Updating a Built In Desk with Paint and Decor

Materials and the sequence of the job sit together on this page.

Updating a Built In Desk with Paint and Decor 
by Gloria   Hi! I’m Gloria and I blog at A Little Paint. I feel like my life is now complete since Cassity asked me to do a guest post here on Bekob, huuuge fan. So a little about me, I blog mostly about what happens in and around my house. We bought our house in Oklahoma about two years ago, and I’ve kept busy, painting, repurposing furniture, you know, the typical new homeowner stuff. When people would come over and ask where I got this or that, and I would almost always end up telling them that I made it or painted it and they would respond like I just built the ark or something. Finally, I decided to start documenting my creative problem solving so I started A Little Paint back in January and have loved every minute of it. If you’ve wanted to start a blog, but have hesitated to, just do it! Don’t worry about the name or the details, it’s a lot of fun, you won’t regret it!

Now onto the task at hand! This is one of the bigger projects that I tackled in my house, painted cabinets. For those that have done this before those words might make you cringe remembering the hard work that went into it, most of the time though, the results are completely worth it. It’s like having a baby, once it out you totally forget about the pain. Just kidding, I’m clearly not a mother yet.

Here are a couple of before shots…
It all looks so dingy and typical. I took this picture from the front door. It’s the first thing you see when you walk in, so I knew I wanted it to be a feature wall that draws you in and makes an impact.

Here is a little closer look at this uninspiring bookcase. I LOVE that it’s there, it just needed a lot of work to get it where I wanted. I was actually the first major project I tackled after moving in. I even started sanding it BEFORE we officially signed the papers because I couldn’t stand the sight of it.

I started by painting the accent wall first, which I don’t recommend. There was a lot of wall washing when it was all said and done, but that color! Oh, it was so intoxicating I just couldn’t resist smothering it all over those walls that I was too impatient. The color is Benjamin Moore Bermuda Turquoise. It was the well fitted shade of peacock blue for this space, I just can’t get enough of it. I even painted my bedroom closet the same color. After the accent wall, I laid on the primer. I use KILZ, the oily stuff. It stinks but sure gets the job done.

This is the mess we lived with for longer than I would like to admit *cough*five months*cough*. I had my husband all worried that I would be one of those people who starts projects and never finishes, and I’m all like, well I don’t see YOU grabbing a paintbrush?!? Then I came back down to earth, stopped being so defensive and actually finished it.

It’s now finished! The accent wall was painted, the cabinets got a coat of white. The inside was looking a little too plain, so I went for something subtle with a light shade of gray that I mixed up about 1 in the morning. You know, because some things have to be done.RIGHT.THIS.SECOND. and that was one of them. The new hardware came from Target and the hinges were spray painted with Rustoleum Silver metallic. I also put up a lantern on the ceiling, undecided if it is going to stay.

I accessorized it with only thing I had on hand. I was keeping it low-cost and didn’t want to buy new accessories. Well, its not that I didn’t want new accessories, it’s that I didn’t want to PAY for them. I’m sure you know how it it. No Oklahoma house is complete without some beach decor, obviously. Yes, I really did subscribe to surfer magazine and everyone I know makes fun of me for it. A girl can dream!

In case you want to know WHERE in Oklahoma I live, there it is…

I’m so happy with the way it came out, it really came together. Guests always notice it when they come over and I get to be proud of all of the effort I put into it. It’s a great little work station. Even though I really made this project drag out, it’s not that difficult to do and it’s pretty low-cost!

Thanks for checking out my cabinet transformation! I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know if you have any cabinet makeovers, I’d love to see!

  This project was contributed by one of our fabulous readers! We love to share your projects with this great blogging community. So, if you have projects from kitchen renovation options to small bathroom remodels, overhauled and repurposed furniture, spray paint updates you name it please send it in! Thanks for reading Bekob!

    If you liked this post please look at these similar posts with built-ins: Fabulous Basement Remodel Tour Built in Hutch Transformation Built-in Bookcases; Living Room Update Spruce Up Your Built-in Book Shelves With Fabric striking Custom Built-in Home Office From Closet to Office Nook Building Balance; Built in