DIY Built In Office Desk and Cabinets
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Transforming an underutilized space into something functional and beautiful is one of my favorite things about DIY projects. This time, I set out to create a built in office desk and cabinets in our living room—a space that had plenty of potential but lacked purpose. What started as a vision for extra storage and a designated workspace evolved into a beautiful and practical addition to our home. If you’ve ever dreamed of combining sleek aesthetics with smart organization, this tutorial is your guide to achieving just that. Whether you’re tackling DIY built in office cabinets, looking for clever office built-ins ideas, or hoping to maximize storage with built-in shelves with drawers, you’ll find actionable steps and tips here to bring your vision to life.
The Goals
The living room itself is awkwardly long. The far wall where I’m building is just around the corner from our front entryway closet which is quite small.
I played around with more aesthetic design options for this wall such as two chairs and a bookshelf. But, we already have a decent sized sectional couch in there and a chair so although that would look nice, it doesn’t really get the maximum functionality out of this room.
A few of my goals with this particular build is to:
- Create more front entryway storage for seasonal things like beach towels, swimsuits, sunscreen, winter clothes and gear, etc.
- Art supply storage – we have so many art supplies and we use them almost daily in our house so having them easily accessible but also organized is a must.
- A work space! Currently we use our fourth bedroom as an office but that doesn’t fit into our long term plan for this house so I want to have a work space on the main floor. This will also double as a homework or art space for kids as they get older as well.
Here is a quick design mockup I did to get a better visualization of the project.
Because my goals are not necessarily closely aligned with one another, I’m choosing to use cabinets and drawers as opposed to open shelving. You can put anything behind a door and nobody is going to know what’s there. It does not have to be aesthetically pleasing and cohesive inside those cabinets (but it most certainly will be from the outside!).
Home Office Built-ins With Desk – Research
The research process was extensive for this particular project. I knew I wanted to incorporate the desk I already had and I wanted to maximize the space on either side of the desk.
Also, I had gift cards to Home Depot so I was challenging myself to purchase as many of the materials as I could from Home Depot in order to keep the total cost down.
With that being said, I sifted through just about every build-it-yourself furniture product they have to offer in order to find the best ones. Things I was taking into consideration when making my decision:
- design….aesthetic design, inset vs not inset, can I make it look cohesive with framing?
- function
- size
- paintability
- complexity
- ease of use for children
- longevity (will it grow with us)
I landed on these two large cabinets and two drawer units for the bulk of the project. Then, I wanted to put cabinets on the desktop as well to make it look like it was all one unit. I used simple stock cabinets for those.
Visualize the Design Plans
I always find it really helpful to map out all of your pieces using painters tape. This way you can make sure you have the measurements correct and it will look the way you hoped.
Build The Furniture
An annoying, but necessary, step in the process. Make sure when you are assembling your furniture that you tighten every screw as tight as possible and follow the directions exactly. You want these pieces to be sturdy!!
Build the Bases
A vital step to any kind of built-in furniture is adding bases! Bases are super simple to build, I find it easiest to use 2x4s and secure them together in a rectangular shape (assuming that’s the shape of your furniture, haha) using screws.
Bases are important because they lift the furniture off of the ground so that you can add trim around the bottom giving it the built-in look!
Install Furniture
We had to get a little creative with this part. It was simple enough to attach the drawer units straight into the base frames using a few screws.
But, the cabinets were large and very heavy – too heavy to just sit on top of the drawer units. I was worried they would crush the drawers over time and be too unstable. So, we opted to attach the cabinets to the wall.
In order to do this, we had to add 1×2 pieces of wood to the cabinets in three different spots so that we had something more secure to attach to the wall. We put several, very large screws through the 1x2s and the cabinet unit and then into studs in the wall.
We had a little panic moment when our stud finder was picking up more than just studs. On the other side of the wall and directly above this room are bathrooms, which means plumbing is likely in the wall. We’ve already drilled through a water pipe once before during our kitchen shelf project and that was not ideal.
We figured it was better to be safe than sorry (very sorry) so we cut out a good chunk of drywall to see what we were working with. Turns out, there is a bunch of plumbing back there but luckily it was a good 6 inches away from the drywall so we weren’t really at risk of hitting it.
Make Custom DeskTop
There are a few reasons the original desktop was not going to work for this project.
1) it was too wide and would leave a weird gap to work with between the top and bottom of the desk.
