With desks nearly impossible to get right now, we decided to make a new DIY Couch Desk to use for work or virtual school.
My husband and I were considering making a C table for working at the couch in our living room, but we were able to turn this basic desk into a couch desk by cutting a few inches off the legs.
We used the wood left over from our loft bed project (coming soon) to build this laptop desk for the living room.
DIY Couch Desk
This DIY sofa desk is the perfect size for using a laptop at your sofa. We bought this computer pad to cover the work area on the laptop table and use it as mouse pad. It is fine without it, but it is nice to have something soft to lean on when you are working all day.
Everyone in house is working from home now and we have run out of desks to use. We ordered one from Ikea for my daughter’s room and I have one in my office that I’ve had for 10 years.
We have officially run out of office space so we decided to make a couch desk.
Wood Supplies
- 4 Top 1×4 Pieces: 43.5 inches long
- 2 Under 1×4 Pieces: 14.5 inches long
- 4 Leg 2x4s: 25 inches long
- 2 Support 2x4s: 11 1/8 inches long
- Back Piece 1×4: 42 3/4 inches long
Painting Supplies
If you choose to paint the desk, we used white low emissions paint to make sure that it would not affect my daughter.
- White Paint
- Paint Brush
- Drop Cloth
Tool Supplies
- Nail Gun
- Nails – 1 inch
- Pocket Hole Jig
- Pocket Hole Jig Screws – 1 inch
- Drill
- Electric Sander
- Sandpaper 220 & 120
How to Build a Sofa Desk?
Cut the Wood
Start by cutting all the pieces to the lengths listed.
Lay the 4 top 1×4 pieces with the best side facing downward. Then, on the ends of the table top, use the 2 – 1×4 pieces that are 14.5 inch long.
Use the nail gun to nail the smaller 1x4s into the ends of the top of the desk.
Drill Pocket Holes In Desk Legs
Then, drill two pocket holes in one side of the 4 – 2x4s legs. Use the direction on the pocket hole jig to determine the depth.
Drill Pocket into Supports
Next, drill two pocket holes on both sides of the 2 – 2x4s supports. Use the direction on the pocket hole jig to determine the depth.
Add Supports Pieces
Add the supports at the 10 inches from the ground in between the 2 legs with the pocket holes facing down.
Attach Back Support
After using the desk for a while, we realized we needed a back support, but we did not want to add something that would get kicked.
Next, add the back piece 1 – 1×4: 42 3/4 inches long to the back of the desk at the top of the legs using the nail gun and 1 inch nails.
Paint, Stain, Or Seal
Sand all the edges very smooth using 120 and then 220 to give it a smooth finish.
Finally paint, stain, or just seal the wood.
We used low emission white paint to with a paint brush to paint the sofa table.