Modular Desk Base

Settle on your sizes before cutting. The standard recipe is 28-1/2" tall (for a 30" desk once a top is added), 16" wide, and a 24" deep rip; width can go up to about 36" before shelves start to sag. Rip the sheet into 24"-deep strips, then crosscut the sides and shelves to length.

Iron edge banding onto every plywood edge that will show, trim it flush, and sand lightly. Doing this now, on flat parts, is far easier than after assembly — and it's the single step that makes plywood look like furniture.

Attach the shelves to the sides with four 3/4" pocket holes on each end and 1-1/4" pocket screws. Leave a 5-1/4" gap underneath for the base moulding (or adjust to your baseboard height). Every base needs at least the bottom shelf; add optional shelves at any height.

For a pull-out printer shelf, cut a plywood shelf 1" narrower than the interior and mount it on a euro drawer slide.

Tie everything together with bay supports — a 1x3 or 1x4 at the top and a 1x6 across the bottom front. The inside top supports equal the shelf length. The front 1x6 sits on the outside and is the full cabinet width, so measure and cut it to fit; it's visible, so treat it as a finished face. Screw or nail and glue in place.

If adding a door, size it 1/2" smaller than the opening in both height and width and hang it on full-overlay concealed hinges. If adding drawers, use 20" or 22" slides and size the faces to off-the-shelf 1x6/1x12 widths so you don't have to rip drawer fronts.

Wrap the bottom with 5-1/4" baseboard as a toe-kick, then prime and paint. Add your countertop last to reach desk height.