We haven’t discussed the furnishing in the attic office, but the desks were another special DIY makeover worth mentioning. In this post, see how we took some retail tables and turned them into DIY desks for Melissa and Jolie’s office space! Retail Tables to DIY Desks!
Several months ago, a clothing store near our house was moving, so they were selling EVERY SINGLE THING in the entire store. We managed to score some clothes for the kids, but then we realized they really meant everything had to go. Hangers, racks, mirrors, tables, benches, everything!
At the time, we were on the hunt for some desks for the attic office – so, it was perfect all around.
See those light-colored tables on the far right? In their first life, our “desks” were t-shirt and jeans tables at the Gap! Hahaha!
We drove home, grabbed the trailer and drive back to pick up our tables…err desks. Total – we paid $100 for the tables….$50 each. They are a mix of solid wood, particleboard, and wood veneer. But we figured they are also about 15-20+ years old. And if they’ve held up this long in busy retail settings, they are pretty well made!
Once we got them home, we cleaned up the tables – they had many years of grime on the finish (top and underneath). Melissa lighted sanded off the finish from the top of the table (careful when you’re working with veneer!) Then, she used a tack cloth to remove any dust or debris.
Melissa wasn’t sure that she wanted them to be all one color, so after some Photoshop mockups, she decided to prime and paint the legs white and leave the rest of the table the natural wood color.
We used a good primer (didn’t take very much) and foam roller, and then just taped off the legs to paint them.
After painting the legs of the soon-to-be desk, Melissa put 3 coats of matte waterbased poly on the surface to keep it sealed and protected.
We then installed these keyboard drawers we purchased online underneath the desks to allow for better ergonomics when typing and using the mouse. They are great because they slide and also tilt, so we could get it just right.
Voilà! DIY retail tables to DIY desks for Melissa and Jolie!
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