How To Turn a Luan Door Into a Desk Part 1
In this first part I will show you how I turned an unfinished luan door into a simple desk. In part 2, I will show you two ways to finish the desk. This project is so simple you can be using your new desk in about 24 hours. It all depends on how fast your glue dries.
If you are looking for an easy project, this project is for you. Basically, you need a flat door, legs ( I chose hairpin) glue, screws and some way to finish it (stain, paint and/or contact paper). I selected my door at a big box store. It was around $50. Inspect it well for dents, scratches and other imperfections.
This is the exact description of the door that I chose.
I ordered my hairpin legs off of Amazon. They came in black and I decided to change them to gold. This was easily accomplished with spray paint. But this step is completely optional. The desk would look just fine with black legs as well.
In no time at all, I had four gold hairpin legs.
To attach the legs, first you will need to add something that will have more substance for the screws to attach to. The door is hollow so you need something like scrap pieces of wood to glue to the door. This will also add support to the entire structure of the desk.
I used two pieces of scrap at each end. They were placed 1 1/2 inches from all sides and 6 1/2 inches from each end.
I used chalk to mark the placement.
It just made it nice to know exactly where to place my scrap wood once the glue was on them.
We had some foster puppies while I was making the desk. This is Cash all tuckered out.
Back to work, I added a generous amount of glue to each piece of wood.
I placed each piece inside the chalk outline.
Wood glue achieves the best adhesion when pressure is applied so I clamped everything while it dried.
And just for added measure, I added weights to the middle.
Now for the legs.
These are super easy to install. Just a few screws and you are good to go.
I’m really happy with how it turned out.
It’s not completely done. I need to stain it and that will be in part two.
I was going to stain it dark but I really like how the light finish looks right now so I think it is a good idea that I waited a bit to stain it.
Comments
Join the conversation
-
This is so good. Great work.
-
Fabulous! I was planning this with an extra door i have and so glad i saw your post!
-
I really love this desk and I'm sure you will too. Good Luck!
-
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?