BEFORE and AFTER: The Makeover of a “Dumpster Desk”
Eh– whatever the reason, thrifty souls like myself look at it as an opportunity to transform other people’s castoffs from the “uninspiring” to the “unbelievable.”
And that’s exactly what happened with this “dumpster desk”!
When I found this desk years ago at our condo complex, it was sitting there, just as perfect as could be. It had all its drawers. I just took them out and stupid me forgot to put them back in for this picture :). But it really was in great condition. I stopped the car so fast, put it in Park, and lugged that baby up the sidewalk and down 2 sets of stairs just to put it in our storage unit.
BEFORE
We didn’t have the space for it in our condo, but I knew one day we’d buy a house and it would serve its purpose for me.
Sure enough, a couple years after, we were finally settling into another house, and we had all our things packed and loaded. And–GASP!–hubby almost left this desk behind!! “There’s no space in the truck.”
No space, my foot!!! When you save a desk from the trash and hold onto it for 2 years, you don’t just leave it behind because there’s “not enough space.”
Glad I was able to save it twice!
Here’s How I Transformed It
The Hardware
Normally, knobs like this go for about $8 or $9 each at that store, but I picked these up for about $2-$3 each. Love them!
Broken Opportunities
When furniture looks like this, people want to throw it out, but for us DIY’ers, it’s just an opportunity to score a good deal 🙂
Then I added wood filler to the old holes. When it dried, I sanded it down, then slathered on a coat of paint over the drawer. Perfect!
AFTER!
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I hopped over from Roadkill Rescue. The desk is fabulous!! Great job.
This is just lovely! Great job!
wow this is GORGEOUS! I absolutely love the blue, lucky you for finding such a treasure!
Ansley, well, now’s the time to do it! It’s sooo much fun!
Wendy, thanks so much! I think the color is simply amazing. I’ve been obsessed with turquoisey greens and blues, and if I could paint ALL furniture this color, I would, but I think my husband would, uh, hate me. LOL
I think this is my favorite make-over! The photo caught my eye as soon as I clicked on your blog. Well done!
Love this! I’ve been wanting to do a project with the fading color drawers!
Ann, that’s so thoughtful! I appreciate your comment! If more people could appreciate that the best things in life aren’t new–they just need a pretty coat of paint– this earth would be a better place!
An incredible salvage job. I love the paint scheme and the knobs. And, best part is, you kept this piece out of the landfill. The earth thanks you.
Thanks, Brooke! It’s still awaiting some WAX or some poly, and then this baby is becoming “one” with my laptop! 🙂
That looks awesome!! Great job!!