New Work Station

Our house was built about nine years ago.  During the construction, we were so excited about having our own little plot of Earth --our first place--that we neglected to realize there was not a single storage space in our entire house, other than a teeny tiny hallway coat closet with the capacity to hold two coats.  Also, no mud room.  No place to store winter stuff (gloves, hats, scarves).  No place to hang coats.  No place to store towels.  No place to store sheets.   You get the idea.  At the risk of sounding offensive, I'll tell you this:  at least twice a day I curse the man who designed our house.  I'm certain if it was a woman I would have a linen closet, at the very least.

For several years, I've had this cabinet in my kitchen nook.  I've used to hold all of my baking pans as well as art supplies for the kids.

It served it's purpose well, but lately we've been having another problem.  We really have no "family center."  No place to store bills or sit down and pay them.  No place (other than the couch) to work on my laptop or grade papers. And I'm sure that in a few years I 'll need a place to store all of the kids' paperwork from school, and sports schedules.

For two years now, my laptop has been sitting on the kitchen counter next to the stove, so every time I cook spaghetti sauce, I wind up cleaning the splatters off the laptop.  I decided to move this big cabinet upstairs to hold towels and sheets, and create a little workstation here instead.

Remember this desk I picked up at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore?

She was part of my plan, but she needed a bit of work.  First, I used some Goo Gone to get rid of all the tape on the front drawer.  Do you see it there?  I wonder what it's former owner was up to.  There were also some nicks in the wood, but they were easily fixed with some wood filler.  Then I just sanded the whole thing quickly...took about 10 minutes.  I added two coats of primer, and two coats of paint.  Here she is today!

I went big and bold with this one:  Peacock Feather by Behr.  I LOVE how it turned out.  Since the handles are what drew me to this desk in the first place, I wanted them to stand out.  So I used some Rub N Buff in Grecian Gold.  Here's how my little "office nook/control center" looks now:

I've had that little chair for a while, but never knew what to do with it.  It's a thrift store find, too.  I recovered the cushion with some leftover fabric from the ottoman.  Here's a shot of it before, in all it's french toile glory:

The Keep Calm print.  I know, I know.  They are EVERYWHERE.  I'm sure you're tired of them.  But seriously, that's my mantra. This one is from Pressureless on Etsy.  Isn't is gorgeous?  The frame is from IKEA.

Wanna see my FAVORITE thing about the desk?  It was already there when I bought it.  It's the paper that's lining the drawers.  I love it!

Wanna see my other favorite thing?  The photo I found in the drawer:

Look at those fabulous, fabulous girls.  I am certain that they would approve of their desk makeover. Don'tcha think?