If you are in need of a super simple project that is sure to be pretty and functional during this crucial time of e-learning and working from home, then this DIY Ladder Desk with Shelves is perfect. Plus, it can be done is as little as one day!
Have you ever seen something that stopped you in your tracks? Like when you saw it, you literally yelled, “that’s it! That is what I need!” After the school year ended in May, I officially kicked my son out of my office our shared office space:) What can I say, I needed the space, and felt that during his time of virtual learning, we were more of a distraction to one another at best. Based on his recent eviction, I had to find a space for him that was his own and where he could be most productive. His room being the size it is, the activity table that was in my office for him could not fit.
Well, thankfully, while scrolling through Instagram one evening a couple of weeks ago, I happened upon my friend Rebecca’s sons room. In his room she had this gorgeous ladder desk that I knew would be perfect in my son’s room, but where?
Then it hit me! He doesn’t really need this book shelf in his corner, because I am all for function over useless decor any day. While this shelf was actually serving a purpose, the ladder shelf would serve a dual purpose, this this one had to go.
I researched several iterations of this shelf and they all looked pretty simple in design, so I decided to build one!
I tackled the entire build on my Instagram stories and it made me so happy that people were rooting me on! Plus soo many people wanted the plans for this DIY Ladder Desk with Shelves, here ya go!
DIY Ladder Desk with Shelves Tutorial
Here is what you need:
- 3-8ft 1×3 pre-primed boards
- Pre-sanded Plywood cut to your desired shelf sizes- each of my shelves are 14 inches deep and 29 inches long
- 16 Everbilt 1 1/2 inch “L” brackets ( each pack comes in a pack of 4)
- 2 Everbilt mending plates, aka straight brackets (each comes in a set of 4)
- paint color of your choice (mine is painted Simply White)
- I bought the flat “L” brackets but ended up not using them for this project.
To begin, I cut all my pieces out using my Ryobi tablesaw.
Two of the 8ft pre-primed 1×3’s were cut to 7ft each. The third one I used to cut out the back back that I was going to use as a bracket across the top. This piece is the same width as the shelves, 29 inches. Then I cut two more side pieces connect the back pieces to the front two 1×3’s. These pieces were cut at 12 inches. The shelves were cut to 14 inches wide and 29 inches long. There is a diagram below that outlines this more clearly.
After everything was cut, I brought all the pieces in to assemble them.
Everything was assembled using a combination of L brackets and straight brackets.
The back 1×3 that was cut to 29 inches was attached to the side 1×3’s that were cut to 12 inches using L brackets.
I attached the Everbuilt 1 1/2 inch “L” brackets on the inside and outside to make sure it was extra secure.
The front 1×3’s that were 72 inches long were attached via Everbuilt mending brackets (straight bracket) to the 12 inch side pieces.
After all of the brackets were in place, the desk was taken upstairs to my sons room for a dry fit.
To attach the shelves, I attached “L” brackets to the wall using anchors and drilled the bottom of the “L” brackets into the bottom of the shelf.
Each shelf is attached with 4 brackets…2 on the side and 2 along the back.
After attaching the shelves, I painted everything using Simply White that I had color matched to Behr Paint.
That’s it. I love a super simple one-day project that anyone can do.
I think I have a satisfied customer! lol.
Love this look? Check out everything that I purchased for this room:
The chair is the Stoljan Conference chair. I love that it’s padded, so it should be pretty comfortable.
So what do you think? Do you think this is something that you will take on?
You can check out all of my sons room transitions here, here, and here.
Thanks for stopping by! Until next time.
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So smart! And such a great space-saver too!
Thank you so much!
Thank you!
I enjoyed following along while you built this on stories! The finished product looks great!
Thank you!
I was just looking for a small desk for my daughter’s room when I came across your post. This would be perfect! I love that it uses the vertical space which is such a space-saver! You did an amazing job!
Thank you so much!
I was just looking for a small desk for my bed room or my small living room room when I came across your post. This would be perfect! I love that it uses the vertical space which is such a space-saver, I will need to use to more 8′ 1×3′ I can not connect that much to my wall. (Renter) You did an amazing job!
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Awesome! Thank you! Good luck!
Very Cool idea. It has me thinking! And it looks awesome.
Thank you!
Great post with a great design. Perfect for the space and super functional. Love it. Love the whole room.
Thank you!
The room is just darling! You need to be a decorator!
Thank you!
She did a great job on the space saving shelves & desk and all the decorating.
Thank you so much!
What a wonderful solution and a beautiful room! Thank you for the clear instructions and information. Love your style and your cute little scholar!
Thank you so much!
I wanna live in ur house! Soooo beautiful! Great craftsmanship. <3 <3 <3
Wow! Thank you!
Looks great! And I love the wallpaper, thanks for sharing!
Thank you!
Wow!! To begin with, this entire bedroom room is so cool for a young man and then with the addition of this ladder desk, everything in the room is absolutely perfect. Such a great environment for study and play! This ladder desk was such an attractive and smart way to utilize all the room’s space without cramping and cluttering. Too, your instructions are excellent and easy to follow which makes this project even more encouraging to tackle for a DIYer rookie such as myself.
Thank you so much for sharing and inspiring ~ definitely a FIVE gold star project!!
Thank you so much for your kind words!
I love the space saver desk you did for your son’s room. It is something that he will not outgrow any time soon and can be used for books and other decorative storage for years to come. I would like to know however, where did you get the tree wall paper that is on the wall. Did you do the papering yourself.
Thank you! The wallpaper is linked in the bottom of the post where it says shop this post!
This looks awesome! I LOVE the glossy white — bright and easy to clean!! 🙂 Anyone w/kids knows this is the way to go!
Thanks so much for sharing! Keeping this saved!
Yes, thank you sooo much!!