A Secretary Desk Makeover

This desk Jason bought for me on Craigslist took me over a year and a half to finish, mainly because I had no idea what I wanted to do with it. I debated painting it a bright color, like yellow or green.  Maybe a glossy black?  Perhaps white with a splashy, fun wallpaper on the inside?  You all know me though, right?  Color scares me sometimes.  What if I tire of it in a month?  It was a thorn I tell you, sitting there in the basement in all of its brown glory.

I ended up doing what I always do.  I painted the exterior of the desk white and gave it a gray paint job on the inside.  To make it a little more exciting, I lined the drawers with some wrapping paper and added some bright accessories that I can swap out for anything else that I'm loving, whenever the mood strikes.

So, here is another white, neutral makeover by me.  The good news is that I love this little secretary desk.  It reminds me of my Grandma Esther, who had one too, and filled it with pretty things and special memories.  Mine holds all of my favorite treasures and is a fun place to sit and write a letter, surf the Internet, or make a to do list.   I hope you like it, too!

Just to refresh your memory, because this desk has been on the ol' to do list for a long time, here are some pictures of what the desk looked like before the makeover.

Here are some pictures of the desk after the makeover.  Actually, I lied.  Here are a ton of after pictures.  Enjoy!

Thank you for reading!  I'll be back soon.

*****

In case you are curious, here are the specifics about the products I used on this project.

Paint colors:  

Primer:  Rust-oleum Spray Paint Primer

Exterior:  White by Olympic

Interior:  Behr color matched to Martha Stewart's Cobblestone

Hardware:

Liberty 35mm pendant knob/ Bronze Antique, purchased from the Home Depot

The two small round knobs and the hinges are the original hardware.

I'm linking up to:

I Heart Organizing

Pencil Cups

I haven't started working on my secretary desk yet.  I'm still paralyzed with indecision.  Also, until today, the weather here has been crummy.  I've decided to try some spray primer for this project.  I've read some reviews on it and everyone seemed to be pleased with the ease of application and the results.  As soon as the weather improves, Jason and I can haul the desk outside for a quick coat of primer and then we can get on to business.

In the meantime, I made some pencil cups to hold pencils, pens, and scissors inside my desk.  It was a pretty easy project to do on a day when the weather was crummy.  I gathered my supplies, which consisted of a clean can, some sharpened pencils, glue, and spray paint.

I glued those old, random pencils to the can until I worked my way around the entire can. 

Since I liked the first pencil cup I made, I made another one, just slightly smaller than the first.

With the smaller cup, I staggered the sizes of the pencils a bit more.

I then spray painted the outside and inside of both cups a glossy white.  To keep the bottom of the can from scratching anything, I cut out some white felt circles and glued them to the bottom of each pencil cup.

Now, about that desk.  The boys and I are headed to my favorite wallpaper store tomorrow so that hopefully I can find some inspiration for that desk of mine.