Trash to Treasure Denim Look Desk Makeover

I rescued a desk headed for the trash and gave it a makeover with spray chalk paint and a coat of soft wax, plus new drawer pulls and wire storage baskets. Now it has a new life as a denim look desk in a tween boy’s bedroom.
If you are visiting here as part of the blog hop, welcome!

Denim Look Desk Makeover | Chalk paint, soft wax, new hardware and wire storage baskets turn a desk headed for the trash into a stylish and functional boy's desk | personallyandrea.com

Earlier this summer as I was walking the dog around the block, I noticed this desk at the side of the road waiting for the trash, probably a leftover from the day’s garage sales. I convinced Mr. PA to drive the van around and help me rescue it, since I knew it would be perfect in our tween boy’s bedroom. It was a laminated particleboard desk, but solid. The size was just right for the room and I liked the two drawers plus cubbies for storage.

Then lovely Kendra from Joy in our Home invited me to participate in a blog hop on making over thrifted items. And even though the desk was not exactly thrifted #free I knew this was the makeover to take on for it.

As with other chalk paints, minimal prep is required. A good cleaning as you would with any found item, and a few spots of primer where there were some sticky spills I couldn’t completely remove.

Two coats of paint gave good coverage although I had to sand lightly in several places between coats because the finish was randomly very rough in some places and perfectly smooth in others. I also lightly sanded along all the edges just to give some definition to the piece. It all added to the slightly worn and distressed feel of denim. One coat of soft wax added a richness and sheen to the paint colour, and I added a second coat just on the desktop for added durability.

I switched up the hardware on the drawers to replace the previous generic knobs. I also found these great wire baskets at Homesense in the same finish as the knobs which fit perfectly into two of the cubbies. #score I stamped labels onto kraft coloured cardstock for each basket. In the end I also decided to leave off the slide-out keyboard tray. It’s not really necessary and the desk looks cleaner without it.

Now that it’s up in his room, the desk will be a useful and durable piece of furniture for many years. It has lots of useful storage space and a large enough surface for spreading out paperwork plus a laptop. Or for sorting Pokemon cards. #truth

(See also IKEA Spice Racks as Desk Organizer)

Materials Used:

1. Spray chalk paint in Coastal Blue (Home Depot)
2. Soft Wax (Annie Sloan)
3. Drawer knobs (Home Depot)
4. Wire baskets (Homesense)
5. Kraft paper, alphabet stamps and black ink (Michael's)

If you haven't yet seen the rest of the "Monday" projects, be sure to click through the rest of the links below, and come back on Tuesday and Wednesday to see all the thrifted find makeovers!

Thanks for visiting,