DIY Hobby Desk

'The Discussion'
For many of us, Growing Up has meant that we have had to face discussions with our partners about having models and a hobby space in the house. It's one of those things that isn't really about winning or losing but is about striking the right balance so that 'life' works. 

My Previous Hobby Spaces
When I first moved out with my wife (then girlfriend) we had a tiny two bedroom unit. Our second room was our everything space -Office, Study, Computer Room, and Hobby Area. While it was small it worked well for us as a shared space. We would use it together most evenings, doing separate things but not being in different rooms. 

My old desk, sitting in my shed out of the way.

After we got married and moved into our house, our much larger rumpus room became this shared space and all was good. My wife, who is a teacher, has shelved filled with teaching things and a desk, I have my model desk and a cabinet with some painted up miniatures, and we had a computer and a TV - basically all of our evening and weekend activities.  Looking to the future, my wife kept saying that this room would be a great place for kids to play in. I agreed but liked the idea of keeping it a shared space for everyone in the family.

Refacing 'The Discussion'
With the arrival of my New Toy (our baby boy) it was clear that a desk covered with sharp dangerous hobby tools and models in the corner of our 'shared space' was not going to cut it. My old desk was big, ugly and frequently very untidy - as I my wife reminded me regularly. Recently, after a plumbing disaster, the room was cleared of all its furniture, so it made sense to re arrange it ready for kids. And so this prompted the inevitable talk about moving all of the 'little men' into my shed (which is where 90% of my models already are). It was a fair argument but I had one thing against it. When I was a kid my Dad's hobby was his ride on steam trains.

One of Dad's Trains

This was awesome but it meant that he was always in his shed. After he would be away at work all day my older sister and I would follow him in and 'help' - which generally meant hitting things with hammers. The thing is, Dad's shed was far too dangerous for little kids and on more then one occasion we would hurt ourselves. My argument is that I don't want to spend my free time locked away from my family in the shed and I don't want little ones following me into a place filled with dangerous things. But I completely agree that my old desk isn't going to work. What was needed was a 3rd solution; a compromise. A smaller desk that was safe, neat and looked OK in our shared space. On top of this my wife added a further almost impossible condition; what ever I did it had to cost less then $100 AU (so with current exchange rates that's around 90 USD, 60 GBP or 70 EUR).

If money had not been an issue I would have got a nice roll top desk like these:


My Creative Solution
Close to giving up, I found this tucked away in a second hand warehouse: an old organ case. The organ had been removed so it was just the case, and who would want an old, empty organ case...?
The price had been reduced from $159 to $69. I measured it and look interested but not too interested. I left, drove home and then went back an hour later. "Still keen?" the shopkeeper asked. "Oh, I don't know" I said opening my wallet. "Would you take $50 for it?"