2) I wanted to increase my desktop space since I was going to add cabinets on top of the desk AND I wanted to be able to look out the window to the left while working so that meant adding a pull out slide of some sort in order to increase the workspace and change the direction I face.
3) I really wanted to do more epoxy. Two years ago, I built our kitchen countertops out of MDF boards and epoxy and I’ve been dying to do it since! This was the perfect opportunity.
Cut and Sand the MDF Board
Using the table saw, we cut the MDF pieces to size. Then, I lightly sanded the edges just enough to round them out. I used 220 grit sandpaper to start and then went back over them very lightly with 320 grit.
MDF board is super easy to sand so you don’t need much pressure at all! I also suggest wearing a mask or doing it outside because the sawdust is intense.
Paint the Desktop
Our kitchen countertops were painted to look like white marble but I wanted to try my hand at black marble this time. It was a bit more complicated to make it look realistic but I through a lot of trial and error, I got there eventually! For the full tutorial on how to make epoxy countertops, refer to this blog post: DIY Faux Marble Epoxy Countertop Tutorial.
Epoxy the Desktop
Hands down, the absolute BEST countertop epoxy is made by Stone Coat Countertops. I had absolutely ZERO experience with epoxy of any kind before doing our kitchen countertops and as a complete newb, I was able to create a full kitchen of countertops that people constantly compliment and ask where we got our marble at – lol! I don’t say that to brag but to hopefully make you see that there is NO WAY I would have been able to do that if it weren’t for Stone Coat’s amazing products! If you’re interested in trying out their products, use my affiliate link and discount code: PEARLS for 10% off your order!
Their countertop epoxy is so easy to use and leaves such an amazing finish that is durable, heat resistant up to 450 degrees, stain resistant, scratch resistant, and beautiful! And did I mention… addicting!!
Install Framing
Once we had all of the furniture and desk top complete and installed then it was time to frame it all in. To cut down on cost, I used 1/4in hardboard to do most of the framing. Hardboard also has a smooth finish much like the furniture pieces so it will look very similar once painted. However, hardboard is not a strong material and needs a lot of bracing to avoid flexing. I attached it using a brad nailer.
Install Baseboards and Moulding
Arguably one of my favorite steps in any project…once you add the trim around the bottom (and top in this case) it all starts to come together so nicely!
Caulking and Bondo
Another very important step! I’m always tempted to skip over this because I just want to get to the painting part but I promise you, you will be sorry. This kind of finish work really makes or breaks projects using laminate furniture.
I made sure to caulk EVERY seam – the seams I created with the framing AND the seams that were on the cabinets. Basically, if you can see a little gap, you better put some caulk on it or else it’s going to look like shit once you paint it.
I bondo’d the cabinet holes because I put different handles on them. Bondo is a very useful product. It’s kind of like wood glue except it dries super fast and hard as nails. But it’s very easy to sand down and it leaves a smooth surface making the previous hole invisible once painted.
Follow the instructions on the can very closely. It only has about 5 mins of working time before it starts to harden so work in small batches. It’s also very stinky.
Drill Design into Cabinet Doors
There was absolutely no functional reason behind the decision to drill a pattern into the cabinet doors – I just thought it was pretty and added character. I’m a sucker for the little details!
I traced out the pattern I wanted on a piece of cardboard and drilled the holes through the cardboard to make a template. Then, I made sure the template was centered in the middle of each cabinet door before taping it down in place.
I used a smaller drill bit to start the hole in the middle of each big hole. Then, went back in with the larger drill bit to make the final hole.
I also got a little obsessive and took my dremel to each hole to really smooth and round them out. Not necessary but I needed more steps in the process I guess, lol.
Prime the Cabinets and Drawers
Something I hardly everrrrr do but very crucial when painting laminate furniture – prime! Laminate furniture has a very slick finish and if you don’t give the paint something to stick to it will just scrape right off with little effort.
Since this will likely be a highly used storage area, it was important to do everything I could to avoid paint scraping off. That will look terrible and all of this hard work would be for nothing.
Therefore, I used the Zinsser BIN Shellac based primer. It is the best for this type of project! I ended up doing three coats of primer and I did not sand in between.
And, here’s why…
- Pain in the ass.
- It was leaving sanding marks and I knew the paint would not cover them up so it was going to lose the nice, smooth finish it had naturally due to the laminate furniture and hardboard.
- Pain in the ass!
You could get away with two coats if you sand in between probably but I just did 3.
Paint the Cabinets and Drawers
I have tried many, MANY different brands of paint and this seems to be a highly controversial topic in the DIY world but I am 100% team… Sherwin Williams! Every time. There’s no better paint.
