I painted the 500 lb credenza over the weekend, which spurred the official decorating of my office. By Monday night the last coat of poly had cured and we brought the furniture inside. Tuesday morning I headed down to my basement to go ‘shopping’ for my sorely neglected office, a long and narrow room off our living room. Seriously, the office was a mess – boxes still everywhere.
Here’s how I put the room together with almost no money:
1. Revamped Parsons Desk
I bought a vintage Parsons desk on Craigslist a year or two ago for almost nothing. This is after I sanded it.
I had painted it a fun green color, but now I wanted a sort of dingy pale aqua color, similar to Martha Stewart for Valspar “Vintage Map.” Since the desk is pretty small, I decided to save money on paint and mixed my own color using some glossy white latex and a little bit of turquoise and brown acrylic craft paint.
I rolled on the paint with a mini-roller and did about three coats. After letting the last coat dry overnight, I used my favorite product – Wipe On Poly. Yes, it’s as easy and awesome as it sounds. Polyurethane sealer that you wipe on.
Action shots!!
Two good coats of Wipe-on in “Gloss” and 24 hours of curing time and the Parsons desk looked as good as new.
2. DIY Fabric Shade
I used about a yard and a half of linen from my stash and a roll of 1.5″ red grosgrain to make a fabric shade for the window. It still needs to be lined, but it’s not bad for a $0 project. Here are the instructions for making your own.
3. New (old) RED Credenza.
After reading this post from Nick Olsen a while back, I picked up a couple cans of Rustoleum’s ‘Saftey Red’ Spray Enamel at Home Depot for a client’s project. We ended up going with a different color scheme, but I kept the spray paint. And I’m so glad I was able to use it on this project! Isn’t it a fun color? The perfect orange-red.
Since I know you will ask — I did prime the credenza first. Well. Part of the credenza – just the top since that’s the part that gets the most wear.
I rolled on my trusty Zinsser and let it dry while I worked some magic on the dingy brass hardware with white vinegar and salt.
The credenza ended up needing two or three coats of the spray enamel. Because I invested $2.95 in this reusable spray painting nozzle/trigger/thing, my pointer finger and I are still on speaking terms. AND the paint job looks professionally sprayed.
The freshly painted credenza got two coats of Wipe-On Poly as well and it was done. I love the way the cleaned up brass hardware looks against the orangey red!
4. Pretty Inspiration Boards
I picked up a pair of very cheap cork boards and painted the frames with that same yellow paint that I used in my girls room (Martha Stewart “Olive Oil”). No need to tape or to be careful with the paint job here since the cork will be covered up.
I measured and cut up some old fabric that I bought for a project and never used (–Are you picking up on a theme here??) and simply ran a line of fabric glue around the border of the cork board. I glued one edge at a time and smoothed like crazy so that the fabric would lay perfectly flat. (PS the fabric is an outdoor print made by Waverly, called “Lovely Lattice” in Lagoon)
Then I fabric glued on some red gimp/trim to cover any imperfections or gaps in the border.
I hung up the refinished cork boards about five minutes before taking pictures, so I haven’t had a chance to really style them yet with inspiration stuff, but that can be a fun ongoing project.
The rest of the room was put together with stuff I already had. An IKEA rug, an eBay lamp, some prints from a vintage shop, etc.
And that’s it for my (basically) $0 office redo! I’ve got some sort of cold/flu situation happening, so I think I’m going to call it weekend. See you back here Monday?
xoxo, Jenny
Great use of color — amazing transformation!
Very inspiring… I need to work on my own home office.
This is truly AMAZING!!! Thank you for documenting the transformation in such detail. I am definitely inspired to get my house into gear this weekend!!!
AMAZING!! I love the red credenza!
You are a genius!
You are FN kidding me? That office is phenominal!! Seriously sick job!
Love how you break the process down so it all seems to easy – beginning with a fantastic vision, which is not so easy.
if only i had known about Wipe On poly a few months ago, I wouldn't have a sideboard that's already chipping on me.
Look forward to more!
This is so beautiful! So inspired by your creativity and budget! The red table looks incredible.
you are amazing! somehow you make it look easy, yet i know i would not even get past the priming before i gave up.
You have done it again! My word, woman, you are amazing! :)
I'm swooning! Thanks for the wipe-on poly tip. Are turquoise boxes and drawers IKEA? Do tell your how-to! Also, do I see the interior drawers of credenza painted the lovely aqua? Perfect!
Your office looks great! I'm always so amazed at what you do on such a small budget. I just wish I had all those great fabrics and furniture pieces lying around in my house.
