Chalkboard Desk Makeover

chalkboard desk makeover

Hey guys! I hope you’ve all had a good week thus far – it’s almost Friday! My week has been… interesting. Super busy with all my jobs and then to top it off my car’s alternator died on me while I was in the middle of a 6 lane road as I was coming home from work at the library. Wah wah wahhhhhh. First my radio went out, which I thought was strange, followed by my speedometer, and gas gauge. Then as I was sitting at a stoplight the whole thing went kaput. The engine wouldn’t turn over at all and I couldn’t even get my hazards to flash, so I got a lot of rude honks and glares. Ouch! Luckily a nice man pulled over and helped me push my car to the side of the road where I then proceeded to wait for 3 hours for a tow truck in scorching 87 degree heat. Whew, what an afternoon.

Today I’m bringing you a sweet desk makeover as my big project for the week! My mother-in-law had this desk/table sitting in her garage for a long time and decided she didn’t want it anymore. I gladly volunteered to give it a new home! I think my exact words might have been “I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!” Jusy saying. I loooove it’s fun scallop detailing on the bottom and the chippy white paint. After having it in my home for a while I decided to give the desk a makeover. My whole house is basically white and this sweet desk was blending in a little too much. So I decided to get crafty and add a few touches that really give it some pop! This is what I started with:

chalkboard desk makeover

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I started off by sanding down the top with a fine grit sandpaper. Once I wiped off the top with a cloth I taped sharply around the edges with painters tape as I only wanted to paint the table top. Gave this baby a few quick coats of my fave Chalkboard Spray Paint, letting each coat dry in-between. The surface of this desk is a little rough, so you can see some of the underlying cracks in the wood, but I think it just adds to the rustic/natural character.

chalkboard desk makeover

After the chalkboard paint was set, I took a piece of regular chalk and rubbed it sideways across the entire surface to “season” the chalkboard. I then rubbed my hand all across the surface, smearing the chalk dust into a nice matte finish – the second picture shows the difference between a rubbed down chalk surface and what it looks like if you just put the chalk on.

chalkboard desk makever

chalkboard desk makeover

Meanwhile, when I was waiting for the paint to dry I took some regular kraft paper, and using the stencil I used for my vintage chair makeover, I stenciled a pattern across the paper.  I cut it down to size and adhered it into the bottom of my drawer!

chalkboard chair makeover

chalkboard desk makeover

And now my favorite part! The knob! My little foxy knob! I got it from Anthropologie with the giftcard that I won in Delineate Your Dwelling’s bloggiversary giveaway. It’s so so so adorable. I can’t even handle it. I can’t even. I have named him Basil.

chalkboard desk makevoer

It actually took a surprising amount of work to get the old knob off and Basil on. I unscrewed the rusty screw with some effort and went to pull the knob off and… nothing. It was painted on! So I got my trust hammer and after a few good whacks it popped free with minimal damage. Proceeded to put Basil in place but found that the hole was too small so I had to break out my trusty power drill to increase the size. These are all the tools I needed to change one. Little. Knob. Sheesh!

chalkboard desk makeover

Basil is finally home!

chalkboard desk makeoverHe opens quite nicely 🙂

chalkboard desk makeover

With Basil in place, here is my finished desk makeover!

chalkboard desk makeover

chalkboard desk makeover

I usually put all my library books on this desk so they’re all in one place and I don’t lose them. I wrote the date the books are due with chalk for an easy reminder!

chalkboard desk makeover

I got this little greenhouse from Ikea for $20 bucks and put in some plants (they’re fake, shhhh, don’t tell anyone) and some river rocks from Target. Let’s hope the “grow” tricks people into thinking they’re real plants.

chalkboard desk makeover

chalkboard desk makeover

It’s the perfect little console table to go under the windows in our front room! I’m totally in love with how it turned out 🙂

 Would you use this piece as a desk, side bar, or console? Also (and even more importantly) if you had a pet fox, what would you name it?

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