One of our biggest challenges when turning the guest bedroom into a shared office was deciding where the desks would go. Since both of us need a workspace, the question was really where do the desks go in a small 10′ x 10.5′ room that also has to hold a sofa that pulls out into a full bed for overnight guests? To make the choice easier, I sketched a simple floor plan to compare a few layout options.
- Zone #1 looked appealing because it puts one desk in front of the window with a pleasant backyard view. However, that placement positioned the couch uncomfortably close to the other desk, and we were already planning a tall bookcase on that wall to balance the off-center window, so Zone #1 wasn’t ideal.
- Zone #2 felt like the best candidate: it’s the longest uninterrupted wall. The drawback was depth—there’s only about 21″ of clearance before the folded-out sofa bed would be in the way—so any desk would need to be shallow or custom-sized.
- Zone #3 only had space for a single desk. Putting one person there and the other in Zone #1 or #2 would reduce the need for a long two-person desk, but it would also mean our backs faced each other, which makes collaboration and screen-sharing awkward.
In the end, Zone #2 won. The long, blank wall offered a place to hang art, pinboards, or other productivity-focused wall decor, and it gave us the clean visual field we wanted while working. The next step was finding a desk to fit that narrow but long space.
We had roughly seven feet between the window and an open door to work with, and needed a desktop that stayed under 21″ deep so the sofa bed could fold out fully. After hunting around—online, in stores, and even in thrift shops—we narrowed the options to two contenders: IKEA’s Besta Burs and a Sloane-style leaning bookcase desk. Both had pros and cons. The IKEA unit was relatively shallow but still only 5’10” long and 15″ deep, so it didn’t use the full wall. The leaning bookcase desk was pricier, didn’t offer a true two-person desktop, and would have added even more bookcases to a room where we already planned storage.
Not satisfied with off-the-shelf options, I decided to build a custom desk. I’d been eager to try the Kreg Jig on a larger project and building a simple table seemed like the perfect opportunity. Transporting long boards wasn’t ideal—our Nissan Altima isn’t exactly designed for lumber—so Sherry remembered an old hollow-core bathroom door we’d been storing in the garage. The door was almost a perfect fit: just under seven feet long and about 18″ wide. Best of all, it was free and already on site.
Rather than follow a detailed woodworking plan, I copied the basic leg and rail design from our dining table. With a few measurements in hand, we picked up materials at Home Depot: 1×3 poplar for the rails and 3×3 poplar posts to make sturdy legs. Total cost for the wood was about $70; since we already owned screws, filler, primer, and paint, that was the only out-of-pocket cost for the entire desk.
Preparation was key. I removed the door’s hinges and filled those indentations with wood putty, leaving the handle cutout intact so it could be repurposed as a cord pass at the back of the desk. The door had accumulated grime and peeling paint while sitting in the garage, so I scrubbed it with a vinegar solution and sanded the surface, then primed the pieces before assembly to avoid scuffing the final paint during construction.
To make the door fit a touch better, I cut off a few inches and used painter’s tape along the cut line to prevent splintering before running the circular saw. The hollow-core interior required some sanding on the cut edge, but since that side would face the wall, I didn’t bother boxing it in with new wood.
With primed parts ready, I used the Kreg Jig to drill pocket holes in the leg faces and attached the legs to the underside of the door, setting them in from the edge for a cleaner look. I used leftover furring strips and a 1×3 guide to ensure consistent setbacks for legs and rails. The rails were cut and pocket-holed, then screwed into the legs and into the door frame at regular intervals for added stability. Most screws angled into the door’s solid frame, providing a reassuringly strong connection despite the hollow-core surface.
After a round of wood putty, an oil-based primer to fix a few scrapes, and paint and poly like we used on a previous dresser project, the desk was complete. The finished piece is a clean white desktop that fits the space perfectly and offers enough surface for two laptops and other essentials. Even though it looks slim in photos, it’s 18″ deep—deep enough to accommodate our 9″ deep laptops and still leave room for accessories. Cost: around $70. Satisfaction: priceless.
Now we’re outfitting the space with chairs, storage, and electronics. With a newborn at home, progress is steady rather than rushed, but we’ve already logged several work sessions at our new door-turned-desk and it’s working great. The walls will get art and organization tools over time, and we’ve already planned a couple more office projects to refine the room’s function.
Have you repurposed anything creative into a desk or solved a tricky workspace layout in a small room? We’d love to hear other practical, space-saving office ideas as we continue this makeover.
Psst — to follow the full office/guest bedroom/playroom makeover, check the intro and the sleeper sofa hunt in the project series.