It looks amazing and I LOVE the cork boards! Hope you feel better. ~K
Are you kidding me!? You are seriously amazing. I have been following your blog (quietly, sorry, I never comment) since you started it, and everyday I am more in love…. LOVE EVERYTHING… Your office rules.
I am so incredibly inspired by this post! Time to paint my desk, I think. I love how you repurpose furniture and other accessories that you already have on hand. It's fabulous.
amazing, just like your girls' room. can you tell me more about the lamp you bought on ebay? love it, cant find anything like it.
INCREDIBLE!!!! I must say, you really have an eye for this sort of thing! ;) It's amazing what paint can do… along with a great imagination! Thanks for sharing your lovely, lovely room… and I hope you're feeling better!
OMG TO THE MAX how do you find such gorgeous things on Craigslist? You know what I find on Craigslist? Used mattresses (gross), ads for tranny 'tutes (grosser), and bobo decade-old Wal-Mart furniture (GROSSEST!).
Your office is amazing, and I am 99.999% sure that nothing in my house will ever look that good. Me = Mondo jealous.
You never cease to amaze me! Thanks for the window treatment tips. I soooooo needed that!
Amazing. I think I could actually get work done in that office :)
Of all the things, I spotted your green binders on the fabulous red credenza. Where are they from? They look like they have a texture to them. Random I know.
Are you effing kidding me? That's amazing! You could sneeze and cough your flu onto a room and it would come out better than anything I've dreamed! Love it!!!
Wow, I love this office. Great job…
I love this! So colourful and sweet!
Xx
Love how the credenza turned out. Absolutely fabulous. Like the cork boards as well. DO think however that the chinese lamp needs a larger lampshade…
Gorgeous! I especially love the cork board project. Such an easy no brainer, I have on that I might have to spiff up as well! And well done on the budget!
It looks outstanding! {Of course} I LOVE your color combo…especially the inspiration boards! Another beautiful job!
Holy sh*t your office looks incredible and I am in awe of that red-range. I'm making note of that spray paint!!
OOPS – i meant Orange.
seriously.that.is.fabulous.
I was eyeing that red spray paint at lowes a few weeks ago. I'll be putting that to good use soon!
I am planning a studio redo and your corkboards will def be a project for me! Thanks for all the lovely inspiration.
WTF this is too freakin' gorgeous for words! I'm in awe of your amazing work and eye. Can you please do this in my office?!
Beautiful, beautiful work! I love your designs, so cheerful and fun. Thanks for all the wonderful tips–you're too sweet to share all your secrets!
completly inspired – I feel a project coming on.
this room is so amazing. it looks better than any room in my house!
ummm yeah, wow! ur just freaking awesome!
WOW is all I can say!…you've done it again!!!
You are amazing! You have truly inspired me. I made Roman shades after I saw your blog and here are my results:
http://alittlesewing.blogspot.com/2009/07/whole-copying-josef-frank-shades-thing.html
Thank you for writing such a great blog. What a talent you are.
Feel better soon!
Great transformation. I love how the credenza and the cork boards came out.
Love it! Love the color and patterns – good job. I am inspired to do the window treatment – thanks!
i am TOTALLY amazed. wow, good for you!!!
FAB job as usual! I thought I was a pretty good DIY'er until I found your blog…amazing! Keep it up
Sidney
it's perfect. love it.
looks amazing! I am so jealous of you and your magic basement!
Awesome!!!! Makes me want to grab a can of paint and go crazy :)
Looks great! I can't believe you did that on a $0 budget! Amazing!I'm so glad you explained how you did everything, I will definitely be taking notes for future paint projects of my own!
WOW! JUST WOW!
ooh la la! I'm a big fan of being resourceful and re-inventing things you've already got, and it's so amazing how sometimes things can dovetail so beautifully! Looks stupendous!
Wow – you are so amazing! So much inspiration here, esp. the poly & spray gun recommendation. Keep it coming!
Jenny! I love it!!! Great job and I love how resourceful you were… now I'm tempted to clean out my similar stash of "I bought this for a client and didn't use it" stuff! happy weekend!
erika
Jenny, My sister, Erika, just sent me this link! I love your redo… it's UNBELIEVABLE! So fun!! I'm now subscribed and can't wait to read more!!! Have a great weekend!
great project! I just love idea boards- thanks for the easy diy!
Jenny, I came across your site not too long ago and have started reading through so many of your archives for inspiration. So talented! Thank you for sharing these!
So when is YOUR book due? ;)