fish tank, craft projects and the drawers and shelves for bookcases and storage. My husband is kind of handy but really other than having home depot cut the counter tops to size, installing them with a power drill and assembling the cabinets it wasn't a huge project or a very expensive one.

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

go to Michaels' -- this week they have the cubes on sale for 40% off and buy 4. Then buy the flat board of the same cube set that goes across the top and you have a desk! Inexpensive but you can buy open cubes, ones with drawers or shelves etc.

 

[BSil]

I got some decent stuff at Ikea for that purpose. They had some shelves that hung on the wall that hold baskets (things like scissors/glue sticks/markers/etc. etc.). Then I bought a cabinet for underneath those shelves that has 3 drawers on the left and a big door on the right to hold all the paper/coloring books/extra markers/paints etc. The desk was just a small maybe 5 foot by 3 foot desk with a couple chairs. The whole things was cheaper than the supplies to put in the unit. It works great as a art/crafts area, a coloring area, a reading area, and a homework area for my kids. Sure, I'll eventually need a better workspace for them, but by then they won't need all the art/craft items, and I can just get a regular desk.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Growing up, we had no money. I found some cement blocks - the types with holes in them on the side of the road and convinced my Dad to pick them up for me.

Then I got my parents to take me to a junk store and spent 3.00 of my allowance on a small old door. Put the door on top of the blocks and had a desk.
I put my art stuff like crayons, colored pencils, markers in the holes of the blocks and my drawing pad on top of my desk. The art stuff was a gift from my grandparents because they knew I liked to draw.

I borrowed a kitchen chair when I was doing my homework and drawing until I made some money babysitting and went back to that same junk store and bought myself a cheap kitchen chair for 5.00.

Then I kept an eye on the scrap material section at the fabric store. When there was a piece big and cheap enough, I bought that. I cut it into 2 and draped it over the blocks.

Worked great and cost me very little.

I'm sure that's not exactly what you were thinking of but maybe it'll give you an idea.

 

[DisneyAndRedSox]

Not cheap, but elfa at the container store has desks you can design
http://www.containerstore.com/boutique/designYourOwnCustomDesk

Also, the expedit series at Ikea is functional. I have the expedit bookcase and easily found baskets to fit.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S99861340/

 

[a1tinkfans]

DD8 wants a desk area in her playroom to do crafts at. I am having trouble finding a desk that she will be able to sit and do homework and also have storage for craft things like paper,paints,etc. Any one have any good places for me to look for something like this?

craigslist will have a great selection for you at reasonable prices. So many people are selling things to make some cash, a win win situations! Good Luck!

 

[100AcreWood]

Do you have an IKEA near you? They have some cool cheap desks.

 

[aamob]

Thanks for all the great ideas! I do have and IKEA and a Michaels about 2 hours away so I will have to go check them out. Thanks again for all the suggestions!!

 

[mrseace711]

Consignment shops! =) Garage Sales are perfect but its Oct and not many if any around this season. Church Rummage sales GREAT! I have 4 kids and was able to purchase each one of them their own desk with drawers as well as one for myself =) They were all around 8.00. We sanded them and stained them they worked perfect for us =) Good Luck