I know I said today would be Best Parents Ever: Part Two, but I changed my mind. Not that they aren’t deserving of Part Two, Three, Four…(it could go on forever really), it’s just that I realized I needed to tell you about another major rearrangement that took place before they arrived that created some vital space for the nursery!

Do you remember our “office area“? I put it in quotes, because it was really a side table, a borrowed dining room chair, two bulletin boards, a filing cabinet, and a printer…(after re-reading that old post I realized I’m still belittling it in the exact same way). The truth is, I love that this dedicated corner provides storage for important documents, space for writing thank you notes, and a home for my sewing machine when necessary. On cloudy days I could sit at my desk and blog away, truly feeling like I was at work. When it’s sunny out, the glare was too much for the computer screen (not ideal).

I just love the idea of having a space that inspires me creatively, where I’m happy to sit and work for hours. I couldn’t just get rid of it to make room for a crib!!

I knew what I needed to do. The office needed to relocate to the only other room in the house…tough decision, right?!

I shared my plans in this blog post.

• To Summarize:
  • Move the desk to the bedroom.
  • Move Mike’s dresser to make space for the “office” wall.
  • Place dresser across from the bed
  • Slide the hamper (green rectangle across from bed) and chair (not pictured) down to make room.
  • EASY!

Should I include some more photos for reference?

Move all of this to the bedroom wall where the dresser is:

Move all of these pieces (hamper, chair, dresser) onto the wall directly across from the bed:

Place desk on slightly set forward wall (formerly occupied by the dresser) to further define office space.

I imagined I could create something magical like this:

Source: Lark & Linen

But first I had to figure out a way to make my black desk work in my mostly neutral bedroom…

Should I paint it a fun color? What would look good with my green walls? …not much. Do I paint it off white like my dresser? I wish I could strip it and stain it! Would a grayish blue work? Can I cover the top in marble contact paper? What about a fun design on the top?

I decided to attempt to blend the desk with my dresser and my director’s chair, by leaving the legs black and painting the top a similar off white to my dresser.

I picked up a sample size of Behr Cottage White in a satin finish (because that was as glossy as I could get for under 5 dollars). I figured one container would do the whole table top, so my project felt pretty thrifty!

When I finally got brave enough to tackle this thing, I just went for it.

First things first: I protected the floor with a drop cloth (the joys of not having a garage) and taped off the parts of the table I was not planning to paint.

Then I sanded the table top to prep it for the paint:

It still felt pretty smooth and glossy after sanding, so I decided to turn to an old favorite and pulled out my Rustoleum Cabinet Kit stripper to make sure my off-white paint was going to adhere.

Luckily, I still had enough supplies from kitchen cabinet painting (including 1 leftover glove), so I didn’t have to make another trip to the store before I could plow ahead.

The deglosser pulled away some frightening black paint (that I miraculously avoided getting all over my body and clothing). After wiping the tabletop clean of chemicals and letting it dry, I was ready to slap on some paint.

The first coat went on as expected. I could still see black, but I wasn’t worried yet.

The second coat was looking good! Except for a few spots where my paint wasn’t as smooth as I’d prefer, I was pretty pleased with the results! Usually these bubbles disappear once everything is dry…usually.

Yep, they are still there. Attempting to touch them up with the paint I had left from the sample container only made things worse. UGH. I think I needed a little more paint, and a little warmer temperature for this to have gone the way I wanted.

As we were leaving town for our Baby Moon in a few days, I decided to let it sit, and figure out how to fix it when I got back.

Although I was content to wait to finish the project, my curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to move it into the bedroom to see how everything would mesh.

I’d figured out a few days earlier that I couldn’t place the desk in the corner of the bedroom after all. The AC unit was too close to the wall to allow space for a chair to squeeze into the desk, and the hamper, desk, and chair would not actually all fit on the wall across from the bed without preventing the door from opening enough to fit a person (with a bump) inside. Whoopsie! :/

Plan B:

• Move the hamper to the bathroom
• Leave the dresser where it is
• Center the desk across from the bed
• Let the director’s chair sit next to the desk (they match anyway!)

And here’s what we are left with:

It’s ok. I think it’s kind of blah too. I didn’t totally hate it, but my mom wasn’t a fan, and her disapproval made me think I could do better. (SPOILER: and I could…and I did!).

I hate to make you wait until Monday, but I’m already at 1000 words and the next step takes some detailed DIY explanation…but it’s pretty cute, by the end!

I’ll give you a hint!

Source: Centsational Girl