DIY Repurposed IKEA Desk

I have managed to create my own private piece of heaven in my own home.  No  small feat, as many of you will agree.  After too many years of sharing bathroom mirror, kitchen table, dining table, coffee table…and moving my daily To-Do’s around that circuit and finally into bed at night.  You may be familiar with being chased from one location to another in search of focus and peace.  Or of being faced with the distractions of household and family whenever your eyes stray from paperwork or computer screen.

No more.

Here is my little haven, tucked into a corner of the bedroom, out of sight from the bed, out of earshot from the rest of the house.  Here is how it happened…

I’ll start in the middle of the story, where a dresser was moving out of the bedroom due to closets brilliantly renovated with IKEA PAX units.  More on that another day.  I immediately claimed the corner as my own.  Caveat:  the result had be essentially free.  Renovation dollars are at a premium while the basement is still underway.  Solution:  repurpose furniture from elsewhere in the house that was absolutely not working for me.  See exhibit A.

Yup, that’s it.  The corner of the dining room.  IKEA HEMNES desk with add-on unit.  My pseudo office.  The current version comes with doors across the bottom too.  But ours was from the as-is department way back in the day. 

See in theory it’s not so bad.  When it’s all tidied and closed up it’s a decent piece of furniture, even in a dining room. 

It has served many excellent purposes. It was Teenaged Daughter’s desk and craft table as a child. Basement computer station.  Living room secretary.  My pseudo office…no longer an excellent purpose.  Time to move on. So I emptied it out, removed the add-on unit and lugged it upstairs.  Actually Mr. Personally and Personally Teen did that part.  Thanks guys!

So here it is in it’s new home.  I removed the hinged desktop which turned out to be easy to do.  When folded down it blocked access to the shallow drawer underneath which I really wanted to use.  I stole a mirror from the front hall to place above it.  I restocked it with my favourite and necessary things from the previous desk and previous dresser top.

A silver tray from my Oma that usually had candies in it when it was hers.  If you are reading this Mom or Mom H.,  please don’t give me a tube of silver polish the next time you see me.  I like it tarnished like this.

A bowl turned for me by Personally Teen under the tutelage of my woodworking Dad now holds my manicure stuff.

And the necessities of course.  Laptop, iPhone, huge mug of coffee.

Mission accomplished.  My own lovely, private space.  Absolutely free.  I am in heaven.

And if you liked this makeover, then also check out how I made over an IKEA EXPEDIT storage unit, a basic big-box store chandelier, and a Costco console table.

Thanks so much for reading!  See you soon.