I'm planning to build a small computer desk, and later a complementary credenze for office use. Here is my initial plan:

Computer desk front.pdf Computer desk side.pdf Computer desk top no mitre.pdf

The dimensions are in mm. (Please disregard the inch symbols.)

You can see it is quite a small desk. The top is only about 40"x24" (by 1"), and it is only about 28.5" above the floor. I chose that height because I prefer having the monitor, keyboard and mouse on the top, rather than on a tray (and 28.5" is about as low as I can go for my wife).

The top will be zebrawood with a wenge border. The base will be wenge, the drawerfronts, macassar ebony. I have bought the lumber and have some beautiful pieces.

The drawerfronts are only 45mm high (about 1.75"), in order to provide enough legroom, considering the low height of the top. I know they won't hold much, but I like the look, more so than if I had just a stack of drawers on one side. I'm thinking of 1/2" poplar or maple for the drawer sides and back (or walnut?) and 1/4" ply for the base, with wood runners on the bottom. I'm hoping I can keep about 1" of depth inside the drawer.

If you look at the side view, you can see that there is a bevel on the wenge board that forms the front border of the top. I considered mitres at the front two corners of the top, but thought that might be tricky or time-consuming to build, when compared to the no-mitre design. Here's the top with mitres on the front two corners:

Computer desk top mitre.pdf

To allow for front-to-back wood movement in the top, I plan to have the back wenge border move with the zebrawood (which is why I have no mitres at the back).

I'm not sure about the legs. I have them 45mm square for the top 2.75" or so, narrowing (both front and side) to 18mm square at the foot.

I would be interested in comments about the design and suggestions for how I might improve it.

Cary