Photo of the Day - Our New Computer Desk

This desk is what I did all day today.  Actually it's what I've done three of the last four Saturdays.  It's done now though, and I'm sitting at it this minute, typing away.  Painting will have to wait for warmer weather.

I just realized I should have put the doors back on for this photo.  It turned out pretty good for being built entirely of scrap materials.  Except for two sets of drawer guides and a drill bit, I didn't spend any money on materials. 

Almost all of the lumber has a history.  I used to build quite a bit of furniture for family, friends and clients, but haven't built anything worth noting for about two years.  But we needed a new desk to keep us better organized so I cleaned out the shop and went to work. 

Because all the lumber was left over from other projects, some of it has a history worth noting:
 - The frame is old reclaimed pine I got from my neighbor, Jim, across the street.  He salvaged it years ago from an old Boy Scout office and gave it a few years ago to me. 
- The white parts are left over melamine from two winters ago when I built bookcases downstairs.
- The base trim is left over from when I changed all the base in the house about five years ago.
- Beadboard on the sides and in the doors was left over from a wainscot in my daughter's room, which was finished with the rest of the basement about 18 months ago in anticipation of a new baby.  
- The front edge of the keyboard drawer was salvaged maple from a shop where a friend works.
- Parts of the cabinet and door frames are alder, left over from the trim I made for my uncle and aunt when they remodeled their house several years ago. 
- Last, but most meaningful, is part of a large, thick, glued up spruce panel.  I glued the boards together about 12 years ago, intending to use them in a headboard for my brother Kris. 

I never built the headboard.  Later, he needed a table for his kitchen.  But, this too, I never got around to making for him.  When he died, I hung onto the piece of wood, and always considered it his.  I never could, until now, bring myself to use it in a project.  Even included as part of a desk for my family, it took me a long time to finally break down and use it. 

While I stood and tried to decide if I was going to finally use this particular board or not, I brushed off years of accumulated sawdust, and thought about my little brother.  I stared a long time at the old board, and talked out loud, in reverent tones to it, as if it were actually Kris with me, and not just a piece of wood.