A Child's Wall Desk

When I revealed my little girls' room makeover the other day, I mentioned that the built-in wall desk is one of my favorite features.  Today I want to share how I made it {I didn't take photos of every single step but you should easily be able to piece the process together}.

I went to Lowe's and bought six pieces of wood, four feet in length, plus two shelf brackets and some spray paint.  I sanded the pieces down {leaving them their original length} and spray painted them with Valspar Churchill Hotel Vanilla.

I also used a piece of wood from my scrap stash and cut two pieces that fit across the width of the boards {the cross pieces shown below are shorter than the ones I ultimately used ... the final pieces were just half an inch shorter than the full width of three boards together}.

While some paint was drying, I hung the back pieces of the desk.  I located the studs, centered my boards, and screwed the boards right into the studs.  I was very careful to level the bottom board and screw it at the height I wanted the desk.  From there, I could just lay the other boards right against that board and know that the entire desk would be level.  {Just a note: at the store, I laid my boards side by side to ensure that none of them were overly warped.  I did allow some very slight imperfections though since I was going for a bit of a rustic look.}

Once the three back boards were in place I was ready to finish the rest of the desk.

I measured where I wanted the cross/support boards, made sure the support board was even with the back of the desk {to give the shelf bracket a proper base}, and used wood glue to keep them in place.  That way I could flip all of it over ...

... and screw the support board in place.

The last step of preparation was to screw the shelf bracket into place, keeping it even with the back of the shelf.

To finish installing it, I held the base of the desk against the leveled back boards and screwed the brackets into the wall {into the studs}.

I'm so pleased with how it looks.  It's a really sweet spot in the room and I know my girls will spend lots of time coloring and writing at their little space.

The fun has already started.

If you like what you see, would you consider following me?

I'm linking to Natasha in Oz, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Miss Mustard Seed