My Repurposed Desk

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Would you like a home office in a unit that closes up in 30 seconds?  I turned a rarely used buffet into my repurposed desk for blogging.  And everything hides in 30 seconds.

My repurposed desk is a buffet we bought at a yard sale about 15 years ago for $100.

I love the curvy front.  It was gold when I first laid eyes on it.  Over the years it sat quietly holding dishes, tablecloths and the “good” napkins.  Which means the doors and drawers were only opened when bringing out the “good” stuff.

My Repurposed Desk

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So basically this beautiful piece of furniture sat surrounded by windows…

with amazing views of the pines and our huge front porch.

My current desk

While on the other side of the dining room, in a corner, next to the counters of the dining side of the kitchen…sat this mess, ugh!

Actually, the piece on the left is a cool cabinet from Ballard Designs.  It’s called “the billpayer.”  I added a pullout shelf to hold my laptop.  The ugly on the right is an old file cabinet.  I painted it black to blend or make it disappear.  You can see how that worked out.  I never sit there.  I spend a lot of time blogging sitting at the dining table.

Repurposing the buffet

So now to repurpose the buffet into something useful.  My first task was to find other places for the stuff in the buffet.  Found a few things I forgot about.

The top middle drawer is the perfect table height for a laptop.  So I took the drawer out and gently took it apart.  I wanted to keep the buffet intact as much as possible.  The bottom of the drawer, back and sides are tucked behind the buffet.

I added a door clasp to the inside edge with the “male” part on the curvy drawer front.  {sorry it’s not that kind of website}

In the blurred bokeh part of the photo above, you can make out the drawer slides

They were mounted on the inside to hold leftover boards from the industrial cart coffee table.  I sanded them down and aged the wood with vinegar and tea.  You can see this technique in this old wood.

Now I have the perfect place to blog and write.

For now, I pull the front off and tuck it under the laptop shelf.  Eventually, I will add drawer slides to the drawer front.  It will slide out and hang down.

File Storage

Now for files.  I took the black file cabinet apart and used the file box without the particle board front.  For a bit of rustic, I added a piece of beadboard to the fronts and rustic handles.

Now came something that took two days! 

I removed the side drawer glides from the file boxes and finally got them to work on the bottom of the boxes.  The cabinet was not wide enough to leave the glides on the side.  Trying to figure that out gave me nightmares!!!!!

But I got it done!

Update:  The printer is now in the bottom drawer.  I removed the drawer front the same way as for the laptop.

My repurposed desk…easy gliding.

Office Supplies

Now it’s time to fill up my repurposed desk.  The silverware drawer is perfect for small office items.  The drawer on the other side I only keep my notebook.  The two middle drawers have a couple of current magazines and some design books.  I thought about putting the printer on the bottom.  But for now, I’m leaving it in the cabinet next to the garage.  I rarely print anything.

Decor for the top

Now for something pretty on the top…my favorite rusty holder and a cream colored vase to hold grocery store flowers.  I have dreams of always keeping fresh flowers on top.  Could be just a dream:-/

In the center is the top portion of the bill payer and a slide ruler.  It reminds me of my dad.

On the other side is my Farmhouse file box.  I don’t know how I got things done without it.

Here’s a photo of our dining room complete with my new office area…and dog beds, and dog toy boxes!  But that’s our life.

Oh, and that bill payer is now much more useful as a bar!  More fun than paying bills or holding a laptop.  I can hide the ugly bottle in the large file drawer.  Heh, heh!

I can simply slide the computer in, snap on the drawer front and it looks like our beautiful curvy buffet.

Plus it’s a hoot to ask someone to get the napkins out of the middle drawer and the drawer front breaks away.  Great practical joke…can’t wait till my brother comes over.  Is that mean?

I love my brother!

Wonder how many times I typed “drawer”?  I want Mike to read this one aloud to me, he’s from Massachusetts.  Okay, that was mean!

Now to get to work…

You can see my Hometalk Thrift Benefit for Sheltered Animals chair in the photo above.  Click to read where I bought it and recovered it and…

to see more Rustic Style projects click here.

Now…

please visit the generous and creative bloggers on day 2 of the Thrift Benefit for Sheltered Animals.

Thrift Benefit Bloggers

Tuesday is

One More Time Events
Fresh Idea Studio
The Crafty Woman

Here is the full list

Monday, October 14

Country Design Style
Deja Vue Designs
Weathered Pieces
Dogs Don’t Eat Pizza

Tuesday, October 15

One More Time Events
Fresh Idea Studio
The Crafty Woman

Wednesday, October 16

Lilac and Longhorns
Stow and Tell U
Meegan Makes

Thursday, October 17

Pennywise Blog
Plum Doodles
A Nest for all Seasons

Friday, October 18

My Soulful Home
Designers Sweetspot
Cupcakes and Crinoline