Friday, March 08, 2013

Better Off Desk

I was searching for a small desk for Mandy. It HAD to have drawers. Emma's desk has drawers and so Mandy needed drawers. I took pity on her little-sister woes (I'm a little sister myself).



Finding a small desk (with drawers) for a small price didn't seem like a tall order.

I kept my eye out all summer at our frequent garage sale adventures, but no luck.
HEMNES Desk IKEA Cable shelf under the table top keeps power strips and cables out of sight and the work surface clear.
I was looking for something like the desk above (it's $300 from ikea).

I didn't mind a fixer-upper and my budget was under $20.

I found several that fit the bill for $40 at a consignment shop, but they would still need paint. I knew we could do better and we finally found the gem in this beauty.....





I truly wish I had a picture of my husband's face when he saw it.

He said, "You paid money for that?"

I did actually, I paid $7.50 at a local thrift store. The guy taking my money looked a little guilty about the price so I was able to talk him down from $10.

It's solid and perfectly functional, so it just needed a little TLC. The contact paper came off pretty easy and then I sanded, primed and painted. And some paint that I found on the "oops" shelf for $3.






And look, it's a drawer (x4)!

Mandy is happy and only had to ask about her desk for roughly 8 months.




The drawers are currently full of paper and craft supplies, she's quite the little busy worker.



Photobucket

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great deal Alysun! It looks so good.
Aunt Dianne

Anonymous said...

I just LOVE your resourcefulness! It's beautiful!! You inspire me to start going to garage sales again and find the cheap treasures we need around here too!

Unknown said...

I LOVE your blog Alysun! How you write, the picture's you post, your "realness". The best part however is the spiritual encouragement your blog is -thanks for letting God use you to remind me of truth's I sometimes forget to focus on. Oh, and 2 funny things - A couple years ago I found a desk very similar to yours at the end of someone's driveway (on our street) waiting for garbage pick up and dragged it home. Sanded it and painted it white. I had to nail the drawers back together too. Now it's the desk my girls share in their room. I love that it is small and low and perfect for little bodies and I love that the front is rounded with no sharp corners for siblings who are roughousing to get knocked into. :) The other is that the bible verse you have under Mandy's picture is the same verse we picked for Kristin (our middle)when she was a baby as her dedication/life verse.
Have a blessed Easter - and we'll send our letters this monday to your girls !
Shareen Harder