I’ve been working on that back-to-school DIY desk project for a month, and I’ve finally finished it. My concept was to build a do-it-yourself desk combining cabinet bases for storage and a bespoke resin top to provide a long smooth surface since I needed a window desk to set up a computer and study place for my teens.

A few weeks ago, I showcased a variety of DIY desk project ideas, and one of my favorites used cabinet bases and a dark wood top. However, I needed a white glossy desktop with a smooth surface, so I made one using resin.

I created this desktop by using plywood for the base and epoxy resin to pour a bespoke white glossy top. I then added a few abstract gold resin stripes to the surface because I just adore it! I describe what I did below.

When they were in elementary school, this room served as the kids’ study and housed their games and toys. Now that they are in junior high and high school, however, it serves as a teen study center and lounge with this modern computer station.

This area is getting a lot more changes, including new lighting and furniture, and I still need to touch up the paint! The DIY window seat in the study, which was always covered up down there, is visible behind the desk. I never finished painting the walls there.

Here’s how I created the window desk with a resin top:

I bought these IKEA Sektion cabinet bases pieces with the contemporary Haggeby white doors and drawers, and I then added these 11” brass pulls and these 6” brass pulls to the drawer fronts and door fronts.

The resin top required the most effort, but the finished product is stunning. It is white, shiny, smooth, and has thin, abstract gold lines flowing through it.

I used a 4′ × 8′ sheet of smooth finish plywood I bought from Lowes to build the desktop’s base. The base of the cabinets are 24″ deep, however I wanted the desktop to extend 26″ past the edge of the base.

I cheated since I didn’t want to invest in two sheets of plywood. I had the plywood ripped into two pieces, one measuring 26″ x 8′ and the other 22″ x 8′, in the cutting department. On the bottom, Matt helped connect them together with wood screws before turning it over. Then, to cover the 4″ gap and complete the borders, I used a brad nailer to fasten a piece of lattice around the three sides.

I bought the dark brown furniture triangle feet screws from Amazon, and they are fastened to the bottom of the cabinets. I wanted a way to raise the cabinet bases off the ground while yet keeping them at a low enough level for the desktop to fit under the windowsill. These are ideal because my hardwood floors go well with their dark brown color.

The epoxy resin desktop was poured in the following stage. It’s preferable to pour epoxy resin inside because it takes 24 hours to cure to the touch and 72 hours to fully cure. This is because you don’t want to chance any debris or insects getting in your resin top while it dries and you want a flawlessly smooth top.

This Countertop Epoxy , two buckets, my butane torch for cooking, latex gloves, paint stir sticks, 16 oz. of white acrylic paint and 2 oz. of metallic gold paint, little wood stir sticks, a sponge brush, and a lot of plastic tarp were my basic tools.

The epoxy resin needs to be mixed a certain way and poured at a given temperature, but the online instructions provides all the specifics, and it wasn’t too difficult. (If you’re hesitant to use resin for the first time, I’d advise starting with a smaller-scale piece to get a feel for it, like I did with this resin artwork inspired by the ocean.)

After combining the resin, I added the white acrylic paint to 95% of the mixture while reserving the remaining resin for the striped design.

I used a lot of plastic tarp to cover the cabinets and the area around them before mixing the resin according to the recipe. The resin is like thick paint once it has been mixed, so pour it slowly and evenly. The resin flowed over the sides of the desktop, and I used the sponge brush to spread it out evenly and clean up the drips.

I utilized a technique to make the stripes; I combined a tablespoon of acrylic paint with a few ounces of resin, and while the mixture was still wet, I dripped it over the white resin base with a wooden stir stick. This is an illustration of how I achieved the marbling effect on the initial pour using clear resin and taupe acrylic paint.

Over the course of an hour, the resin will drop over the sides, and you will need to keep returning every five minutes to smooth the drips. Like frosting the sides of a cake, you must keep applying resin to the sides every 10 minutes for approximately an hour until it starts to firm and stay in place. You also need to save a small amount of resin for the edges since as it drips off, it will expose the wood edge.

To remove any microscopic bubbles that may rise to the surface, a butane torch is required. In this image, you can even see out the more marbling design I produced with the taupe-colored resin on my initial pour.

Due to a pet tragedy, I regrettably had to pour this desktop twice! When I first poured it on a Saturday afternoon, I tried to give it a more marbling appearance by adding taupe paint streaks, as you can see in the photo above. It succeeded and it looked fairly good, but then dun… dun… dun. My cat leapt on top of the resin tabletop, leaving her pawprints and fur all over it after I returned from seeing a show. OMG! I completely forgot about the cat! When I returned home, I discovered this all over the place.

Therefore, I had to fully rework the top and order a fresh batch of resin. This time, I opted with a more straightforward pattern and a different shade of gold for the stripes, adding a tiny bit of glitter for shine. I utilized straighter gold lines to make an abstract pattern instead of marbelized curves, and I think it looks a little better.

I’m so happy with how it turned out; the hardened resin is glossy and smooth and looks so lovely in the window light.

I purchased this mountable surge protector with USB charger to connect to the left side of the desk to plug in all the cords before the new computer arrives the following week. In addition, the kids may charge their school iPads while they complete their schoolwork.

Keep an eye out for my upcoming project, which will be to construct a media center with bookcases along the opposite wall for storage.