And, there’s only one paint I would ever consider using for a project like this. Sherwin Williams’ Urethane Enamel Trim and Cabinet Paint. IT’S THE BOMB!! Seriously. I used it to paint all of our kitchen cabinets (when we did our kitchen in 2022) and we’ve had ZERO issues with it. It’s flawless, smooth, strong, cleans so easily and leaves such a beautiful finish!
I opted to leave the cabinet doors and drawers attached so I covered the hardware with tape by placing a large piece of tape over top and then cutting around it with my exacto knife.
Ideally, I would have liked to use my paint sprayer for the project to get the smoothest finish possible. However, that was going to be a logistical nightmare that I didn’t want to deal with. So, I ended up rolling it on using a 1/4in nap roller for smooth surfaces and was very impressed with the finish!
This type of paint is self-leveling (to a point) so it will smooth out as it dries. I’ve used it with a foam roller before – some say that gives the smoothest finish but I disagree – these rollers were much better!
I did 3 coats….woof! And I did let it dry at least 24 hours between coats!
Color: Twig Basket, Sherwin Williams
Install Metal Sheets
Okay, so (queso!) in some of my inspo pics there were these cool mesh, metal cabinet doors – what would you call that? Anyways, I love the look but I hate that you can see what’s behind it. The whole point of using cabinets is so you can close the door on the contents, lol.
But, I still wanted the look!
I used tin snips to cut the metal sheet to size. Regular scissors would work fine, it’s super thin!
I painted the face of the door black (using leftover paint from the desk top) and glued the metal sheet straight onto the cabinet door. It worked great! Looks the same but you can’t see the bright highlighters in the cabinet!
Install Backsplash
The project with 1000 steps… are you still with me?? Honestly, I’m impressed and we should be friends!
The tile design for this project is really just cosmetic and serves no actual purpose. I used MusselBound’s adhesive mat to adhere the tiles to the wall. Another great product that makes tiling so much faster and less messy!
I used these mosaic tiles and was able to cut them easily using only a tile cutter.
Grout: Mapei, Color: Biscuit
I used leftover paint from the desktop to paint the pattern directly onto the tile. I did no prep, and that is definitely not the “right” paint to use for painting tiles. It comes off very easily! But, because this was just for looks and is such a small square footage, I did not care.
But let me be clear… I would NOT advise doing that for any other circumstance, really.
I finished off the top and bottom with a small piece of painted, wooden trim!
See DIY Tile Wall Backsplash Design for the full backsplash tutorial.
Install Shelf
I used leftover MDF board to make the shelf above the desktop cabinets. I ironed the edge banding on to the front edge to give it a sleeker finish.
Add hardware
Aaaaand, last but not least, install the hardware! I swapped out the hardware on the desk for something a little more sophisticated. Long handles for the drawers – easy for kids to use without much trouble and still look great. I opted for a latch for the upper cabinets because it looks cool and the kids can’t open it – for now, lol.
I’m actually still deciding on hardware for the desktop cabinets so if you have any suggestions, let me know!
List of Materials
- Cabinet/drawers/Shelf
- Main Cabinets (2)
- Drawer units (2)
- Desktop Cabinets (2)
- 2x4s
- 1x2s
- Screws
- Bondo
- Caulk
- Caulk Gun
- Palm Sander
- Liquid nails
- Clamps
- Hardboard
- Primer
- Paint
- Paint Rollers
- Drawer Pulls
- Cabinet Latch
- Desk Pulls
- Metal Sheet
- MDF Board
- Edge banding
- Iron
- Desk Top
- MDF Board
- Palm Sander
- 220 Grit Sandpaper
- 320 Grit sandpaper
- Black Paint
- Veining Paint
- Epoxy
- Top Coat
- (See Epoxy Tutorial for more detailed list of supplies)
- Backsplash
- MusselBound Adhesive Mat
- Tile
- Tile Cutter
- Grout
- Group Float
- Sponge
- Paint
- (See Backsplash tutorial for more detailed list of supplies)
Creating a built in office desk and cabinets allowed me to reimagine an underutilized space into a functional, organized, and beautiful feature of our home. From hidden storage for art supplies to a sleek epoxy desktop, this project seamlessly combines practicality with design. Whether you’re inspired by home office ideas, planning DIY office built-ins with desk, or dreaming of custom built-in shelves with drawers, this project is proof that a little creativity and hard work can completely transform your space.
