No More Writer’s Block
August 20, 2009
Last week, I hinted at the table I transformed into a desk for my office/library in this post.
For some time, I’ve been drawn to the idea of a writer’s desk in lieu of my traditional dark wood desk with its big and heavy drawers. By definition, a writer’s desk is more like a table, with few or no drawers, open and airy, forcing the user to be clever with storage, and always organized. And I’m the type that has to force myself to be organized.
In my decision to move from dark to light, I found a table at a local outlet that was closing its doors, and decided that with a little paint, and a glass top, it could become my own version of a writer’s desk.
Just for kicks, take a peek at a few writer’s desks I admire, but am not so willing to pay top dollar for:
Beckton from Ballard Designs
From Computer Desk Experts
From Overstocks
Windham from Crate + Barrel
To replace my dark wood desk, I found a solid wood table for $40 at a local outlet closing its doors – the same outlet where I found these twin glass towers.
Here’s the table:
Just a basic, ordinary table, painted a butter yellow. I didn’t want the yellow shade in my office, so I sanded the top, primed it with spray primer, then gave it two coats of my most favorite shade of spray paint: Rustoleum’s ‘Heirloom White’.
To give it a personal touch, I made my own stencil out of the fabric from this valance, with the idea to copy the pattern onto my new desk.
Here’s what I did: 1) I photocopied the fabric on my office printer/copier, 2) I used a report cover available at any office supply store as the base for my stencil, and finally, 3) I used a sharp blade to cut out my own pattern in the plastic.
With my homemade stencil, I sketched the pattern in pencil on the table top.
Over the sketch, I used an artist’s brush to paint over the pattern with a soft blue/gray acrylic paint.
I had a local glass shop make me a custom glass top. In this picture, you can see some of the hand painted detail.
Can I just tell you it’s almost impossible to get a decent photograph of a glass table top under a window. The glare is way too intense.
So there it is – my own hand painted writer’s desk for my new office. Please forgive the bad photograph due to the awful glare. I even had to lower my dreaded mini blinds which I always hide. Grrrr. I couldn’t get a decent shot! I’m sure you get the idea.
And that is how I transformed an ordinary table into my new desktop. Now if only I could tackle painting those giant bookcases, I could finish this space !
Tags: desk, heirloom white, spray paint, stencil
