The Ever Evolving Desk
In 2016, I took on one of my very first DIY projects. I turned my grandfather's old work desk into something completely new. I had a family friend who is a woodworking pro help me carefully take the desk apart, strip it and then paint it. I ended up with two end tables and a kitchen table. The desk stayed that way until 2020 when we moved into the house we live in now. Since then, I have transformed it a few more times. Let me show you the transformations this one desk has gone through!
The Ever Evolving Desk | Starting the Saga
After the initial DIY, I ended with tabletop for a desk at my parents' house and two end tables I kept at my house. When we moved to our current house, I created a two-person desk for myself and my husband to use for work.
After about a year in the new house where we didn't end up using the two-person desk nearly as much as I thought we would, I took the desk apart. This time, I made it a one person desk, and used the other end table as a night stand. I sanded everything down, filled in all of the holes from the desk and painted everything so it all looked the same. I added new legs to the desk and the nightstand so that they were different appropriate heights.
The most recent step in the ever evolving desk process came when I was pregnant with my son. I decided it was time to turn the desk into one more nightstand and actually paint the two nightstands so they matched the set of dressers I'd already re-finished for the nursery. I cut the top off of the desk and changed out the legs from the desk to match the same ones that were on the first nightstand I did. Then, I used Sherwin Williams Emerald Urethane trim enamel in Hamburg Gray on both of them. This is the only paint I will use on furniture. I have done it multiple times now, and it is so worth it.
Once I had painted everything, I put in the new hardware that matched the hardware on the dressers that I redid. Now I have this set of two dressers and two night stands that all work cohesively together.
The Ever Evolving Desk | What I’ve Learned
At this point in desk journey I have learned a few key things. First, after using chalk paint on the first two stages I can confidently say I will never use chalk paint ever again, on anything. It doesn't hold up well, it has a terrible finish to it and there are MUCH better options.
Second, I can’t be afraid to change a finished piece. I have furniture passed down from my grandparents I can take and reimagine to fit exactly what I need in the moment. If I need it to serve a different purpose later, I can change it again. This makes for a much more sustainable furniture option and I'm able to use my creativity to make something new.
Considering I have more plans for this room in the future (the bed is going to turn into a Murphy bed!), we'll see what ends up happening with those nightstands in the future. For now, I'm proud of what I have created so far! Stay tuned for more installments in the “Ever Evolving Desk” saga and in the mean time you can shop everything I used below.
