Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Ikea Desk transformation finally complete!!

I finally finished my Ikea desk transformation that I have been working on for far too long.  I haven't really put a ton of hours into it but the nice weather we have been enjoying has pushed this project to the back burner.  Here it is.


And this is what it used to look like.


You can see my inspiration for my desk in this post.

What I did to achieve this transformation:
I took this stack of walnut off-cuts from my Dad's woodworking.


Then I glued them down on a sheet of mdf cut to the size of my desk.  You can read a little on this process here and here.

Then sanded and sanded and sanded some more.  Added 5 coats of a tung oil, linseed oil, spar urethane, and varnish mixture.  And glued it onto my desk (after I had ruffed the desk up a bit with 120 grit sandpaper).

Then the painting began.  One coat of Benjamin Moore's Fresh Start Primer and three coats of Cabinet Coat in Timid White.  Finished with one coat of the same mixture as above for good measure.

I removed the metal leg and sprayed it with Rustoleum's metallic spray paint for a shiny metal finish rather than the flat finish on the leg originally.  I also sprayed some brass lion pulls in the same metallic paint and attached them to the drawers.  Some of the options I considered for the metal you can read about here. 


 A better view of the slats on the top.


The Lion pulls I picked up from Home Depot and sprayed.


Now I am on the hunt for the perfect office chair to compliment my desk, some great drapes for this room and a little more wood for the shelving I plan to build for my office/music room.

Linking this project to:

Type A Decorating                  Thrifty Decor Chick         The DIY Showoff        WOW Us Wednesdays
Swing Into Spring                Wicked Awesome Wednesday       Creative Share Wednesdays
Workshop Wednesday        Simply Creations           Frugalicious Friday       Remodelaholics Anonymous
Flaunt it Friday

24 comments:

  1. This is so great, love it! You should post this on Ikea Hack.

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  2. looks great! Love the top and the hardware, I also think you should post this on Ikea hack and share it at my link party Friday!

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  3. Looks incredible. You should definitely post it to Ikea Hack. I would've never thought to do this.

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  4. wow that looks REALLY good!

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  5. I love those lion pulls!
    Great transformation!

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  6. This is incredible. I can't even believe this began as an Ikea piece!

    And those pulls are great. I really need to get my hands on some.

    Thanks for sharing :)

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  7. Very nice job. I love it! Thanks so much for linking this up to our Wicked Awesome Wednesday link party!

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  8. Wow, that's a great job! Visiting from Finding Fabulous...hope your weekend is wonderful!
    Cindy

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  9. Wow! What a great vision you had! It's amazing.

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  10. Great job! I love the transformation. Great idea of spray painting the metal legs for a shinier finish! And I love the lion drawer pulls too. :)

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  11. I had to come check this out when I saw it featured on Simple Home Life because I have that same desk! I love how you re-did the top. It looks gorgeous!

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  12. Ikea hacks are always fun to see.
    Love yours.

    Regards, the swedish Ikealady

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  13. Hi there!! Great job- it's inspired me to make something great out of my Ikea furniture! Can you tell us what "tung oil, linseed oil, spar urethane, and varnish mixture" you used? I've tried to find something similar in my local hardware store, and haven't been able to come close. Thanks for any help you can give!

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  14. I loved ur house and images that u issued in ur blogs..

    Merbau Decking

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  15. Hi - just had to add my voice to the collective giving praise! This is a beautiful hack, and I'm so glad you shared. I've been obsessing over how to do this myself and unfortunately my own woodworking father (he's a luthier) is in Australia, while I'm in the UK, so he suggested iron on veneer for those of us without handy tools and offcuts at home :) Can't wait, I think this will look beautiful in my new flat!

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  16. awesome work, how did you cover the edges?

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  17. Hi - great desk. We just want to paint the whole desk white but I am having trouble with your instructions. Please detail how you pained the desk. Thanks!

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