My New Years resolutions included using “stuff” from my stash. The first item to be used for 2012 is a desk I purchased at a garage sale about 5 years ago for $5. It was originally purchased for my youngest son to use in his room. To make a long story short, it’s “intended use” has changed many times over the years so it has been patiently waiting in the garage.
I’m working on is my “woman cave”/craft area. I need a desk in there for sewing and such so it’s time to drag out that desk and transform it. Here’s how it looked after the transformation took place
I didn’t think to do an actual before shot. So, here’s the best I can do. This is one of the bottom drawers. the desk was a hideous green with white knobs and the paint was wearing off (the picture does not do justice as to the ugliness of this).
Here is the picture of the desk minus the drawers (I had already spray painted the top). Note: one of my two bottom drawers broke so my lovely husband cut out some base boards to fit into the bottom so I could use these two areas as shelves.
Most of the decoupage desks I have seen involve painting the entire desk and then decoupaging the drawer fronts. My drawer pulls were in good shape, they just needed some TLC. My thoughts are that the areas of the desk that will experience the most wear and tear are the drawers and the top. I had some leftover spray paint from previous projects (yea, stash busting) so I decided to spray paint the drawer fronts and the desk top.
The color scheme of my woman cave/craft room is turquoise and chocolate brown. I was thinking about using some of the fabric that will be used for curtains and such but decided on tissue paper instead. I ran out to our Dollar Tree and picked up the following:
I liked the darker turquoise of the “celebrate” tissue paper sets and the light turquoise of the “gift tissue” set. I thought that having two different turquoise papers would help add dimension and interest to the desk. I cut the paper into rectangles and squares (I first followed the fold lines of the paper).
I reexamined the desk and decided that I needed to paint the entire piece white since I was using tissue paper…so out came the white paint once again!
I got a foam brush from my stash and then painted a thin layer of mod podge on the desk,adhering the tissue paper to the wet area. I then went to the area next to the paper, applied some more mod podge so that I could adhere another piece of tissue paper. (My tissue paper was crinkly but I think that adds interest so I just made sure it was completely adhered to the desk and didn’t worry about the small wrinkles.)
Once I had covered all the exterior areas with tissue paper I put 1 top coat of mod podge over the entire desk. It was now onto the inside area where the old drawers had been. . I didn’t spray paint inside there since it wasn’t green so I decided to decoupage tissue paper inside…..but that was a mistake (take a look!)
I couldn’t spray paint inside and risk ruining the work I had done on the outside of the desk. So, I went to my previous projects’ leftover paint stash and found some white paint from our previous bathroom update.
I painted the inside area of the two lower “ex-drawer” spaces white. It looked much better! Okay, I’m in the home stretch. I ran my fingers across the outside of the desk to see how smooth it felt. It was still somewhat rough. Since I am going to be using this desk in my craft room, I thought there might always be a spill or mess of some sort that I would need to clean up. So, I decided to use a water based polyurethane-type finish to seal the outside (I chose water based since mod podge is water based). This is what I used.
I ended up putting 3 coats of the Polycrylic protective finish and I am thrilled! Here’s how it turned out…take a look!
I’m pretty pumped!
4you
Anne @ Domesblissity
That looks pretty fancy. Aren’t you clever? I’ve got 2 desks here you can do for me if you have the time. LOL
Anne xx
Courtney and Heather
Thanks for stopping by our space today.
I love this…what a great idea!
~Courtney~
love2sisters.blogspot.com
This Little Life of Mine
Very nice! Love the color.
New follower here…
http://myhappilyeverafteragain.blogspot.com/
Katie
WOW this is pretty cool!
Laura
Way cute! You’re much further ahead on organizing your space than I am! ???? The desk looks great! Oh! And thanks for stopping by my blog. ~ Our Prairie Home
Betsy Pool
Wow – that looks cool! I like the color it adds.
Thanks for sharing this on Romanceonadime.com ! Come back next week and share again!
Deana
Thanks so much for linking up this weekend @ CountryMommaCooks Link & Greet party..Have a wonderful week!
Terry
I love that you thought to make the bottom in shelving when the drawers broke. Brilliant. I also really love that colour scheme you chose. Thanks again for sharing at our Link It Up Thursday party. (btw – your newest follower, lol)
Pixel Berry Pie
Oh my! What a very pretty idea.
I love this desk!
Mariah
I love the colors you chose! Thanks for linking this up to Terrific Tuesday on Mariah’s Creations!!!
Janny
I would have never thought of using tissue paper. Way to go for thinking outside the box! This is so original.
Papgena Made It
I saw you Thursdays’ Temptation! I thing you made an awsome job! It turn out great!
Jill @Two Yellow Birds Decor
Wow!! That looks so cool! What a fun idea:) Thanks for sharing this as well at Thursday’s Temptation!
Jill
Becky@Beyond The Picket Fence
What a fun and unique finish! Thanks for linking up at Beyond the Picket Fence.
Melanie @ bear rabbit bear
So cute! Happy you linked to Things I’ve Done Thursday!
Melanie http://www.bearrabbitbear.com
Melissa @ Honeybee Vintage
What a neat idea!
Hani@Craftionary
The geometric patterns on that desk look awesome..
Brandi
Wow! Such a unique idea! Your desk looks great!
Danielle
Thank you so much for linking up to Blissful and Domestic’s Sunday Blog Hop!
I am of course following you!
http://blissfulanddomestic.blogspot.com/
Chatty Chics
Wow! How crafty are you?! Love it! Never would have thought to use tissue paper! Adorable!
Melody
Amanda
Thanks for linking this up! I love this color! So cute!
Sarah
Love your idea, thanks for sharing at Dwell on Friday!
Bumblebee and Sophie
Bright and cheery, I love aqua!! Great idea to glam up old furniture!!
thanks for sharing.
Cindy
Latoya @ The Scott's Crib
You are full of wonder working miracles:) Great job and thanks for linking up!
ARod
great desk luff it i did a display case like this but used scrapbook paper come over and take a look some time :-)http://makinmyaptahome.blogspot.com/2012/03/display-case.html
Cassie {two-in-diapers.blogspot.com}
What a fun idea! I found you via the GFC blog hop and would love for you to follow me back at http://www.two-in-diapers.blogspot.com!
Emily Meyers
Hey lady!! I just found your cute blog via the hop and added myself to your followers! Also I’d love to have you check out a fabulous OSCAR DE LA RENTA giveaway I’m having right now!!
Hope to see you there! And thanks so much!
Xo, Emily
http://emilymmeyers.blogspot.com/2012/06/oscar-de-la-renta-giveaway.html
Diana - FreeStyleMama
Super cute!!!!!
Danni Baird @ Silo Hill Farm
Oh now that is just one awesome desk!! Coolest project around for sure!