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Take measurements and select a plan for the desk/shelving project. We will build the desk at the window, to allow for maximum light, and add two tiers of shelves on either side that stretch almost from the floor to the ceiling. Four standards cut from two-by-fours will support the shelves on brackets that we will make from pine and hardboard.

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Locate the wall studs with an electronic stud finder and mark each of them for reference, after removing the furniture from the room.

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Cut four standards/wooden strips of the appropriate length to support the shelving and desk. We use a compound miter saw to make the job easy.

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Chamfer the ends of each standard, removing the outer corners of the standards to add a decorative touch.

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Make a boring jig to assist in drilling precise holes in each standard. Having them identically spaced and positioned is critical to fitting the brackets and keeping the shelves and desk level. The jig is essentially two straight strips of plywood glued and nailed in an L-shaped configuration with carefully measured and drilled holes in the desired positions.

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Lay the jig on the first standard, making sure the ends are flush, and clamp the jig and the standard to hold them steady.

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Use a portable drill press attached to your electric drill to keep the bit vertical while you bore a row of holes through the sides of the standards at each position indicated by the jig. Keeping the holes straight will ensure they fit properly with the brackets.

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Begin a second set of holes on the front of the standards for the lag screws that will attach them to the wall. First, countersink these holes so that the lag screw heads will rest flush with the surface of the standard.

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Follow up by drilling shank holes (in the countersunk holes) that will go all the way through the standard.

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Hold each standard against the wall, using a level to ensure that it is vertical, and drill through all the countersunk holes just far enough to make locater marks on the wall behind.

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Drill pilot holes with a smaller bit into the wall at each locator mark.

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Mount each standard using lag screws and washers. Insert each screw, giving it a couple of turns by hand, then use a socket wrench and ratchet to tighten them.

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Build a jig for the table saw to help make the shelf brackets. (Work through all the steps for the shelf brackets before starting on the desk brackets.) The jig is a simple plywood base/sled with a short length of one-by-four screwed to its surface at a steep angle to the blade. The jig clamps to the table saw and holds the work steady. The angled one-by-four enables cutting identically sized blocks of 1

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Cut 20 identical shelf bracket cores from the 1

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Add a modification to the jig to hold the hardboard

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Cut 40 hardboard wedges

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Make 4 larger brackets for the desk panel, following the same basic process outlined in steps 13 through 16 after modifying the jig slightly. The desk brackets will need to be longer, so start with a commensurately wider and longer block of pine and reposition the one-by-four on the jig as necessary to cut two identical wedges from each of two blocks.

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Assemble the shelf brackets and the desk brackets by first applying glue, and then driving in finishing nails with a pneumatic nail gun. The assembled brackets will have hardboard panels on either side of the core and will resemble snub-nosed wedges with fins that protrude from the back.

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Make a boring jig to assist in drilling the dowel holes in the

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Use the portable drill press and electric drill, boring through the jig and into the bracket that you have inserted into the jig

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Cut the shelves and desktop to size from sheets of plywood using a metal guide and a circular saw to ensure straight cuts.

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Add edge strips to the shelves and desk to dress the edges and make them stronger. First, apply glue to the edge of the shelves, the press the edging into place.

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Secure the edging with finishing nails and a pneumatic nail gun.

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Install each bracket at the appropriate position on the standard, securing it by hammering the dowel through the bracket and standard, flush with the other side. In the future, you can remove the dowels and reposition the brackets as required.

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Secure each shelf to its brackets with countersunk screws.

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Finish by setting the desktop in place and securing it to its bracket with countersunk screws as well.