Before we dive into our recent office progress, we want to send a heartfelt thank you to everyone who left such kind comments on yesterday’s announcement. The response has been completely surreal, and we are truly grateful. Now, back to the office.
You might remember that in our initial planning post we said we were still letting the concept simmer, but felt confident we would head toward the layout that made the most sense for how we work. We still wanted to tape things off on the floor to get a real sense of scale, and after reading hundreds of comments and ideas we spent a lot of time debating, sketching, and standing in the room with tape lines marking our options. Ultimately we reached three main conclusions:
- An ideal setup would be some kind of floating double desk so both of us can work in the middle of the room instead of sitting against a wall. That way we both get window views and nobody has their back to the door.
- Adding a meeting table in the office would make this the third room on our main level with a table in the center. That felt fine because we’re planning to refresh the dining room soon anyway, and the table in the office will likely be used more often for meetings than for formal dinners. Plus, we won’t have to worry about the office being tidy before a meeting.
- A craft and photography zone still belongs in the office, most likely along the back wall where the sunlight is limited. That area has been working well for John for the last nine months and it’s practical for storage and task lighting.
With those realizations we decided this new arrangement would be more functional and less wall-facing than the layout we had been leaning toward previously.
We even moved a comically small desk into the center of the room just to test the feel. We both loved being cradled by the bay window and sitting in the middle of the room — it confirmed we were headed in the right direction. (Psst — the plants in that shot are fiddle leaf figs from Home Depot that were on sale; here’s hoping I can keep them alive.)
Since then we’ve been scouting for a double desk that could float in the room. We assumed we would adapt a solid piece to make it wider or longer for two workspaces. We checked thrift stores, Craigslist, Freecycle, and occasional yard sales. After several misses, a large, solid wood desk with plenty of storage showed up as a curb alert. I happened to see the post minutes after it went up — lucky timing — and we rushed over with the car, hopeful it would still be there.
It fit into the car by about two inches, and I may have shed a few happy tears when we got it home. Pregnant emotions aside, the desk was well worn, so we planned to paint it white to fit our vision for a light, airy office. We removed the hardware, drawers, and doors, and discovered a maker’s tag and an old drawer lock stamped 1968. It felt neat to learn a bit of its history, but mostly we were excited about giving it new life.
We cleaned off paint blobs and old tape, then sanded the entire piece. After filling a few divots with wood putty and sanding those areas smooth, we wiped it down with a liquid deglosser. John applied a thin, even coat of primer with a foam roller to prevent bleed-through, and we left the cabinet interiors and drawer interiors in their original wood tone for contrast.
To avoid damaging the fresh paint, we rolled the desk indoors on a dolly and set it up on a drop cloth with small blocks to lift it slightly. We used Benjamin Moore Simply White Advance paint, which is self-leveling and formulated for cabinets and furniture. Using a small foam roller and an angled brush for the edges, we applied two thin coats. I followed up the next day with two thin coats of satin Safecoat Acrylacq on the desktop for extra protection.
For the legs and hardware we painted the wooden parts the same Simply White, then taped and masked the painted areas to spray the metal pieces a subtle metallic champagne color using Rustoleum Champagne Mist. The result is light and airy and suits the office nicely.
Overall we’re very happy with how the desk turned out. Because it was a free secondhand find, we can allocate more of our budget toward window treatments, an overhead light, storage solutions, and comfortable office chairs. With the layout more settled, we’ll move on to painting the walls (we’ve done the trim so far) and building a command wall of organization behind the desk — positioned so it’s largely hidden from the foyer to keep the room looking tidy even when things get busy.
As for adapting the desk to work for two people, our plan is simple: cut a cable-management opening in the back and trim it out. Down the line we might add a wider top for more surface area, but we’re resisting irreversible changes until we’re certain of our final arrangement.
Have you scored any secondhand treasures lately? Was this your first curb-alert win like ours, or do you have a favorite find from the curb that you brought home and transformed?
PS: If you enjoy desk makeovers, we’ve done another one with a DIY herringbone paint pattern on a thrift-store desk that we love.