DIY Rustic Pipe Desk

My parents have recently renovated their home.  They got a new kitchen, new hardwood floors, appliances, the works.  The house pretty much had a complete overhaul. And it looks awesome!  They asked Landon and I if we could make my dad a new desk out of repurposed wood and steel pipe.  So we took on the challenge!  Here are a few photos from how we did this little project.

We started with 3 pine boards, cut 5 feet long.  We planed them to even out the surface.  Because this was a desk we wanted the surface to be as smooth as possible.

Then, we got to distress the wood!  This was my favorite part because we could do whatever we wanted to it.. and it didn't have to be perfect.  It was a pretty good stress reliever too!  Below are some of the "tools" we used, and some upclose shots of the best distressed parts.

Then Gracie decided she was going to help too.... :)

Next, we had to attach the 3 boards together.  We did this with a combination of wood glue and screws.  Landon has a tool called a Kreg Jig, that makes pocket holes for projects like this one that involve wood.  It's very handy in making a project more secure, while not having to see nails and screws in the wood.  First we glued the pieces together and used a clamp of sorts to hold them all together so they would dry and not move around.  Then once the glue was dry we screwed all 3 pieces together. 

The day after attaching the boards, it was time to stain them.  We used a rust stain to do this because we wanted a "natural" stained effect.  We made the stain with vinegar and steel wool.  We let this combination sit in a plastic container for a few days until it made enough stain for us to work with.  This stain went on very light, and eventually darkened to a true rust color.  We then polyurethaned a semi gloss finish after the stain set in and darkened.

The next step was to add the pipe legs to the desk.  We used an assortment of steel pipe from Lowe's, and screwed them together.  This is very easy to do and looks very clean.  After measuring and making sure the pipe legs would work, we spray painted two coats of metallic oil rubbed bronze paint.  The next step was attaching the legs.  Then the desk was complete!  Here are the last few pictures of the finishing steps.

I'm hoping to be able to post more projects this year on the blog.  Landon is very talented when it comes to making things, so hopefully we will be able to post more!  I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas and a very Happy New Year!!  More posts to come!!

**love**

Tessa