How To Make and Sell a DIY Desk | Your Guide to Making Low-Cost DIY Desks

10 min read

Now that more and more people are working at home, the need for in-house office space is increasing — and that means there’s an opportunity to sell DIY desks online.

In this guide, we’ll show you three easy and cheap DIY desk ideas and help you pick your ideal design. Then, we’ll cover the basics of starting an online store and marketing your new products.

Three Cheap and Easy DIY Desk Design Ideas

First up: desk design ideas. Here are three low-cost and easy options that are fantastic for a variety of home office needs.

Number One: the floating desk

Floating desks (a.k.a. wall-mounted desks) offer a minimal footprint that’s perfect for small spaces. To get started, you’ll need a few basic components:

2 metal L braces (sometimes called corner braces)
1 slab of light-weight wood (choose a size that will give you enough workspace)
Drywall screws
Wood screws (make sure they’re long enough to go halfway through the thickness of your wood plank)
A screwdriver

How to build the desk

To build this easy DIY desk, mount the L braces to your wall using the drywall screws. Then, secure the slab of wood to the top of the installed braces using your wood screws. And that’s it! With this basic, low-cost setup, you can make personalized alterations like painting the wood or adding varnish for a polished look.

Tips for Success

When selecting your wood, L mounts, and screws, make sure the setup will be able to support its own weight. Be sure to reference the “max load” details on your selected braces and follow proper installation guidelines so your floating desk doesn’t fall.

Who should use this DIY desk design

The style of this DIY design is perfect for smaller spaces or people who don’t store much stuff in their home office. The simple design is also pretty easy to ship, it’s a good option if you want to sell desks online to buyers who aren’t in your local area.

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Number Two: the reclaimed wood desk

If you want to build your own desk, using reclaimed wood is a fantastic idea. First, you’ll be saving money on more expensive, new wood. Second, you’ll get a beautiful, vintage look. Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

A slab of reclaimed wood
Two short, wooden step ladders (these will function as the support legs for your desk, so make sure they’re a workable height)
Screws
A screwdriver

How to build the desk

Since this desk uses reclaimed wood and old step ladders, the actual building process will vary. But generally, all you have to do is secure the reclaimed wood slab to the top of your step ladders. In most cases, this can be done by simply placing the slab on the top steps or your ladders, then securing the setup with screws.

Tips for success

As you gather the components for this DIY desk, make sure your slab of reclaimed wood will fit in the space between your ladders’ handrails. If you can’t find wide enough step ladders, you can mark the highest rung needed and saw off anything above that section — removing the handrails and creating a platform for your slab of wood. Then, follow the remaining construction steps.

Who should use this DIY desk design

Since this DIY desk design doesn’t rely on wall mounts, it can be made bigger than the floating desk. This makes it a fantastic option for bigger spaces or people who need more storage room in their home office. Since this design style is harder to ship, it’s also a great option if you want to sell to local buyers (we’ll cover that later).

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Number Three: the crate desk

The final design idea on our list, this DIY desk uses wooden crates and a simple slab of wood to make an easy, low-cost workspace for your home office. Track down these simple components to get started:

4 wooden crates
1 slab of wood (big enough to serve as the top of your desk)
Wood screws
Wood glue

How to build the desk

Building this DIY desk takes a little more effort than the other options, but the payoff might just be worth it. First, you’ll make the support legs: Using your wood glue, take two of the wooden crates and glue them together so the tops (the wall-less sides) are facing out. In the end, you should have what looks like two boxes stacked sideways on top of each other with their openings accessible. Repeat this with the other set of boxes, then use the wood screws to secure the slab of wood on top of your crates. The end result is a desk with four outward-facing storage compartments.

Tips for success

Since some wooden crates are less stable than others, make sure you pick high-quality options so the desk’s support legs are sturdy. It’s also important to actually use wood glue — craft glue is too weak and will fall apart pretty quickly.

Who should use this DIY desk design

This DIY desk design includes four storage compartments, so it’s a fantastic option for people who keep more stuff in their home office. It’s also a good option if you want a custom workspace with painted details or a specific shade of varnish.

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How to Sell DIY Desks Online

Anyone can make a table with their hands and sell it online. There are many options of tables to make: a table made of boxes, a floating table made of wood, a wooden table with epoxy, etc. You can sell the finished product through an online platform or social networks. Decide in advance how you can deliver the table to your customer.

Selling handmade furniture can be a great way to start making money online. If you want to sell DIY desks, there are two important things to consider: what ecommerce platform to use and how to market your products.

Picking a platform for your online desk store

Desks are usually pretty big, so it’s important to choose an ecommerce platform that lets you sell to local customers. That way, buyers can pick up their order or have it delivered by car so you don’t have to deal with expensive shipping services.

At Ecwid, we understand that shipping products isn’t always doable, so we provide a simple dashboard to set up local pickup and delivery.

Marketing your online desk store

How do you get more customers for an online store? Marketing. As you start listing your DIY desks for sale, you’ll need to tell shoppers about your products — and Ecwid makes that easy. Using things like Facebook and Google ads, you can target specific people who are interested in buying a desk and start building your new business.

Plus, we’ll help you analyze the results of your marketing campaigns to make sure you’re positioned for success.

Time To Get Started!

With the growing need for home office space, it’s a fantastic time to start making and selling your own desks. So get going!

Ready to start making money online? Check out our guide to getting started with Ecwid (it’s free).

Discover DIY craft ideas and learn how you can sell them online.

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Aug 4, 2021

About the author

Max has been working in the ecommerce industry for the last six years helping brands to establish and level-up content marketing and SEO. Despite that, he has experience with entrepreneurship. He is a fiction writer in his free time.