We have this little nook in our kitchen that has always perplexed me design-wise. In the 2 years we've lived in our house it has served as a place for the highchair, the dog's feeding area, the trash can, and a place to stick an extra seat when we have a lot of people over. But I've always wanted to make it a more useful area in the kitchen because wasted space really bugs me. A few months back I realized that it would be the perfect spot to build a small desk area to check emails, look up recipes, and catch the mail that usually ends up strewn across the island. After getting my favorite handyman on board to help with the actual building part of my vision, we started working on the logistics. I found a remnant sheet of our existing countertop pattern online and had it shipped (twice) from Washington, the first shipment arriving in a box of shattered fragments. We watched several Youtube videos on how to laminate a counter and it didn't look so bad. John built the base out of two stair-post newels cut down and some plywood and then we spent the majority of our time working on the laminating part and getting the pieces cut perfectly. The hardest part was building the back-splash section from scratch and cutting the tiny strips of laminate without crumbling them. John learned how to use a router, that we borrowed from a friend, and we had a late-night, romantic Valentine's eve of DIY-ing together and getting covered in sawdust.
I love the way the desk turned out and am proud of John for the new carpentry skills he now has under his belt for the next time. Our nook went from a total waste of space to the perfect spot to sit and drink a cup of coffee while catching up on emails and still being able to see what the kids are doing in the playroom.
Space Before
John at work with his top-assistant
The new desk area
wow. Totally cute and practical. You are winning in life!
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