Oh the ugly desk

I've been scratching my head and trying to figure out what the heck to do to fix up binh's ugly desk. His desk is a commercial/office desk and just simply didn't go well with our home office. Here's a picture of his desk to refresh your memory.

He refused to give up on "his" desk. I had gotten the other free desk from CL a while back and it was just sitting in our backyard waiting to be finished. Here's the desk I got from CL for free. His reasoning for not wanting this desk: it simply didn't have enough leg room for him. Apparently my husband thinks he's really tall.. but in actuality he's about the size of a midget but thats another subject. He claims he needs more leg room under the desk. 

So fast forward a couple of weeks, as the desk sat in our backyard. And my wonderful dad came over this morning and did this to it: 

Yep... he removed the drawers to the right of the desk. The original drawers were in bad shape and needed reinforcement anyways so I asked him to remove them completely. My dad is so good he even saved the molding and covered the bottom so it would look more cohesive. He sanded the top of the desk down so I would have a smooth finish to paint on. Seriously.. I don't know what I would do without my dad. Now Binh has no more excuses as to why he doesn't like this desk. I'm still debating what color/style to paint it. I'm so excited about getting rid of Binh's other desk, I might even make him prime and paint this desk this weekend and finish off the office once and for all. 

Last DIY post for now

I went to my OB today and he said I'm 3 cm dilated so Kaley can arrive anytime now. This will be my last DIY project for a while. I was able to squeeze in a quick chair makeover before I went to the OB. I used some old dark brown/black paint I had from painting my china cabinet awhile back to finish off the chair. I was debating if I should paint the wood black but thought it might appear too harsh since the mirror and nearby accessories are a dark bronze. They all look black but its really dark brown. The color that I used is called french roast in satin.


This was right after I finished painting. The paint was still wet. I didn't even bother putting blue tape over the fabric. I just used a thin paint brush and carefully started painting. Whole process took about an hour long.

Here's my little corner with the almost dried chair. The chair doesn't match exactly to the desk and cabinet but I have never been the type that likes my furniture to all match. I actually like mixing different textures and colors together. 

Binh's side of the room is still ... blah.... 

Another angle of my corner, facing the french doors. 

Here's the before and after

Mismatched furniture can be an easy fix with a simple quart of paint.

 

This side isn't perfect but looks way better. I can officially announce that I'm no longer embarrassed of this room. I love that its an office space for both Binh and I and the kids can play in the sofa area with the soft ottomans. We can always move the ottomans to the side and put a tall toy basket on the lower shelf of the entertainment center (right under the vase). Its currently empty right now and would be perfect to store some of the kids toys. 

Feeling productive

Between Emily's two hour nap today, I was able to prime the storage cabinet. The ugly desk and storage cabinet has been viciously staring at me for way too long. Today, after a nice lunch visit with a friend I attacked the storage cabinet. The whole process actually wasn't that bad. Took me about 30 minutes total to remove the two doors and prime the whole thing.... given that I didn't prime the back side of the doors and the inside of the cabinet. I'm lazy and figured no one will open the storage cabinet except myself. And if they do see the inside.. I don't really care.


First thing I did after Emily went to sleep was remove the two doors and the hardware that came with it.

Step two: Primed only the outside of the cabinet. And no I didn't sand anything down. I barely wiped down the dust.

Step three: Prime the fronts of the cabinet doors. Eat some delicious watermelon to get some energy back and wait for everything to dry.

Step four: Paint the cabinet and wait for everything to dry overnight before reattaching the doors and hardware.

Step five: Reassemble the doors and hardware and look for accessories to decorate the top. 

This side of the room looks plain and mismatched with the rest of the room for now because I'm not quite done with it yet. I plan to buy more black/masculine accessories to decorate my side. I am really aiming for a his and her side type of office space. This is obviously "her" side of the room but everything should look more cohesive and make more sense once I'm done. 

