Teenage Desk Ideas

5 Teenage Desk Ideas Your Son or Daughter Will Love

When your teen is hard at work studying, you want to be sure to provide a nice area for them to work in. You don’t need to have a big elaborate desk for most teenagers, but a nice quiet area is great to have at any age. There's no shortage of teenage desk ideas on the web ... you might choose a small corner desk to buy online, or a modest computer desk at your local Target or Staples, but if you're on a budget, don't be afraid of tackling a little DIY project with your son or daughter.

No matter what you do, make sure your teen is involved in the decision. They will be more excited to utilize their new desk if they had a hand in building it or customizing their new work-space. For those not sure where to start when it comes to your teens desk, here’s a list of 5 teenage desk ideas your son or daughter will definitely love.

Upcycled Wooden Crate Desk for Teens

This fun DIY project is a great way to upcycle the old wooden crates you have laying around. If you don’t have crates laying around, make a day out of it by looking at your local flea market, big box store, or simply order some online a few days before you plan to begin your build.

This teen desk idea uses wooden crates to form the base of your desk, and you can use some reclaimed boards or a painted sheet of MDF or plywood from the home center to form the top. 

Wooden crates are so versatile. If you put the opening facing outward, they make great bookshelves or storages areas (which is why I love them as a desk base). Paint or stain them, coat them with a nice sealer, and add a nice large board for a desk area and you'll have a functional, cool, inexpensive desk for your teenage son or daughter. Bonus: you'll be able to spend some quality time with them when you assemble their new desk, allowing them to get creative in choosing the colors and layout of the wooden crates.

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Stunning Suspended Rope & Pipe Desk

Image Courtesy StyleOfAges on Etsy

Looking for something truly unique that your HGTV loving teen will flip for? A rope and pipe suspended desk can be easily customized to fit your space, and is made with inexpensive materials you can pick out with your teen at the local home center. 

Use some heavy iron pipe brackets from the home center to mount to 2 studs in your teenager's bedroom, then run rope through holes drilled in your desk-top (which can be plywood, an inexpensive slab door cut to length, or pieces of dimensional lumber joined together with glue/clamps). Stain or paint your new desk top and knot the rope in the proper places below the desk to dial in a level desk surface.

You can pad the to wall to prevent damage from the desktop by adding some rubber 3M stops, which will also help prevent the desk from moving or swinging during use.

This desk ends up being a simple statement piece for anyone who likes minimal décor but needs a great area to work from. Add in a nice chair, some photos, and some floating shelves or suspended rope shelves to complete the look. Shoutout to StyleOfAges on Etsy for the inspriation!

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DIY Nightstand Desk for Teenager

A nightstand desk is a great DIY desk for your son or daughter. It's low-cost, creative, simple, and creates a super-functional one of a kind desk for your teen.

Head over to your local thrift store and look for a pair of night stands to use for the desk's base. If you can’t find a pair, find 2 different nightstands which are the same height.

Sand them down, stain or paint them, and let your child make them unique. When finished, add a large board to the top. You can use plywood or MDF, or you can purchase a slab door (about $30 at the home center) and cut it to size. You now have a unique, personalized desk with storage!

You can go a bit farther with this by getting some picture frames from the dollar store and refinish them to match the desk. In the frames, add in checklists that can be marked off with dry erase markers. You could even paint some of them with chalkboard paint as well!

​This is a very low-cost and fun project to tackle with your teen to create a workstation that is completely their own.

Pallet Desk Project For You and Your Teen

Re-purposing old shipping pallets has been quite popular during the past couple of years. The old wood of these pallets tends to have a lot of character from heavy use, and you can typically find pallets locally for free (try Craigslist or call a local company that does a lot of shipping).

You can simply use the reclaimed wood you take when disassembling old pallets for the top (try a chevron pattern for something truly unique), or you can keep the pallets intact and cut them to size to form the base and top of your child's desk. The options are pretty endless, and you can customize this up-cycling project however you want when you’re drawing up your design with your teenage son or daughter. You might add an open storage area for a built-in bookshelf, or add space for some unique looking baskets to use as drawers.

Once construction is finished, paint the desk with a nice whitewash or stain it to finish it off. No matter what type of finish you choose for the desk, you should expect to do some sanding, as reclaimed wood from pallets is very rough (and you don't want your son or daughter to get a splinter). My recommendation is an orbital sander - it's versatile, easy to use for beginners, and will make quick work of your project.

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Customize a Store-Bought Desk With Your Teenager

​If you’re not much of a DIYer, you can still make buying a new desk for your teenager a fun project for the two of you to tackle together. First, make some time for the two of you to assemble your desk when it comes in the mail. Laughing about confusing instructions, and working as a team to put it together can be a lot of fun, and a nice chance to do something different with your son or daughter.

Once it's assembled, let them decorate it with vinyl decals of inspirational quotes, their initials, or anything they are interested in. You can paint the desk the color of their choice as well - either with spray paint (choose one that's a paint and primer in one, and do this outside where there's plenty of ventilation), or with a brush and roller (you'll  probably want to lightly sand the desk and choose a paint and primer in one). Once it's assembled and customized, add in a creative desk lamp (with a light bulb designed to boost productivity) and they will have a great desk area to study.

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Final DIY Teenage Desk Ideas

To compliment any of the teenage desk ideas listed here, feel free to get creative and build matching bookshelves, floating shelves, and room dividers. Room dividers are a great way to add storage and separate areas of your child's bedroom (even if it's small already). And if you're looking to keep the air fresh in their bedroom, one of these low-light desk plants would be a great choice.
 
Have a desk idea for teens of your own to share? Please share it with other readers in the comments below!

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