The New Desk

So, for some time now I have been wanting a new desk. I love the one I have, but I had it built 14 years ago for a very specific place. Coming up on a decade and a half later, I'm just plain tired of it.

For starters, it's 62" wide. Which is full of all kinds of "ooooooohhhhhh" in the beginning. But I've used this desk in so many different salon settings over the years that I truly have come to understand why manicuring tables are 36”-48" wide. Especially seeing as how we nail techs get shoved into tiny, out-of-the-way corners all too often. Much easier to do with a 3 1/2-foot desk than an imposing 5-foot piece of furniture!

For another thing, it's green and some sort of "natural pine" looking Formica. Which looked awesome in 1995 when I had it built to order to match the interior of the first studio salon I ever owned. (Which, btw, to date has been THE most beautiful decor I've ever worked in, despite the fact that I went on to own my own salon again for another nine years; you'd think I'd be able top that first one, huh?) It looked great when I returned to my home town after a year away and opened my new salon in '98. But when I redecorated and painted the walls purple in 2003 that desk started to look only OK.

Then I gave the whole owner thing up and went booth rent. The owner of the salon I'm renting at now gave me the option of keeping my desk or having her order a new manicure station. I opted to keep my desk. Saved her money and beside, my desk is pretty nice. But after nearly three years, I'm constantly reminded that it would fit so much better into my space if it was just a foot shorter.

And I do a ton more gel now than I did 14 years ago. Not to mention, I make more money than I did 14 years ago, which means I can actually afford to invest in two UV lamps for my desk. And until recently I didn't realize how big those lamps are! Do you know they are nearly 10 inches wide? So they just sit on top of my desk taking up so much room. Along with all those thing-a-ma-jigs and whats-it-doodles that I keep on the desktop.

It's time for a new desk. Plain and simple.

Mostly, I want to stick those UV lamps into their own little cubby holes and get them off my desktop.

So I spent the last year or so measuring and comparing and researching and looking into the windows at every salon I pass and tirelessly combing the Internet for pictures. I have doodled on every piece of paper and used the BF's assortment of wood pieces that he has in his project drawer to design the Ultimate Perfect Nail Table. (I really intend for you to be able to hear the dramatic music when you read that.)

And I think I finally have it. Now I have to get it out of my head and into the third dimension. Have you ever tried to do this?

First, I comb the Internet looking for something that already exists as a manicuring table. Why, for the love of all that is holy, does salon furniture cost so freakin’ much? PEOPLE! It's two boxes with a board across it. Every college student in America has built one of these things from mason bricks and plywood for less than $10. There is no way you can possibly convince me that your "upscale European design" warrants a $2,500 price tag for a piece of flippin’ glass on a metal rack!

That’s about what I had run into 14 years ago when I had my current table built, which is why I had a local cabinet maker build mine for about $500. Which I still think is pricey, but I sure as heck can't miter any corners or apply Formica laminate and besides, it was still $1,000 less than what an industry-specific furniture manufacturer wanted for the same design.

So I went to a local furniture manufacturer this time for an estimate. Well, of course, I understand the concept of inflation and all, but my new table design does not have all the full slide-out drawers and fancy double-sided European roll on the countertop, not to mention that it's 15 inches shorter — so there's no reason for it to cost $650.

Local independent handy-man? $500. Not to mention the nagging feeling I keep getting when I take my sketches to these people that they have zero clue as to what my vision is. You know? Like all they can see is "Oh, like a desk then?" Not the part where I'm all like, "And here is where I want just little cubby-holes and then, on the desktop I want an armrest, but I want it to be built like a shelf ... no, not 2x4s cuz I want it to make a little shelf here ... I want to put holes in the desktop so I can run cords through it ... no, not Corian, Corian doesn't stand up to acetone ... yes, chemicals ... it has to be solvent-resistant..."

It's not going to be a freakin’ sewing table! It's a NAIL DESK — it's going to get chemicals on it!

So guess what? I am totally convinced I can build it myself. Now maybe I can convince the BF that I need a compound miter saw.