Now that he's gotten himself more and more into photography, a desk for his laptop (for image processing) was bubbling up as a real need. He also needed a place to do his paperwork, and store a few items.
I looked far and wide on Craigslist for a desk with the dimensions we needed, but I couldn't find anything...too short, too long, to wonky looking, too beat up...and don't even get me started on what people think their their stuff is worth! I could find nothing that would work. I decided we should build one, and the bar stool desk was born. A quick Google search would show me that I wasn't the first to think of this, but what I found did get my finishing and decorating idea motor running!
For a couple of days I checked Craigslist for used bar stools before I found some that would work. A married couple, on the last day of their garage sale, had a pair of solid wood bar stools in exactly the style I was hoping to find. We dickered down to $30 for the pair. Perfect!
It was time to design/build a topper. I got the idea for the topper from the one that makes up my own desk. It was purchased from Pottery Barn years ago, but the idea is a good one. Build 'pockets' for the seats of the bar stools to rest in, which keeps the topper from shifting.
The bar stool seats were about 1-1/2" too wide for the dimensions needed, so Cliff trimmed them down just a bit with the table saw. You can see the sawn edges here.
...and with.
The topper has a cove edge, which Cliff added with the router. I love that thing. I think it's my favorite wood working tool. It gives everything a finished off, professional look. Sometimes I look for projects that require a routered edge, just so we can use it.
The topper upside down, showing the coved edge.
...and right side up.
A good sanding and finishing project is next, but for now, you can see how things look, and get a sense of how easy this is. The routered edge takes a specialty tool, but even just a basic pine board, sanded and finished, can sit atop a pair of barstools, for a quick and easy desk.
Total cost? $55. I love it, and more importantly, so does Cliff.
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