As you may remember, the amazing Reading Guy is hoping to soon be embarking upon quite possibly the most exciting journey of his life--and my life too, by default, heh heh. He has made the courageous and admirable decision tocontinue on life's endless road of education and pursue a Ph.D...
Accordingly, we decided that he MUST have his very own desk! The problem was that not only was this Reading Girl NOT willing to pay hundreds of dollars for a desk that at least 50,000 other people were the proud owners of...
But this desk also had to be small enough to not overwhelm the guest room (slash new home office) yet had to be large enough to be functional for the Reading Guy.
Well, we decided to build it of course! $50 in materials and a few hours of bonding time later and we had what is now our dearest piece of furniture in our home...
Here's how we did it, and how you can too!
We built the desk thanks in no small part to our dear friend Ana, with only a few size modifications.
OOOOHHH! In its naked state, it is hardly recognizable...
Then we stained the entire piece (with the amazing spray paint gun/bucket thingee that my even more AMAZING Reading Guy surprised me with) in a mix of Ebony and Provincial stain...
SERIOUSLY... A paint sprayer is some sort of DIY miracle...
Then we primed it with a tinted primer. I know, I know, since when do I spend money on such things? Ummm, I don't...
I just mix some of my regular ol' primer in a paint tray with a tiny bit of grey paint--I like to mix things up when I can, heh heh...
Oh, and don't think that I could be bothered to go out to buy a new paint brush in honor of our new desk either; I used the stiff, crusty brush (that I most certainly did not rinse) from the guest room painting I was tackling the night before...
It turns out that stringent paint brush cleaning rules are meant to be broken, because the desk was coming along fantastically in spite of my questionable brush quality!!!
And this is what it looked like after two very light dry brush painted coats of a new French'y Grey paint I custom mixed...
And this is what it looked like after two very light dry brush painted coats of a new French'y Grey paint I custom mixed...
And while waiting for the paint to dry (which really tests my short attention span patience), I made myself a well deserved mango slush...
~~Mmmmmm~~
~~Mmmmmm~~
Once the paint had set, I took to sanding the entire desk, ONE to rid it of any dust, specks, etc., and TWO to distress!
Ahhhhh...and this is our new desk...
Complete with a few fresh cut flowers--you know for inspiration...
Plenty of pens...
A number of notebooks...
A motivating memory...
And a few of our favorite photos...
The Reading Guy even allowed me a feminine French'y trash bin...
Like it? Because we are in LOVE...
Although we are admittedly partial...
For reasons other than the obvious, this desk will forever hold a special place in our hearts and home...
I hope to soon be able to share with you some wonderful news that may or may not involve having to transport this desk thousands of miles away...
But for now, I'll leave you with more of the desk that has launched at least a thousand of OUR thoughts...
And humbly ask that you might have our family in your own thoughts in the coming weeks as well...
I am hoping to have the rest of the guest room/ home office reveal very soon-- I hope you'll stay tuned!
Thank you so much for visiting!
XOXO,
In love with this!!!
ReplyDeleteXO
Thanks a million, Kristin! You know it means the world, coming from you :o)
ReplyDeleteYou two are truly amazing!! Can't wait to see the rest...
ReplyDeleteI would love to try to make one too! Yours came out fabulous and this looks like the perfect size for our guest room! Coming over from Tuesdays Treasures and your newest follower!
ReplyDeleteJeanine
Thanks, Jeanine! Let me know if you decide to build it, and we'll give you all of our building tips (angles/degrees and all)!
ReplyDeleteI am so happy I stopped in ~ LOVE the desk!!
ReplyDeleteYour blog looks wonderful!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate that you all take the time to write me a quick note! It makes my day every time :o)
ReplyDeletei am so envious of others who can build fabulous things like this from scratch - your desk turned out amazing!
