Happy Wednesday Lovelies! I had to endure the dreaded trip to the dentist yesterday. Dentists are a bit like cockroaches, no one has to tell you they are scary, you just inherently know. Right? This trip wasn’t so bad though and for now my pearly whites are cavity free. A few weeks ago I gave you a sneak peek at a major painting project the hubs and I undertook. It was essentially painted wall paper and although it was a TON of work, the results were worth it. Although my office space isn’t quite finished, I have been dying to show you the progress that has been made so far. As newlyweds, we are on a budget like I am sure many of you are. While we all want our living spaces to feel like us, it isn’t always practical to do a room makeover. I actually like to work on a budget because it forces you to be even more creative and it seems much more satisfying. My goal was to transform the space for as little cash as possible and I am proud to say, so far I have been successful and of course, I even helped charity a bit a long the way! Let me show you a few before shots…
I apologize in advance for the lack of photography skills but it is what it is.
I bought a solid wood door from the Habitat for Humanity Restore. If you’ve never been to one, you should definitely visit whether you have a creative project like mine or any other home improvement project. They have tons of building supplies and home goods from toilets, to cabinets, to light fixtures. The proceeds help fund housing projects that they complete. Cost- $25. I also purchased a piece of finished glass that covers about 3/4 of the top for $5.00. That is WAAAAAY cheaper than a piece of custom cut glass would cost and it’s not really necessary to have the entire door covered anyway. This photo is actually of the underside of the desk, I used the other side as the top because is much more detailed. It also had no paint on it. After cleaning it up, I did a crackle finish to give it an aged look.
I have no idea why this photo is so blurry, I must have been shaking with excitement. Anyway, I also bought this super ugly and nasty arm chair for $5. I knew a little spray paint and some fresh fabric would do wonders for it. A little note, buy a spray paint primer and use that first. The first can of spray paint I used was essentially a waste as it pretty much just slid down the sides of the chair.
The finished look so far…
Um, how fabulous does my ugly chair look now?! I love it. I spent about $35 on fabric which was used to cover the chair and also became curtains for the room.
The desk is a tad bit high which makes typing a bit uncomfortable. I am working on a way to remedy that but for now I just put a pillow on my chair. I LOOOOVE the size of the desk. It is massive which provides plenty of workspace and ample room for cute decorations, pictures and anything else I want to stack on top.
We used two super cheap book shelves as the legs which is perfect as it works for storage too. They were $15 a piece. I was a bit nervous that they wouldn’t withstand the weight of the super heavy door but so far so good. I painted each end with chalkboard paint so I could use it to jot notes and just to provide a bit of fun to the plain black siding.
I covered a lamp I already had with burlap so that it would work in the space. It formerly had a red shade. I decorated with things I already had around the house including a few things from our wedding.
Those hard cover books were free, I got 4 total. I picked them up in the free bin at our local library, removed their paper covers and now they look cute on the desk. I may cover them with fun paper or fabric at some point but for now, they work just fine. I picked up a few other paper back books that no one would ever read to rip apart and use the pages for decorations down the line. I hope to make some paper flowers and some art out of them eventually.
I swear, I didn’t take these photos with my phone… Anyway the total for the desk, chair, decor, and wall treatment has been right around $100 and the transformation is huge. It proves that with a little creativity you can transform your space without spending a ton of money. I’d still like to get some fun and colorful art or perhaps some motivational prints to hang over my desk. I’ll keep you posted with my further progress!
Have you tackled any DIY home projects on a budget?
