New Year’s Sale: Get 20% off Dwell with promo code YEAR20
SubscribeSign In
Collection by Allie Weiss

How to Build a Compact, Fold-Down Desk for Small Spaces

In our September issue, we covered a tiny outbuilding for a family in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Residents Tim and Meg Ferguson Sauder and their three kids built the 168-square-foot space themselves using reclaimed materials. On their blog, Crafted Fairly, they post information about the products and custom furniture that outfit the space. Here, we share a snippet from the site about how they built the custom desk featured in our pages.

View 5 Photos
"We used a couple of piano hinges to allow for the fold-down action," Tim says. "They give you nice clean lines and are really strong. This was important because in researching fold-down desks we found that many of the options available out there look beautiful but are actually pretty rickety when you sit down and really use them like a real desk."
"We used a couple of piano hinges to allow for the fold-down action," Tim says. "They give you nice clean lines and are really strong. This was important because in researching fold-down desks we found that many of the options available out there look beautiful but are actually pretty rickety when you sit down and really use them like a real desk."
"We used magnets to hold everything closed to keep things looking clean. The first small fold is important, as it acts as a spacer to keep the top of the desk level as it sits on the fold-out supports underneath."
"We used magnets to hold everything closed to keep things looking clean. The first small fold is important, as it acts as a spacer to keep the top of the desk level as it sits on the fold-out supports underneath."
"The supports underneath the desktop fold out from the bottom section of the desk. We thought this gave a bit more support along the whole length of the desktop, rather than just at two points which is what happens when using the more common cable support system to hold up the desktop."
"The supports underneath the desktop fold out from the bottom section of the desk. We thought this gave a bit more support along the whole length of the desktop, rather than just at two points which is what happens when using the more common cable support system to hold up the desktop."
"We laid out the desk in Illustrator before cutting anything to gauge size and to make sure we could fit all the pieces most efficiently onto a sheet of plywood. We were doing this on the cheap, so we just worked with Birch plywood and hardware from Home Depot but did drop a little bit of money on nice magnets from Rockler."
"We laid out the desk in Illustrator before cutting anything to gauge size and to make sure we could fit all the pieces most efficiently onto a sheet of plywood. We were doing this on the cheap, so we just worked with Birch plywood and hardware from Home Depot but did drop a little bit of money on nice magnets from Rockler."