I assume Case Central is the place to put this considering the desk gallery is here 
Anyway, I am sick of my current desk as the width of the area between the draws and cabinets is too small. I am also a busy person being a reviewer, photo/videographer and school student so I always end up with a cluttered desk. I would like to get rid of it and build my own!
Now, I want a corner one, that will leave me with 3 distinct areas, the longest side for my gaming area with mouse, keyboard, PC tower etc. The shorter side as my work area for doing written work, organising school books and possibly a laptop. Then the corner area which can be used for storage. I will also get a pedestal drawer set for underneath. I want to be able to move freely between the two areas with nothing obstructing my legroom. I am planning on making the gaming area 1300mm long (this is between the inner corner and end) and the other area about 1000mm long with the desk area being 600mm deep. If anyone could knock up a decent design on sketchup I would be grateful (my skills are lacking!)
Now, here comes the hard part- it needs to look good and be strong. I am thinking of using a support pole on the inner corners at each end rather than a solid piece of material, so that is not so much of an issue. But what do I make it of? MDF would be easy and maybe I could cover it in some sort of film, but what film and would it look good or be strong enough. The other option is aluminium. I can get aluminium framework and make the surface out of sheet steel which I can get from my dad's work, but I'm not to sure about the looks and a chilly surface would not be nice. I really need some suggestions for a decent looking and sturdy material and design.
I also really like the look of these old Lian Li desks which are aluminium with the kind of design I want (ie. corner, nothing in the way of legroom):
Anyway, I am sick of my current desk as the width of the area between the draws and cabinets is too small. I am also a busy person being a reviewer, photo/videographer and school student so I always end up with a cluttered desk. I would like to get rid of it and build my own!
Now, I want a corner one, that will leave me with 3 distinct areas, the longest side for my gaming area with mouse, keyboard, PC tower etc. The shorter side as my work area for doing written work, organising school books and possibly a laptop. Then the corner area which can be used for storage. I will also get a pedestal drawer set for underneath. I want to be able to move freely between the two areas with nothing obstructing my legroom. I am planning on making the gaming area 1300mm long (this is between the inner corner and end) and the other area about 1000mm long with the desk area being 600mm deep. If anyone could knock up a decent design on sketchup I would be grateful (my skills are lacking!)
Now, here comes the hard part- it needs to look good and be strong. I am thinking of using a support pole on the inner corners at each end rather than a solid piece of material, so that is not so much of an issue. But what do I make it of? MDF would be easy and maybe I could cover it in some sort of film, but what film and would it look good or be strong enough. The other option is aluminium. I can get aluminium framework and make the surface out of sheet steel which I can get from my dad's work, but I'm not to sure about the looks and a chilly surface would not be nice. I really need some suggestions for a decent looking and sturdy material and design.
I also really like the look of these old Lian Li desks which are aluminium with the kind of design I want (ie. corner, nothing in the way of legroom):
