Make a DIY copper pipe desk tidy!

News flash: I’m a clean freak! I love tidiness. Yep, that probably makes me a bit of a loser – but it’s like my brain just won’t function when my work space is a mess. Surely I’m not alone on this… right?!

Anyway, this love of tidiness has made me develop a bit of an obsession with decorative ways to keep things spick and span. I’ve already shared a few DIY projects ​on this theme (like my DIY pegboard and my DIY wooden crate)​, but I’m not done yet! I’ve jumped on the copper craze to create a simple DIY copper pipe desk tidy. It’s actually the first project I’ve worked on with copper pipe, but considering how easy it was I doubt it’ll be the last! I love the splash of metallic colour it adds to my work space; it adds a lot of character whilst also helping to keep my desk in order – win-win! And guess what? It involves absolutely no power tools or difficult processes to make it, so there’s no excuse not to give it a go! Get the tutorial below.

​To make this DIY copper pipe desk tidy, I’ve teamed up with Homebase​, one of the biggest DIY retailers in the UK. It’s pretty awesome to collaborate with them, because I’ve been buying DIY supplies from their stores for years!

DIY Copper Pipe Desk Tidy

Supplies

• 1 metre copper pipe
• Copper pipe cutter
• Steel wool
• Cork coaster
• Permanent marker pen
• Hot glue gun

Tutorial

1. Make a small mark approximately 15-20 cm along from one end of the copper pipe with a permanent marker pen.
2. Using an appropriate copper pipe cutter, cut through the copper pipe at the position that you have marked. Top tip: Go easy with the copper pipe cutter – start off by simply scoring the copper, then gently tighten the cutter to make the groove deeper, until the pipe naturally comes apart. If you tighten it too fast, it will dent and distort the metal.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 with 5 more pieces of copper pipe, making sure you get a good variety of sizes to store all of your desk bits and bobs.
4. Give the pipes a good clean with some steel wool – make sure you give it a bit of elbow grease!
5. Inspect all of the copper pipes and make sure you’ve cleaned them up well – once you’ve built the desk tidy, it will be more tricky to buff the metal.
6. Position all of the copper pipes as you would like them to be in your desk tidy, so you know exactly what you’re aiming for.
7. Use a hot glue gun to glue together two of the copper pipes. Start off by adding a line of glue to one pipe, then firmly pressing the other one onto it. Then add another layer of glue to more firmly fix it in place. Top tip: It helps to warm the copper pipes up a little before you glue it, otherwise the glue will cool and set very quickly! Just running the pipe under some warm water should do the trick.
8. One by one, add each of the remaining pipes in the same way, to form the final desk tidy structure. Then, turn the desk tidy on its side and add some more glue to the base of the desk tidy, focussing mostly on the gaps between the pipes.
9. Place the desk tidy onto a cork coaster (available in most craft stores or online), trace around it with a pencil then cut out the resultant shape. Glue this to the base of the desk tidy to create the base.

I was really surprised at how easy it was to make this desk tidy, especially since I’ve never really worked with copper pipe before. If I can do it, you can too! And if you do give this DIY a go, check out the Homebase website. They’ve got pretty much any tool and hardware supplies you could need – including the copper pipes and pipe cutter I used in this project! Happy crafting 🙂 – Mike.

This post is sponsored by Homebase, although all opinions are my own. I only ever work with brands that I genuinely love, or that reflect the style of my blog. Thank you for supporting the brands that keep my blogging!