Desk Design

[lincmercguy]

I started working on my mission-style desk design.  The height is slightly less than usual at 28 3/4".  This will be mainly used with laptops/computers, so I think it should be a bit shorter. as I had posted about earlier.  The width is 60" and the depth is 26".  The open portion in the center is 24" wide.

I skipped the center drawer as I would have to make it very shallow and I will have more drawers than I do today anyway.  I had thought about building a shelf for the monitors to bring the height up, but I think I will build something separate that just sits on top of the desk.

I'm still not sold on the center portion in the back.  I don't think I want it as low as the sides, but I do want some support there to keep it from sagging and make it easier to move.

It may seem like a large desk, but I'm an engineer, so two monitors, open laptop, and keyboard/mouse is normal.  I've been thinking of replacing one of the monitors with a wide curved monitor.  This will replace a small teacher's desk (my son will use it), a stand-alone cabinet, and a couple of crates where my laptop currently resides.

I'll have standard drawers and use the Blum-motion undermount slides like I have for past projects.  I know I need to order those now to have any chance of them getting here this year.

Let me know what you think.

   

   

[Willyou]

Only minor comments:
With four legs in the back, you won't have any sagging issues.
That center rail in the front could become a very shallow pencil drawer. If it were mine, I would probably make it as a keyboard pull-out. But I like my keyboard to be as low as possible.
The desk would look a bit better if the top rails in front were the same width. Hopefully, that won't mess your drawer heights.

[lincmercguy]

The desk would look a bit better if the top rails in front were the same width. Hopefully, that won't mess your drawer heights.

Same width as the other drawer separators or same width as the upper rails on the side?

[FS7]

Uniformity doesn't necessarily have to flow around corners so I'm guessing he means what you would call the drawer separator. Without drawers the top piece would be the same width all the way around. I might do this just for more space because you already said it's lower than normal.

But then again with drawers in place you won't see that on the sides so uniformity probably isn't that important.

[msweig]

Agree with the above comment that you will not have sagging issues with the leg setup. If you only had the outer four then I could see the concern. But with eight each set of drawers will be fully supported, and only a small amount of weight would be between the legs. You would stress it more getting up if you pushed off the desk.

I have a widescreen curved monitor. It is awesome. Though if you get one and use a PC get the app PowerToys from Microsoft (it is on GitHub). Does a great job of managing all your open windows on a screen that wide.

[Don_M]

Your design looks good. I built a similar desk in the same style a while back. I have a tower and so the RH pedestal has a door w/ a slide-out shelf to hide the box. The desk (70"w x 34"d x 29"h) as well as the center opening (30") is a bit larger than your design. I also like your idea of only running the rear center panel part way down the back.

   

[Willyou]

Same width as the other drawer separators or same width as the upper rails on the side?

I was referring to the 3 top rails on the front having the same vertical (width) dimensions. However, probably a moot point if they will be covered by the drawer lips.

[cpolubin]

It looks like a good design. Since there's no center drawer you might consider a shallow pencil drawer on each side. Your current top drawers are too deep to keep pencils, pens, notepads etc. Either that or make a tray to fit in the top drawer.

Cliff

[lincmercguy]

"I was referring to the 3 top rails on the front having the same vertical (width) dimensions. However, probably a moot point if they will be covered by the drawer lips."

I'll have to think about that a bit. It makes sense, but a 3/4x3/4 square won't provide a lot of bracing. Maybe it's less of an issue with the legs.

The drawer fronts will be flush.

[lincmercguy]

"I also like your idea of only running the rear center panel part way down the back."

I'm still torn on that one. I really don't need it where it will go today, but I can't rule out the back being visible someday.