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Sunday, May 17, 2009

My $18 Desk Area/If It's the Spring You'll Find Me Spray Painting on My Front Lawn

A few weeks ago (oh who am I kidding-on Thursday-I have major instant gratification issues) I decided that I wanted a little desk in my den. My laptop currently lives on my sofa, and frankly, it was only a matter of time before one of us bumped it onto the floor. So I decided I wanted a petite desk. I only had 30 inches of wall to deal with, so I knew it would be tight.

I found one that was pretty nice at Target, but I did not feel like spending $100. I've been crazy thrifty recently-at some point in the near term I'll tell y'all about my $15 grocery shopping. For the entire week. Including 6 pounds of ground beef and a bag of Tilapia.

But I digress.

So I wanted a desk. I am cheap.

On Friday, I was at a thrift store, hunting for plates for my kitchen wall (oh yeah, I need to show you a picture of a decoupaged plate I made. With a tutorial from here. I {heart} this blog).

Then I saw her. She wasn't much to look at, but she was the perfect size. Dumped the plates on a shelf (heck this thrift store is such a disaster I'm sure no one noticed). I looked at her price.

$15.

But she was (a) light wood and (b) mission style.

But she was $15 and the right size so I knew I could make it work.

I decided to cover the mission spindly things with tufted upholstered panels. I found 2 old canvases in my scary slasher basement that fir PERFECTLY, as well as some brown fabric and some fiberfill. I couldn't find the batting, so just artfully arranged the fiberfill :) Then I tufted the panels with some $.88 for two buttons from Wal Mart. I'm considering asking the guys at work if they have any beadboard that they can cut to fit-and I'll remove the panels. But they work for now.

All I needed to buy were 2 buttons and 2 cans of black spray paint.

After I painted it black, I decoupaged a toile P on the top of the desk and put on about 5 coats of poly to protect the whole thing.

Then I "shopped the house" and found an unused black shelf in the basement, another canvas that I upholstered to use as a bulletin board, an unused lamp, and a little flower pot that I painted black and embellished to use as a pencil cup.

I forgot to take before pictures until I was mid-primer spray. So ignore the odd gray primer marks.



I am not a fan of the mission style. Apologies to anyone I offend.


And now...the great reveal. It turned out even better than I had hoped!




Opinions on the upholstered panels? Unsure.

But overall, for $18? Can't beat it!

And then I found a blog carnival. Go over to Southern Hospitality to see what other thifty decorators are doing...

17 comments:

Shosh said...

OMG. I don't even understand what you did. I don't even know what some of those words mean. Fiberfill? Baseboard? Were you a carpenter in your former life? You are insanely talented and it looks AMAZING!

Kelly said...

That is so cool!! It looks so much better, and I like mission style. ;) Great job!

Kammy said...

What a great transformation ! Love that spray paint ! Thanks for sharing !
Hugs ~ Kammy

The Tattered Cottage said...

OMG!!! Your talent is amazing and so is the transformation of the table! LOVE it!!
Toni

elisha said...

they should make a tv show about you. . . the table looks fabulous!

Rhoda @ Southern Hospitality said...

Sara, love the table & the monogram. Not sure aouut the panels, I actually thinks the straight wood sides would look good too & it won't scream Mission painted black.

elana said...

you are way too creative for me. it looks great! if you ever run out of things to do in your house, feel free to come to mine!

Rach said...

I'm in awe! The stencil on the top of the desk makes the whole thing perfect.
I can't even draw a stick figure. Your creativity astounds me!

Lou Cinda @ Tattered Hydrangeas said...

This looks GREAT! Love the monogram! Great Job!!

Lou Cinda :)

Shira said...

What? You write this post as if it's nothing to have done what you did. You are so freaking cool.

L said...

Hey - here from Southern Hospitality.

WOW - I don't care for the side things but the rest of it is AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL! That monogram, the black, the way it's decorated...wow, wow, wow!

Kim @ Starshine Chic said...

I love the monogramed top, the black color. Not sure about the panels. I think I would like beadboard better. I'm not a huge fan of mission style but my hubby was/is so half of my house is mission style as it came with the hubby. Package deal I am afraid. My style is more shabby chic/cottage. But mission has grown on me.

Angie said...

What an awesome transformation! Love the black and the initial on the top just makes it FAB!!!

Anonymous said...

What a great desk! I think it would look a lot better without the panels on the side. Great job!

Galiah said...

Pardon my ignorance- i don't know what mission style means, but i do love the black color and the fancy P on top...
gorgeoso!
--galiah

Robin @ The Rendered Nest said...

Love it...especially the monogram on top! I was thinking that you could also make a memo board out of the side either while its on the desk or if you ever do something different on the sides. And I agree with you about mission style...not my choice either. The black is much better!

Michelle said...

I love it! I'm not a big fan of the panels, but the rest of it looks wonderful---especially the monogram. Awesome job!!!