Bringing New Life to Old Things

Ahh September....in my house it means getting back into a routine, knowing what's coming next and going back to school. My older son is now in first grade and in school full day. Our district must be one of the only ones still utilizing only half day for the Kindergarteners but I can fully understand why. They need more time to play and be glorious children :)

Having been in the workforce for the last nearly 13 years, I have been exposed to many a 5S meetings, discussions, training sessions....you name it, I have experienced it when it comes to 5S. I'm almost ashamed to say that it has poured into my household a bit, but not to fret, only in a good way. I breathe the mantra of everything has a place and every place has a thing. Well, not so much the latter part when I'm constantly de-cluttering our house....I'm getting away from myself now. The thought came to me that now that Sebi, my oldest, is in school all day, he'll have to have a proper desk where he can complete his homework in peace and well prepared.

The thought of buying one more piece of furniture gave me the heeby jeebies so I put my DIY hat on, turned to my husby and said that I'm on a mission to create a warm environment in which Sebi can learn. Translation: I'm going to make him a desk babe!

I set out to one of my favorite stores, HomeGoods, in search of a brilliant looking, small-ish desk without breaking my wallet. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. Although they did have other really cute things {which I'm proud to say I did not buy}, I walked out sans the desk in question. As I approached my vehicle I thought to myself, "self, you have a perfectly good desk in your basement that your father gave you that can be refinished".

So I went to my next DIY store, Lowes, and picked up some drop cloths and Rustoleum's Universal spray paint in Espresso brown. I came home with enthusiasm and money to spare in my wallet. My husband stood there scratching his chin...I showed him that I could do it.

It was the day before school was to start and I had one child napping and another eager to help me with the project. So we put on our gloves, grabbed our sanding blocks, put down our drop cloth and began smoothing out the top of the desk. I wish I had pictures of the progress, but unfortunately not. We smoothed the top of the desk, smoothed out the legs and now we were ready to paint. I didn't bother taking all of the original finish off the desk surface since we were using spray paint and not re-staining it.

After one coat, I let it dry overnight in our ventilated garage. By ventilated I mean the door was ever so slightly cracked to let air move around but not enough to let burglars in. Just kidding, we live in a very safe neighborhood! I put a second coat on the next day and let it dry overnight again.

By the third day, as my son was off to school enjoying his day in first grade with his friends and teacher, I was moving the newly refurbished desk into its new home indoors.

Here is the desk set up in a quiet corner of our living room. Now to stock it with pencils and crayons for his homework every night. I do have to be creative as to how I stock with supplies as we have a toddler roaming the house who just loves to color with his big brother's supplies. Coloring isn't the sticking point....it's when the coloring happens on surfaces other than paper {yikes}. I just heart how well this project came out!

Again, I wish I had before and after pics of this project. I can promise you it went from ugly to gorgeous with an investment of only about $7 and some elbow grease.

So let me hear from you now readers. What pieces of furniture are you bringing back to life? What tools are you using? What lessons are you learning?

Cheers!
O