Office Bookshelf

Karla and I decided that we would refurbish a piece of furniture for my office (As my birthday present this year).  We picked this side table/shelf up at Deseret Industries for $15.

  The top of the table was open.  We figured it originally had a sheet of glass over the top. 

 Instead of cutting a large sheet of glass for the top, I routered out an edge in the top and put in a recessed piece of plexiglass.

I had to hand chisel out the corners for the glass to fit in the groove.

 I cut a small piece of 1/4" oak to span the gap in the middle so that we'd have two smaller panels of plexiglass.   The plexiglass in this picture looks foggy because I hadn't peeled off the protecting film yet.

 After sanding the varnish off the entire piece, Karla and I painted it with a glossy black paint.  We did this project in January '11, it was freezing cold in the garage every night, hence Karla's outfit. :)

This is how the final project now looks in my office.  We have since added a toy box on the bottom shelf so that the girls have something to play with when they visit for lunch.