Easy DIY Homeschool Desk

Tired of homeschooling at the kitchen table? Yeah, I was too.

Like a lot of you, we suddenly found ourselves in a remote learning situation back in March. None of us knew how long this would go on at the time, so we just made due with what we had. Now that it’s looking like we’re in this for the long haul I decided I needed to make a dedicated learning space.

I DIY’d this cute and super functional homeschool desk in just 15 minutes:

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We started out trying to do “school” at the kitchen table and it was kind of a disaster. First, there was no separation between work and play. Everything was laid out all the time and stressing us out. The easy(ish) solve for this was to move us all into my home office.

But the bigger issue: an adult-sized desk or table just isn’t very comfortable for a kid to work at.

My kids are in second grade and kindergarten and their desks at school are way shorter than a kitchen table. At school, they can sit with their feet on the ground and easily reach the desk top. Not so much at a regular table.

Think of it this way, would you be comfortable working at a pub height table? It’s kinda the same thing for a young elementary school kid at the kitchen table.

Get more amazing homeschool room ideas and inspiration!

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Why Not Just Buy a Desk?

I quickly found out that most kids tables and desks available online are actually for much younger children. Far too short for a school-aged kid.

I did some research and the ideal height for a table or desk at this age is around 20 inches, paired with a seat height of 12 to 16 inches. The only good online option I found was a school supply website. I wanted something that would still be useful after the kids went back to school, so I wasn’t keen to buy an official school desk.

DIY That Desk Instead!

I decided to “borrow” the IKEA desk top we had lying on top of our washer and dryer, so all in, this project only cost me $39. You can make this desk any size you want so the size of the top can vary. I needed mine sized for two kids so the 30″ x 60″ piece of wood I already had was perfect.

How to Make Your DIY Homeschool Desk

Get ready for the easiest DIY desk build ever.

Flip your wood top side down, and position the desk legs (see photo). Make sure to line the leg plates parallel to the desk edge and roughly the same distance away for each one. Eyeballing carefully is fine, no measuring needed.

Use random poofs to hold up the desk top if you’re too lazy to go to the garage and grab the sawhorses 😉

Next, take a marker and scribble a little hole onto the desk top through each leg’s screw hole so you know where to drill your pilot holes.

Note: with a softer wood or laminate you can use a screwdriver to drive the screws, but my wood was a little hard so I opted to drill pilot holes.

Hold a screw up to your drill bit and mark with tape how deep you need to drill the holes. Drill slowly and when the edge of the tape hits the wood, stop and back your drill out.

Once you have all your pilot holes drilled, screw in the legs.

If you need extra guidance on installing the hairpin legs, check out this simple tutorial. I included a full guide to choosing the right leg size too!

 The hairpin legs I bought came with these snap-on feet to protect the floor and keep the desk from sliding around. It’s the little things…

Finally, flip your desk over and enjoy! Step back and admire how handy you are 🙂

This 20-inch school desk height works perfectly with a 15-inch seat height for the typical 5 – 10-year-old. If your kids are outside of this age group, check out the height guide I included in this related post.

I bought these incredible wobble stools and they work perfectly. In case you’re not familiar, wobble stools are amazing for fidgety (re: all) kids and help them to work out the wiggles as they sit and attend to the task in front of them. Plus they look good and are fun to sit in.

I hope this was helpful! If you decide to make this desk, let me know here or tag me on Instagram.