before & after . kelly’s desk and chair

May 2, 2011 separator Before & After

When Kelly of Orangie’s Attic sent me this pretty little project, I was pretty excited. This is the first Before & After combination set! You aren’t going to believe what she and her hubby did with this beat-up, spray painted thrift shop desk and chair… She has one lucky daughter – that’s all I’m gonna say!!!

Get the rest of of the details, including the “after” after the jump!

Time: about 2 days

Budget: $20 – spray paint, ModPodge, paper, knob

In Kelly’s Words: My tween daughter wanted a big girl room  so we tackled a room re-do over the holiday break.  Her little girl pepto pink walls were transformed to a cool blue and her entire room was given a beach, vintage, PBTeen vibe.  She needed a small desk… first I searched etsy, but no luck finding something that was both JUST RIGHT and affordable to ship.  Nothing from the Big Box stores worked, so off to the thrift stores I ventured.

First I found the chair, but no desk.  On to another thrift store where I found the desk hiding in the back room.  It definitely needed work… LOVED the shape, perfect size, but it had chunks and splits in the wood, and of course there are those gang signs spray painted on the side. But, only $15 and I had faith my handy husband could do something about the other ailments.  Took this home and hubby set to work with some wood glue, clamps and wood putty while dear daughter and I hit Hobby Lobby for lavender and apple green spray paint, Hard Coat Mod Podge (Hard Coat is best for furniture), new orange porcelain drawer pull and  5 different coordinating scrapbook papers that we could use in a “quilt” fashion to jazz it up… 2 days, several coats of spray paint, Mod Podge, and spray sealer later  we are thrilled with the finished product… it matches her room so much better than anything we could have bought ready made in a store, not to mention it saved us a boatload of money!

Did you love this Before & After? Tell Kelly in the comments! Want to submit your own? Email me up to four pictures, with the “after” pictures being well-staged and crisp quality. Send ’em along to shrimpsaladcircus [!at] gmail dot com. 

6 comments

  1. First time commenter – I just had to say I am awed by the transformation! The colors + design papers are so beautiful.

  2. I need new specs, I’m seeing things. For a second, I thought that this incredibly pretty, neat, spring- y set of furniture actually was a heap of YUCK in a former life. As if! I’m back to sleep, gotta stop imagining things!

  3. Wow! Those are some serious tranformation skills right there. I love the look of the finished piece.

  4. I love the patterns on the chair and desk–it gives it such a fun vibe!

  6. What a transformation ! It’s a desk any young lady would be proud to have in her room.

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