How to Build the Restoration Hardware Heston Desk

One of my most asked about builds is the Restoration Hardware Heston Collection Desk dupe. This desk is a real beaut and a real conversation starter. But the best part… it’s another easy build for less than $200 vs. the $2000 you’ll pay in the store! So, let’s get started….

HOW TO BUILD THE RESTORATION HARDWARE HESTON DESK DUPE

For simplicity sake, I’m going to use the following measurements (of course, you can customize this to fit your space, simply adjust your measurements and supplies as needed):

Height: 29″

Length: 75″

Width: 33″

Materials Needed:

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2x4x8 pine boards (11)

2x6x8 pine boards (6)

Pocket Hole Screws (2.5″)

2.5″ GRK Screws (my favorite)

Wood Glue

Sanding Sheets

Wood Filler

Paint or Stain

Tools Needed:

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Table Saw (or have Home Depot rip your boards for you)

Miter Saw

Kreg Jig (If you don’t own one, you want one! My number one tool, hands down!!)

Drill

Sander

First things first, rip your boards:

Tip: Rip both sides of your board to get the width to 3″ and 5″, so that you don’t have one side with a manufactured curved edge and the other side a straight edge—Here’s a tutorial on how to do this)

2×4’s (these will be used for the base) Rip to 3″ wide

2×6’s (these will be used for the top) Rip to 5″ wide

NEXT: Make cuts, pocket holes and glue together for base:

Legs (6): **Cut twelve 2×4’s at 21.5″ each. **Drill 1.5″ pocket holes on both ends of 6 of the 12 boards. **Glue and clamp two boards together (one with pocket holes, one without), making sure pocket holes are on the outside, and allow to dry. You should have 6 legs and your boards should look like the picture below, with pocket holes on both ends of one side of your boards glued together….

Feet (bottom 4) & Supports (top 4):

**Cut sixteen 2×4’s at 12″ each. **Drill 1.5″ pocket holes on one end of 8 of the 16 boards. **Glue and clamp two boards together (one with pocket holes, one without), making sure pocket holes are on the outside, and allow to dry. You should have 4 feet and 4 supports and your boards should look like the picture below, with pocket holes on one end and one side and none on the other end and other side….

Expander (top 2) (bottom 2):

**Cut four 2×4’s at 60″ each. **Double up boards once again, glue and clamp together–allow to dry.

Build the desk base:

STEP 1: Attach feet to expander

Measure in 13″ from each end of the expander and attach feet to each side of the expander using wood glue and 2.5″ pocket hole screws….

STEP 2: Attach legs to feet and expander

Attach a leg to each end of the expander and each end of the feet, using wood glue and 2.5″ pocket hole screws. Make sure all of your pocket holes are facing inward, towards the center of the table. (As shown in the picture below)….

STEP 3: Attach top expander

Attach top expander to the legs of the bottom expander, using wood glue and 2.5″ pocket hole screws. (Note: You may notice there’s an extra board for the expander (3 glued together instead of 2), just ignore that. I accidentally miscalculated my measurements and had to add height to my table, therefore, I added another expander board. I did however, correct the measurements for this post, so you do not need to add a 3rd expander board)

STEP 4: Attach supports

Attach supports into the 4 side legs and top expander, using 2.5″ pocket hole screws. I found the easiest way to do this is to turn the base on its side and work with gravity, rather than against it, when attaching the support to the leg…

I then stood the base back up to attach the support into the top expander, using 2.5″ pocket hole screws. As shown below. (Note: As I mentioned above, I had to add a 3rd expander to add height–these plans only call for 2 expanders stacked together, so the top of your supports will meet the top of the expander)….

Build the desk top:

STEP 1: Cuts

Cut each 2×6 to 72″.

STEP 2: Pocket holes

Drill 1.5″ pocket holes along one long edge of five of your 6 boards. As shown below…

STEP 3: Jig boards together

Attach all 6 boards together with 2.5″ pocket hole screws. The width of your tabletop will now be 30″ (Picture below still needs one more board added)….

STEP 4: Attach tabletop to base

Flip tabletop over, center on base and attach using 2.5″ finishing screws….

STEP 5: Add apron

Cut 2×4’s (ripped to 3″ wide) to fit around tabletop perimeter and attach with 2.5″ finishing screws. I usually cut and attach my end pieces first and then cut my long side pieces to fit (as shown below)….