Galant Megadesk

Materials: Galant tabletops, Galant frames, A legs, T legs, Capita legs, Signum wire management

Description: I made this desk quite some time ago, so I may forget to mention a few steps. I think this is a creative way of putting together a desk as large as you need/want with an elegant shelf. I have built or assisted with 4 similar desks of varying size. This one is (by far) the biggest.

The Setup
I had a formal living room that I wanted to turn into an office. Instead of putting several desks next to eachother, I really wanted to make a Galant that would fill 3 walls of the room. That would give me plenty of room for several computers, a TV, and some room for studying, etc. I started watching craigslist and visiting the As-Is section regularly. 


The Desk
I started with 2 large rectangular Galant desks (63 x 31.5 inches) and one small extension (23 5/8 x 31.5 inches). I arranged them as a corner desk, making an L shape, with the extension on one end. I didn't use a corner piece here because I wanted the desk on both of these walls to be 31.5 inches deep, not the 23 5/8 inches that a corner piece would have forced me into on one wall. The trick was using the right frame pieces to make it one solid desk. I used frames from a Galant corner desk and the 47 1/4 x 31.5 inch rectangular Galant, along with 2 bars from a large extension frame kit to join them together. Those frames covered the 2 large Galant desks, and I used the regular extension frame for the extension desk piece. If I used the frame as designed, it would have been too far to the back of one of the desks. I drilled my own holes in the corner frame where the two pieces of the frame bolt together. With my own holes, I had to use a nut at then end of 2 of the bolts. I also had to drill my own holes for the spots where the frame attaches to the table top, but only on one of the tables. I used T legs for the ends, and put A legs in the back of the desk where possible. If you prefer the look of the rounded corner, just put a Knos curved desk pad in the corner. It looks good and is strong enough to be used.

About a year later, I had finally acquired enough pieces to finish the rest of the desk. I used 2 corner Galant desks to complete the desk. I used one of them as a corner and I cut the other down to a 63 x 23 5/8 inch rectangle. I joined them using another set of extension bars, then joined that to my previous desk with yet another set of extension bars. I used 3 more T legs on this part of the desk. Due to the size of my room, I had to insert a 5 1/4 inch piece of scrap so the desk covered the whole wall.

The Shelf
So far I've described the actual desk. The part that really makes this hack-worthy is the shelf on top of the desk. I decided to use Galant desk pieces for the shelf since they look great with the desk, and I find the Lack shelves to be somewhat cheap. I used two corner Galant desk pieces and one small extension to create a shelf about 15 5/8 inches deep that covers the entire desk, except where the desk is only 23 5/8 inches deep. I think the diagram will show this much better and faster than I can write it. Simply take a Galant corner desk and cut where I have the red lines. Use Capita legs to elevate the shelf to whatever height you want, and put it on top of the desk.

I chose to have my shelf 6 inches above the desk, but the Capita legs are also available in 4 and 8 inch heights. I used 21 Capita legs due to the size of the shelf. When installing the Capita legs, use them to join multiple pieces of shelf/desk together at the joints (two screws into each piece of wood). Also make sure you place them far enough back in places where you plan on using the Knos desk pads. I have 2 corner Knos and 3 straight Knos on my desk. With the 6 inch Capita legs, I now have room under the shelf for some Kassett DVD boxes, and Kassett CD boxes.

I used 7 Signum wire managers on the underside of the desk with surge protectors zip tied to the bottom for very effective cable management.

~ Joshua, Virginia