Here's a before and after

 

 

 

Not bad for a $25 project. Prior to making my cabinet purchase I was really contemplating just purchasing an Ikea cabinet for about $150-200 but decided against it. I felt that I was able to stretch my budget with refinishing the cabinet instead. Overall, the cabinet isn't glamorous but it works for the space, affordable, and was an easy 1-2 hour project for me. I was able to use some left over paint which is always great. I have slowly collected a pretty good size paint collection and they will be neatly organized inside this cabinet hidden away from the public eye. This room/office isn't meant to look perfect but I do feel that it has come a long way for about $300. I just need a few more tweaks on Binh's side of the desk and I'll complete this room. Up next on my to do list would be painting my $18 chair black, redoing Binh's desk, and maybe makeover the two ottomans. 

Heres the total budget breakdown so far: 

Large entertainment center and paint: $60
Desk: free
Accessories for desk: $63
Kmart rug: $40
Three ikea Virserum frames and octopus art: $44
Marshalls chair $18
Curtains $25

Pendant $20

Storage cabinet: $25

Total: Under $305

Polyhedron pendant light for under $20

 Finally here are better pictures of Binh's new and improved office space. 

The view from out side of the office. The room feels so much more complete with the pendant hanging.

Here's another close up in case you aren't tired of looking at it yet. I wanted to mention that Target has GE Energy Efficient light bulbs for really cheap if you use their cartwheel (50% off) and stack it with their regular coupon for $2 off GE reveal light bulbs. Both coupons can be printed directly from Targets website. I got three bulbs for under $2. Regular price at Homedepot and Target for the exact bulbs cost around $7.

Tutorial:

1. Gather all supplies. I purchased a $17 portfolio recessed light conversion kit on Amazon and quickly gathered the rest of my supplies. Other supplies include a dollar tree white foam board, masking tape, exacto knife, ruler, acrylic paint, small brush, and a cutting board. I decided to use white foam board because it was lightweight, thick, and cheap.

2. Cut the foam board into strips of 10 inches by 0.5 inches. I cut about 25 strips.

3. Cut twelve of the strips like the picture below. You want them to have an angle so you can tape the base into the shape of a hexagon. I didn't do any precise angle measurements. I just cut them at an angle and hope they fit.

4. Arrange six strips into a hexagon shape and tape into place. I made two hexagon rings like this for the base and top.

5. Using the remainder of the strips create V's using two strips. You will make six V's total and tape them onto the base of the hexagon. The best way to get the strongest V shape is by lining the two strips, leaving a small gap and taping them together. Leaving the gap allows you to bend the strips.

6. Attach the V's to the base and tops of the hexagon. Secure with masking tape.  Look at the shape of the hexagon carefully and tape it accordingly. Its really hard to explain but you need to tape the corners to the angles.

7. For the top and bottom I cut out longer strips. I cut twelve 11 x 0.5 inch strips. For the bottom I lined up the strips into a circle and carefully taped it together. I filled the circle with masking tape so it can hold better.

8. To attach the top of the pendant, I did the same thing as the bottom but I also cut out a circle that fit the cord for the pendant and left a small slit to slid the cord into place. Finally attach everything to the pendant.

9. Spray paint black or color of your choice. I used my rustoleum spray for the first coat because thats what I had at home. I ended up using regular acrylic paint and cost only $2. Spray paint was so wasteful. I think I used almost all of my remaining spray paint. I only have a little bit left. This was after the first coat.

10. Patiently wait for everything to dry and hang up your new gorgeous polyhedron pendant light.
Here's the teaser I showed you guys on Facebook the other night.

This is how it looks at night. I love the reflection of the pendant in the room.  It has the coolest effect and pictures don't do it justice.

Review of pendant light. 

This project took me about 1.5 hours total including assembly and painting. I had all the supplies at home except for the white foam board, acrylic paint and pendent light conversion kit. I spent under $20 to make and convert our pot light into a pendant light. I was able to do this project while Emily was taking her routine two hour afternoon nap. The restoration hardware version thats similar in size to mines cost a whooping $475 on SALE... LOL  Here's the link in case you wondered where I"m getting the numbers from. I think I'm one happy girl saving myself a lot of money by DIY this project. Overall, if you have two hours to spare and need a cheap and affordable pendant this is the project for you. 

Heres the total budget breakdown so far: 

Large entertainment center and paint: $60
Desk: free
Accessories for desk: $63
Storage cabinet: $25
Kmart rug: $40
Three ikea Virserum frames and octopus art: $44
Marshalls chair $18
Curtains $25

Pendant $20

Total: Under $305

Here's a comparison of the before and after