the desk.

So, I might not have mentioned this before, but I built a desk.

From scratch. By myself.

(ignore the half-painted room in the background)

I love so many things about it. I love how it fits just perfect in this corner (which of course, it does, because I built it to fit there). I love the color and finish on it. I love having my workspace right here in the living room.

But my favorite part? It's that I made it myself.

Originally, I planned to buy a desk to fit in this space. I did a ton of searching online - checking out expensive options and cheaper alternatives, but I still couldn't find something that really fit what I was looking for. So, I checked out ana-white.com, and chose to use the plan for the Tryde coffee table, with just a few modifications (I made it taller and a bit deeper).

I have to be honest here - though I have wanted to try my hand at making a piece of furniture for a while, I was still pretty intimidated by the project. I talked to my dad, and while he was able to give me some advice, I still had so many questions. I studied the plan over and over, changing the measurements to fit the dimensions I want and triple-checking my changes. I bought the lumber and laid everything out in my living room. Then I hesitated.

One of my college professors told me once that the reason we procrastinate is really because we're afraid, and I've never forgotten that. Sometimes, you just need to jump in and do the thing that scares you - especially when your head knows that this is a silly thing for your heart to be afraid of. As soon as I realized that I was hesitating out of fear, I made up my mind to just start and I got up and drilled my first pilot hole.

It was slow going at first, though things started to move a bit faster when I borrowed my dad's (much better) drill and stopped using mine. I bought myself a speed load drill and drive kit, which might be one of the most useful things I've spent money on in the last few months. I took it one step at a time, and when I had questions, I called Dad or asked my brother Jon to stop by on his way home from work. And within a few weeks, working on it an hour here and an hour there, it was done!