Office Makeover Part One: DIY Desk (IKEA Hack)

A few weeks ago, Andy started itching for a “big” project. We’ve been doing lots of small decorating things that cumulatively add up to a big difference. But he wanted a “take something ugly and start making it look cool” job. So we decided to start making our office actually look like an office.

Nothing gives you instant gratification like painting. Thankfully, when I was painting ALL the trim in the house last spring, I went ahead and did the trim in the three spare bedrooms too. So we only had to paint the walls.

Here’s what the room looked like before we painted (but after we emptied it out). It actually was the only room in the house that looked painted [pink]. Now, don’t let that fool you. The walls were still dirty and marked up.

Starting to prime…

We had a hard time picking out a good color. When we were at Lowes we kept gravitating towards colors we’ve already done! Whoops! We didn’t want to go too much outside our general palette. We ended up picking a nice minty green – light turquoise color. It’s pretty!

Keep in mind, part of the reason this room is the office is because it has the worst light in the house. One window that is blocked by a pine tree. It’s a very soothing room to be in but taking pictures is a challenge.

Once we slapped some paint on the walls, we moved on to furniture. What’s the most essential piece of furniture for any office?  Duh, a desk. Andy thought a two person desk that ran against the whole wall would be really nice and look cool.

Typical Andy, rather than buying something pre-made, he thought about how he could build something unique.

After hunting around a little he decided on the following components, all found at IKEA:

• Butcher block
• Brushed steel legs
• File cabinets

And from that kids, we made a desk:

Unintended design element – we had to turn the legs on an angle because they were just a little wider than the butcher block. I actually think it adds a more modern element.

I am trying to be more organized. I really wanted a file cabinet. This set of drawers isn’t quite the same, but it gets the job done! The cabinet next to it has the computer.

The top of the butcher block. We’re still working on accessorizing the desk top.

We actually painted and built the desk a few weeks ago. But just last night got our desk chairs came in, so the office is officially ready for serious business!

We still need to add art to the walls (we’re thinking all black and white/grayscale), some bookshelves and maybe a cozy chair for the corner. Also, did see that lamp on the desk? Tomorrow I’ll post about – can’t decide it I like it or not!