I just love a good Cinderella story, don’t you? I’ve had this desk for a few years, and to really understand how far we’ve come, I think you need to see where we started: 
Yikes. Let me explain. When I got this desk originally, I wanted to paint it to match my office at the time, which was kind of a mix of a whole bunch of ideas that aren’t really me. Turns out I’m just not a pink furniture kinda girl.
But it took me 5 drawers to figure this out. And then my husband moved it down the stairs into my office where it sat for two years. Don’t get me wrong–this is my work desk, I used it every day and it has seen hundreds of Etsy orders in its time. I liked the desk alot, but when we moved to our new home, I knew I needed a more inspiring work space.
I’m kind of obsessed with this shade of paint from Sherwin Williams called Mindful Gray. Its the perfect light gray, but not so light that it doesn’t pop against white. And its juuuuuuust warm enough to not look industrial without venturing too far into “griege” territory. This desk is one of four pieces of furniture in my house to be painted this color. I kid you not. So I slapped some on, was super happy with the results, and set it up in my new office.
Ta da? Meh. I loved the color so much, but I no longer loved my office accessories. The blue wasn’t working, and neither were the flowers or the mugs. My cork board was also waaaaaaay too big for the sloped attic ceiling. And um…handles would be nice…on the drawers I open multiple times a day. The ones that came with the desk were brown and plastic and yucky.
So I did something completely new that I’ve never done before. I went to Hobby Lobby (okay, that part I do alot…) and I bought exactly what I wanted for the top of the desk. Everything. Like I went in with a complete vision and I walked out with everything I needed to complete it.
My normal shopping method includes figuring out a plan, looking in thrift stores for months trying to find what I want, or buying one piece at a time if it’s on sale and a year later I still have half a desk looking at me. This time I was so over it I marched right on in and picked out everything I wanted on top of the desk. It’s a place I spend a lot of time working, so I wanted it to be functional and pretty to look at.
When I got to the register, I kind of panicked. I hate spending money, and both of my arms were full to the brim with impulse buys. The grand total…$35. Say what? I just got everything I wanted and I didn’t spend a fortune? You better believe I skipped out to the car. I think it made a pretty big difference, don’t you? 
My whole house color scheme is white, wood, gray, and plants. Yup, plants are a color. Since the desk was gray, I really wanted to bring in some warm wood tones and some plants. The sign was perfect, with its wood frame, and the succulent in the white ceramic pot incorporated the green plant color I love so much. And can we talk about the metal tray and organizer? 
My pliers, hammer, files and mandrel are all in easy reach. And there is finally hardware on the drawers, so they open and shut without a fight. Its the little things, really. 🙂
So tell me, what furniture redos have you guys been working on? Share your masterpieces on instagram with the hashtag #thedefineryco so I can see all your pretties!
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