How to create your own workspace and storage for your art supplies.

Every artist needs a place to keep their art supplies, even if it’s at a homemade desk in the corner of their room. There are several easy ways to make a homemade desk out of things that are cheap and easy to find.

The first step is deciding on how big you want the desk and how much weight it will need to hold. For example, if you will be using a computer, you will need a bigger desktop and it will need to be able to hold a heavier weight than just canvases and tubes of paint.

Another thing to consider is storage. How will you round up the computer disks, sketching supplies, extra notebooks, canvases, and reference books? If this is the case, then you will need a desk with good built-in storage.

Below are several designs for easy to make desks. Make sure to pick the one that will best suit your needs.

Desk One: The Corner Desk

This desk can fit in a corner and has the most storage and desktop space. It will work great for a computer user.

Materials:

Two Core Doors

3 Two Drawer Filing Cabinets

Duel-Purpose Glue (Make sure it is a kind that will work on wood and metal.)

A 2-inch board the same length as the top of the filing cabinets.

Set one of the filing cabinets in the chosen corner with the other two cabinets on both sides on the opposite walls. Glue the first core door to the tops of the filing cabinet in the corner and to the one on the left, lining the edge of the door up against the wall. Next, glue the 2-inch piece of wood to the top of the cabinet on the right. Glue the second core door on top of the first over the cabinet in the middle and on the cabinet on the right.

Desk Two: The Crate Desk

This desk is the simplest, but still has great storage.

Materials:

4 Yaffa Blocks or Plastic Milk Crates

1 Core Door (or a plank of wood about 6 feet long)

Stack Yaffa blocks so that you have two stacks with two Yaffa blocks in each stack. Then put the core door across them. Make sure that the Yaffa blocks are far enough apart that the edges are even with the edge of the door.

Desk Three: Cheap and Quick

This desk has an easy construction and is fairly cheap.

Materials:

8 Cinder Blocks

1 Core Door

Build like the desk above, making sure that the blocks are turned on their long sides, holes outward. Stack four blocks on each side and top with a core door.