We recently added trim to our office desk to give the cabinets a built-in look. The bottoms had been feeling unfinished, so we decided to attach simple baseboard-style molding to blend the cabinets with the room and create a cleaner, more polished appearance.
Before heading to the store I measured carefully and made a small cheat sheet to note each cut and angle. When cutting miters I tend to mark the direction of the cut on the piece so I don’t accidentally cut the wrong way — little reminders help when you’re nervous about making precision cuts.
One important constraint was height: there was less than three inches between the floor and the cabinet doors, so traditional baseboard wouldn’t fit. I found a narrow trim profile that matched what we’d used elsewhere in the house and bought three 8-foot pieces for about $14 total. The slim profile allowed the trim to sit flush without interfering with the cabinet doors.
I measured and marked each piece, double-checking the angles before cutting. I like to re-check lengths and miters as I go so everything lines up at installation time.
When the pieces fit together properly, I attached them to the cabinet faces with small finishing nails. I drove the nails in most of the way with a hammer, then used a nail punch to sink the heads slightly below the trim surface without damaging the surrounding wood. That keeps the nail heads discreet and makes finishing much easier.
The joints and edges weren’t perfect — they rarely are — but a thin bead of caulk rubbed into seams smooths the transitions and hides tiny imperfections and the slightly sunk nail heads. We haven’t caulked and painted yet, but we’ll finish those steps soon to fully blend the trim with the cabinets. Right now the trim’s white is already very close to the cabinet color, so it looks good even before the final touch-up.
One thing the photos exposed was the tangle of cords under the desk. While the trim improved the look of the cabinet fronts, the cables were still distracting, so we took a few minutes to organize them to preserve the clean appearance.
Sherry’s side was simple: she only had two devices plugged into a small power strip (her computer and a lamp). Since the outlet is hidden behind the desk, we tucked her power strip out of sight in the small gap behind the cabinet. From above the desk looks seamless — you only notice the tiny crack or the raw underside of the countertop if you’re down on your knees.
My side was more complicated. I had a larger power strip with multiple devices — computer, phone, external hard drive — plus a bulky router. Sliding everything behind the cabinet wasn’t an option, so I mounted the power strip to the wall under the countertop to hide it from view. The strip had keyhole notches for screws, so I used a simple paper template to mark the mounting holes precisely:
- Tape a sheet of paper to the back of the power strip and poke holes through the mounting notches with a pen.
- Position that paper where the strip will hang and tape it to the wall to mark the exact screw locations.
- Drill through the paper into the wall so the holes are perfectly aligned with the strip’s notches.
- Install anchors and screws, then hang the power strip and plug everything back in. The router fit snugly behind the cabinet, out of sight.
From close up the cord area still looks busy, but when you stand back the wires are much less noticeable and your attention goes to the new trim and the cleaner cabinet fronts. We still have other finishing touches to do in the room — art, window treatments, better task lighting, and reorganizing desk supplies — but the freshly trimmed base makes the desk look far more intentional and complete.
For reference, here’s the view before we added trim and addressed the cables: the desk felt unfinished and the cords distracted from the overall aesthetic. For the small cost of the trim, the improvement was worth it.
We considered adding trim to the vertical edges where the cabinets meet the wall to fully frame the installation, but after several discussions we decided the extra effort — including cutting around existing baseboard — wasn’t worth the trouble. Doing that properly would have required more invasive work and precise fitting, and a half-hearted approach would likely make the finish look worse. Instead, once we caulk the trim seams and nail heads and touch up paint, we’ll consider the desk project complete.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the costs for our 13-foot wall-to-wall double desk:
- Used cabinets (from a local reuse store): $6.30
- Primer: leftover on hand (would be roughly $20 if new)
- Electric sander & sandpaper: already owned (about $25 to buy)
- Paint (Benjamin Moore Advance, satin): $40
- Pre-primed and unprimed wood to build up cabinets: $51
- Framing lumber for counter: $27.30
- Stain & polyurethane: already owned (would be about $8 and $20 respectively)
- Drill bit for cord holes: $4
- Bottom trim: $14
- Total: $142.60
We’ve already moved on to the next office project and can’t wait to share it. Until then: have you ever added trim to make furniture look built-in, or launched a cord-organization effort? We’d love to hear how you handled it and any tips you picked up along the way.