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How to Make a Metal Pipe Desk

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So we are having a second baby! Yay for baby! Not as exciting is having to get rid of our office and make another baby’s room. I have been dreading this. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to reduce our original desk and office to other places in our house. We decided to move our desk location into our bedroom. We wanted something that wasn’t huge or an eyesore so I started looking and loved how metal pipe desks looked. The only problem is they range from $300 upward! We are cheap y’all! So after some research we figured out that metal pipe desks are pretty easy to build! The supplies did cost us about $200 just because the pipe is expensive, but it was still better than spending over $300. Here’s how we did it!

Metal Pipe Desk DIY instructions on Splendry

Easy Metal Pipe Desk 

First, we bought all the supplies from our local home improvement store. For the top we got a pre-assembled wooden slab that’s normally found in the special lumber section. Our table top was 66 inches long and 20 inches wide, and we used ¾ inch pipe. To make a table with the same dimensions, here is what you need:

Metal pipe desk DIY- supplies needed

Supplies:
  • 1 – 60 inch pipe (not pictured)
  • 4 – 18 inch long pipe
  • 2 – 10 inch long pipe
  • 4 – six inch long pipe
  • 4 – four inch long pipe
  • 6 T fittings
  • 2 couplings 
  • 8 floor flanges
  • 1 – 72 inch x 20 inch pre-assembled wooden slab (we cut ours down to 66 inches)

Metal pipe desk DIY - wooden slab for desk

Instructions

The two back legs look like this, from top to bottom:

  • Floor flange
  • one 18 inch long pipe
  • a T fitting
  • a four inch long pipe
  • T fitting
  • four inch pipe
  • Floor flange

Metal Pipe Desk DIY - back legs of the desk

Front Legs, from top to bottom:

  • Floor flange
  • 18 inch pipe
  • T fitting (this will line up to the back leg)
  • 10 inch pipe
  • floor flanges

Metal Pipe Desk DIY instructions - front legs

Connect the front and back leg at the T fittings.

  • T fitting
  • 6 inch pipe
  • coupling
  • 6 inch pipe
  • T fitting

Metal Pipe Desk DIY instructions - connecting front and back legs

Repeat on the other side. Now connect sides with the 60 inch pipe at the bottom T fittings. After you’re done, everything should look like this:

Metal Pipe Desk DIY desk frame

You can twist the pipes slightly tighter or looser until all four legs are the same length and balanced. The pipes will be slightly sticky so we wiped them down with CLR cleaner.

Metal Pipe Desk DIY - CLR Cleaner

Then we spray painted all the pipes with a gloss black spray paint. After that was dry, we attached the board to the top four floor flanges. This is where it is really important to make sure that the legs are all the same length. We found it was easier to place the board on top of the flanges, apply pressure and screw up from underneath (instead of flipping the table over).  My husband also rounded off the edges of the table top with a jigsaw, but this is optional.

Metal Pipe Desk DIY - attaching legs to wooden desk top

After all four legs are screwed on, you will have a lovely table!

Metal Pipe Desk DIY instructions - attached desk top and frame

I applied two layers of stain Minwax Red Mahogany then a layer of polyurethane. After the polyurethane dried, I used a high grit sandpaper and sanded the entire table, then wiped the table clean. Then I applied a second layer of polyurethane.  We were able to finish this table in a weekend so that was nice!

Putting it all together

Once we brought the table inside we added a couple other elements. We bought a small dresser that was actually a night stand off Amazon.

How to Make a Metal Pipe Desk - small dresser for desk

How to Make a Metal Pipe Desk - dresser inside desk

We made a small shelf to set our printer on and had a compartment box to store my make-up and hair products since this desk was going in the spot of my old make-up table (which is also the reason for the mirror on the wall, not because I like to look at myself while writing blog posts…).

How to Make a Metal Pipe Desk - printer station

Then we got a paper organizer for the top of the desk.

How to Make a Metal Pipe Desk - desk organizer

I loved how our metal pipe desk turned out! It fits our space perfectly and was pretty easy to make! We also figure it could serve as an entryway table, buffet or some other purpose in our next house.  Let me know if you have any questions on how to make your own!

Easy Metal Pipe Desk DIY tutorial

Originally published April 3, 2017

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Brian

Friday 27th of December 2019

I love this project.

Great pictures too.

How stable is the table? Would you recommend adding another cross pipe closer to the table top? So having two cross pipes along the back of the table. Good idea?

Melissa

Sunday 21st of October 2018

What siGn color did you use?

Amy

Friday 10th of August 2018

Love this!!!! Can you tell me how tall it is?

Amanda Bodine

Monday 13th of August 2018

Thanks!!! its 31 inches tall.

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