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