ReplyDeleteA beautiful piece! Fantastic job- love all the white too. Love your blog!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sarah and Megan! It was SO worth the small expense and relatively little elbow grease. My husband uses his new desk EVERYDAY--YAY for that! Thanks for visiting :o)
ReplyDeleteGreat job. I have a similar table to sew and paint small crafts. Yours look so beautiful with all the decorations around.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Inspired by You! I sure do love accessorizing :o)
ReplyDeleteYour desk is gorgeous! Great job!!! I hope you shared it on Ana's site too!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestion, Pam! I actually just shared the post on Ana's site :o)
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing - I love it! Great job! Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Carmel :o)
ReplyDeleteOh, yes! I need to make one of these! I just found your blog and I'm following. Great job.
ReplyDeletePopped over from Uncommon Slice and fell in love with this desk. So much so that I had to share it with a friend.
ReplyDeletegreat job!
Thanks, Barb and Cheryl, I am so glad that you stopped in and that you liked the desk! My husband is its biggest fan--the new home office/guest room is like his very own man cave (minus the leather sofas and huge flat screen tv of course) heh heh :o)
ReplyDeleteI really like this desk. I stumbled upon you from Ana whites site. I am curious if you can give me dimensions or possibly plans. I have never built anything before but have some ideas with this. Please share:)
ReplyDeleteDibella, thanks for visiting and I am so glad you are going to start building! As far as dimensions go, the desk is 5'x2.5' and is average desk height. I am so sorry, but I don't have any plans to share. I simply followed Ana's instructions for the X-table, and modified the length and width. I would also recommend going to one of your favorite home design stores to find a desk with the proportions that suit your needs and please your style eye--then base your building plans on that. Hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteYou did an amazing job, I have really enjoyed finding your blog through Ana White! My question is, how did you figure out how to modify the legs to the new width? I am struggling with this piece. I have been able to adjust dimensions for the top to the size we need, but the legs perplex me. Thanks for any information!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! Regarding the angles: my husband and I simply took Ana's original recommendations and began adjusting the degrees on our table saw until the angles were just right--if you don't have a table saw, then simply work with angles manually. For example, if Ana recommended 45 degree angles for the legs on the original building plan (for a wider table), we simple decreased/increased the angles 5 degrees at a time, until we got just what we needed for our narrower desk. Additionally, our desk in currently on carpet, which is a little more forgiving than a solid surface would be with regard to wobbling. In short, I hope this helps and that you trust me on the trial and error method--I promise you'll get there! Good luck :o)
ReplyDeletehow in the world did you attach the top to the base?? I can't figure it out....did you screw down from the top and fill the hole?
ReplyDeleteHi Audrey! We did simply screw down from the to and covered the holes--and there's not a sign of them :o)
Deletejust on the ends, or all the way across?
Deletethanks for your quick reply....we have everything assembled and are now just trying to figure out how to attach the top...plus we ran out of screws so we had some time to think about it :)
We just placed screws on the ends (two on each end), and the desk is perfectly sturdy. Countersink and fill in the dips as well as you can, and it will turn out flawlessly! Good luck on finishing your masterpiece :o)
DeleteJust came across your blog after perusing Ana's site. Great modification! I am wondering if you mind sharing your dimensions? We are in need of a new desk and I think this would be perfect!
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah--so glad that you found us! The desk dimensions are as follows: 5 feet wide x 2.5 feet deep x 30 inches high. Other than these size adjustments and slight modifications to the angles of the X legs, we followed Ana's plans precisely. Good luck and DO share your photos once you have finished building your desk--I'd love to see it :o)
DeleteThank you so much! I will be glad to post, hopefully I can figure out the angles but am confident it won't be too hard.
DeleteI just came across this and am so excited to try this weekend!! I'm a little nervous...
ReplyDeleteYour desk is BEAUTIFUL!! I just came across your blog tonight from Ana's website. I am COMPLETELY in love with your painted version of the desk. You are giving me confidence that I just might have to go ahead and give building a try. Out of curiousity...what paint sprayer did your husband get you? I need to jump in and invest in one and I just don't know where to begin! Any help would be greatly appreciated!
ReplyDeleteHeidi
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