Typically I post regarding my profession, early childhood education. However, I am also a mother of 5 children. This school year I have a 1st grader, 3rd grader, 5th grader, 7th grader, and a senior. Our schools are online for the first trimester, at least. We can reevaluate at that point what is right for our family. All summer, I knew we would be learning virtually in the fall. I waited until the last minute to prepare our home, which is typical in our house. I needed desks, just like the rest of the virtual schooling families. I didn’t just need one desk, I needed 3. I scoured the internet. Everything was sold out or had a long wait for shipment. I hit resale shops with no success. I went to Walmart, Target, At Home, Meijer…all with no luck. My last store was Ikea.
Ikea had a long line to get in. I waited with a 100 other people, most likely on the lookout for school supplies also. I headed upstairs to see what the options were. There were a few that did not say they were out of stock. I went downstairs to the warehouse to find the desks to purchase. Every shelf was empty. There was not a desk to be found. I was able to find some useful supplies to build our virtual homeschool set up. I purchased the following items from Ikea:
- Magnet Board https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/svensas-memo-board-white-00440363/
- Wall Rail Bar https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/sunnersta-rail-30303722/
- Wall Containers https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/sunnersta-container-white-50303735/
- White Picture Frames https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/fiskbo-frame-white-00295653/
- Green Picture Frames https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/fiskbo-frame-light-green-10464730/
I was still without a desk though. I am not the most handy person. It seemed that I was going to have to build desks from scratch. School was scheduled to start in 3 days and I was headed to Home Depot for wood. I wandered the aisles, looking for something to reach out and grab me as an easy way to make a desk. I know from past experience, legs are the toughest part for me. Precision is not my strong suit and legs need to be exactly the same or you get a wobble. As I was wandering, I found wooden sawhorses. These would be perfect legs! Already formed and inexpensive. Next, I found a piece of birch plywood the right size. I gathered some screws, wood glue, and a quart of paint to complete my supplies.
- Sawhorse https://www.homedepot.com/p/Signature-Development-29-in-Wooden-Sawhorse-378739/100029549
- Plywood https://www.homedepot.com/p/Birch-Plywood-Common-3-4-in-x-2-ft-x-4-ft-Actual-0-728-in-x-23-75-in-x-47-75-in-154148/203504324
- Wood Glue https://www.homedepot.com/p/8-oz-Titebond-II-Ultimate-Wood-Glue-5003/202180087
- Screws https://www.homedepot.com/p/DECKMATE-8-x-1-1-4-in-Star-Flat-Head-Wood-Deck-Screw-1-lb-Pack-115975/306587122
- Paint https://www.acehardware.com/magnolia-home-by-joanna-gaines
I sanded the edges of the plywood and the sawhorse to give a rounded edge. Then place glue on the top of the sawhorse and place the plywood on top. Measure to make sure the plywood is centered. I placed the plywood with 10 inches on each side and 10 inches on the front side. This allows for more space for legs under the desk. Then screw the plywood to the sawhorse with one screw on each side. I used a hole drill bit to create a cord space on the back of the desk top.
The desk took about 2 hours from start to finish and cost $60. It is much larger than most desks in this price range. The kids loved being involved! Here is the finished set up with our Ikea finds installed as well.
Desk success! Easy, affordable, and perfect size. Day one of virtual homeschool is underway.