Tips & Tricks

Mountain Modern L-Shape Rotating Desk – ADA

March 29, 2023

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L Shape Rotating Desk Configuration

This desk system can be configured in so many ways. It can be placed against the wall, or freestanding in the center of the room since it’s finished on all sides.

Corner Configuration: Desk arranged as a corner desk, against the wall

Peninsula Configuration: All sides of all pieces of the desk are finished, so can be configured as an L shaped desk in the center of a room. Seating can be placed on both sides of the desktop.

Centered in Room: This desk is finished on all sides, so can be placed in the center of the room – it does not need to be placed against a wall.

Desk and TV Straight Configuration: When you need both a desk and TV on the same wall, placed straight, this desk system can deliver both, and adjust in size for a perfect fit. We are using this configuration for a Airbnb rental, so the bedroom has both a desk and tv, but it looks cohesive.

Why I Built This Desk

I needed a 12 foot long wall system that provided both a desk and media center, with some storage, for an Airbnb rental project. I have been wanting to do a corner or L shaped rotating desk for a long time, and thought this was the perfect push to take on this giant desk project.

I love this modern style, it is inspired by a Pottery Barn Desk retailing for $1800 (for a smaller size), I was able to build it for about $200.

If I had done cabinetry, it would have been much more expensive and much more work. This was a very good solution that looks and works amazing.

How I Built This Desk

This desk certainly wasn’t an easy project – it is huge. My husband helped me, the two of us were able to put the desk together in an afternoon. The sanding and painting took another day, working on and off as coats of paint dried. You could definitely tackle this over a weekend.

Here’s the basic steps –

Ripping on Tablesaw

You’ll need a tablesaw to do a good job on this project. You are saving $1600+ by building yourself, this is a big, nice piece – invest in a tablesaw.

The two sheets of plywood need to be ripped into 6 pieces, each 15-3/4″ wide. The rip widths must be identical.

The 2x4s should be ripped twice, so the rounded edges are removed and the 2×4 width is 3″. I ran the boards through first at 3-1/4″ and then ran the second side through with the fence set at 3″.

Assembling with Pocket Holes

For a professional looking project, pocket holes are the way to go. This is the same method furniture and cabinet companies use. It is a miracle that you can do pocket holes at home with a $100 tool.

Pocket holes give you precision and hidden fasteners that hold up over time.

First I built the two tabletop pieces. They are 3/4″ plywood framed with the ripped 2x4s.

Then I attached the “legs” and inset the plywood panels.

From there, I set the shelves in between the legs and the 1×3 bottom trim. I also attached the 1×3 bottom trim with pocket holes to the shelf bottom.

The final step was attaching the 1×2 trim to the shelf faces. I used 1-1/4″ brad nails and wood glue.

The desktop pieces i built the same way. It is very strong with this method – we did testing on it.

To finish the inside of the leg we added cleats with 1-1/4″ brad nails

And then covered it with plywood. I did use 1/4″ plywood (we ran out of 3/4″) but the plans call for 3/4″.

Finishing the Desk

The finish is a huge deal. It takes me as long to finish a project as it does to build it.

There were some nail holes to fill. We filled them with wood filler and let dry.

The entire project was sanded with 120 grit sandpaper.

I did slightly round the outside edges with the sander, sharp knife edges can get busted off easily.

I used a mini roller and brush for corners to paint. It took three light coats. A light, fine grit sanding was done between coats for a super smooth finish.