Faux Metallic Desk

Post by Katie

As promised(cause I'm sure you've been waiting on the edge of your seats) here is the faux metallic desk I painted for my sons room.  It's actually been awhile since I finished it, but I think I can remember the process.

When I decided to do away with a dresser in his room, and just add organizers to his closet, he needed another piece of furniture in his room.  A desk was the answer although I'm pretty sure he doesn't sit up to every night and work on homework, it's a good place to put all the cute things that you can only decorate a boys room with.  

Have you seen faux metallic letters, allot of them are made from those cardboard letters you can get at the craft stores, that's where I got the idea, and pretty much followed a tutorial for one of those.  

 Here is the desk before...

It was $20 and in my city.  It was not an expensive desk in the first place, but the drawers worked good and it's sturdy. 

Someone added these tiny nails along all the edges, not sure what that's about, but it made me think industrial.  

The first thing I did was paint it black, well after sanding and priming.  I purchased some Ralph Lauren metallic paint found here on Amazon (which really upped the budget, although I have quite a bit left).  I purchased it at Miller Paint. 

I dry brushed the metallic paint on but with lots of coverage(not much of the black showing through).  I then used just craft paint in Raw Umber( ya know the ones at Michael's for $1).  I did this allot more sparingly just here and there, also with a very dry, small brush.

I would have liked to of changed the knobs but I didn't really have a budget for this project, especially after purchasing the metallic paint, so I just painted them in the same manner.

Again before...

And after...

Thanks so much for stoppin'

                                                                   Katie

Linking too:
Domestically Speaking

Savvy Southern Style
DIY by Design
Green Willow Pond
Elizabeth & Co

Pottery Barn Inspired Oversized Galvanized Calendar

Post by Katie

I thought I would share a really fun project my husband and I worked on recently.  I got the idea while flipping through the new Pottery Barn catalog(one of my favorite ways to spend time).  I came across this huge galvanized calendar.

I think my husband is starting to "get" me because when I said out of the blue "I need a giant piece of galvanized metal", without hesitation he says "Ok maybe BBC Steel or hold on I'll check online" no rolling of his eyes or "oh brother what's she up to now", just "let me figure that out for you".  He's pretty awesome!

We ended up purchasing the huge piece of galvanized metal at Home Depot for $16.99.  The one in Pottery Barn is 6 foot square so ours isn't quite as huge at 3' x 4', but it fits the space I wanted to put it perfectly.  Apparently they are used for Hvac or furnace stuff.  Although it was a little difficult to find a perfect piece without any bending or dimples.  We had to unload them from the shelf onto the floor until we found one that was near flawless.

Yeah I think the Home Depot people probably thought we were a little weird.

We also got some 1 x 2 pieces of pine to build a sort of frame on the back, some picture hangers, and wire.  Altogether it was under $30.  Just a little less then the Pottery Barn version(I'm under exaggerating, it's a lot less).

So now I have to say I love Pottery Barn.  I save catalogs(which by the way my husband definitely does not "get", it drives him crazy).  It's one of my favorite places to go for inspiration when decorating a room or just redo anything in my home.  I love flipping through the pages, and noticing all the details.  I think they are awesome, I just can't afford them, so I try to get the Pottery Barn look on my budget.

Now with that said here is how we did it, my husband pretty much being the brains of the operation.  We made a frame for the back...(ya know cause I'm like "Maybe stick it up there with some double sided tape or something")

Then spray painted it with some metallic paint I had(also his idea), and glued it to the piece of metal.

Then I made the lines with a sharpie(I tested on the back that a sharpie would not erase and a dry-erase marker would).  This took way longer than it would probably take the average person, because my brain does not do math quickly...

I then made the days of the week and "notes" in black vinyl with the Cricut.

Finally, and the funnest part cutting the numbers and shapes.  I had these magnetic sheets(here they are on Amazon).  I can't even remember why I had them in the first place, but they are pretty cool.  They are super thin and Cricut cuts right through 'em.  I wanted the numbers all funky and different sizes just like the ones in Pottery Barn, so it took me awhile to plan it all out for the Cricut, to get the best use of space, and not waist any of the magnet sheet.

Then I could let my imagination go.  My daughter Mia is taking ballet, so I needed a ballet slipper.  My other daughter is currently taking piano lessons so I needed a music note, (I know how fun is this).  I definitely needed a birthday cake, and you could go crazy with holiday icons.  I'm sure I'll add to as the months go.

I'm not sure where my cute little airplane snuck off to, that's what happens with a four year old in the house I guess.

We put the picture hangers and wire on the back.  I also used mounting putty(also on Amazon) so it wouldn't move around on the wall.  I'm hanging it in a hallway near the kitchen.  It would have been difficult to get pictures of it there, so I took it up to my sons room to get the pics.  I thought it would look good on his faux metallic desk I painted (I never wrote a post on that, so I'll show that too).

I got the cute little magnetic talk bubbles, and cup to hold dry erase markers(it came with the little square magnetic eraser) at The Container Store.  They are also on Amazon here and here (can you tell I am a huge Amazon fan).

Are you ready for the total savings, including the metal and backing material, the magnetic sheets, talk bubbles, markers, and cup to hold them.(some of which I already had, but I will add em all in) for a total of approximately $65.  A whopping savings of $435 off the Pottery Barn price.  

This is just one of the funnest projects I've ever done.  We've had to change the months twice now, and my daughter loves to do that.  You can write appointments and such on the metal as well as the little talk bubble, and make notes with dry erase markers.

(By the way I think I'll show the desk off a little more in another post.  Wait till you see the before).

Thanks so much for taking your precious time to stop by.

                                                            Katie

Linking too:
The Golden Sycamore
French Country Cottage
The Thrifty Groove
Jennifer Rizzo:Fabulously Creative Frida
Common Ground
The Shabby Nest
Love of Family and Home
Miss Mustard Seed
My Romantic Home
Dwellings:Amaze my Monday
Twigg Studios
                 Three Mango Seeds                     

IHeart Organizing

Curvy Black and Antique White Buffet

I bought this little buffet from my mom and dad, I'm not sure where they found it.  It had a pretty bad paint job on it, but great bones.  It probably would have been easier to paint the majority of it black but that's just not what it was saying to me, so I painted it with our Antique White, and the top black, and added knobs and cup handles.  My dad built the curvy back splash and added trim and an applique.  They do this to allot of their pieces, I wish I had a better picture of it, but it sold pretty quickly.  I just wanted to share it.

Here it is before...

Thanks for stoppin'
                                                                           Katie

linking too:
Green Willow Pond:What We Accomplished Wednesday
Power of Paint Party
Savvy Southern Style