skip to main content

Home Decorating

Remember my messy desk? lots of pic's

cliff_and_joann

16 years ago

My desk in my den was always messy, I had two book shelves

over the desk and could never keep it neat. I designed this three cabinet secretary combo and we began to make some sawdust...

There were several changes and additions along the way, including changing the molding and making mantles for the two doors in the room. We also changed the molding on top of the dvd cabinet to match. The doors we painted a light camel color (they were stark white)

I ordered the cabinet pulls on line (someone here gave me the website --thank you very much)

The wood is QS white oak. I did have a bit of luck with the stains I mixed, cause I achieved a perfect match with the desk and other furniture in the room...I am delighted with the results.

I am thinking of lightening up the camel color a little, but not right away, as it took two days to prime and paint the doors. :(

I love the new look, and it's sooo neat and clean...I can't believe it's my desk!

Thanks for looking, your comments are welcomed. (Does the desk top look too cluttered?

the cabinet hardware

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (14)

teacats
16 years ago
Excellent job! Looks wonderful!
carriem25
16 years ago
I am saying nothing out of pure envy.

Carrie
Related Discussions
Staging My House (lots of pics)
Q
Comments (23)
LOL, ZAMSX is right. That goes for everybody living in the house. It is a pain to live staged. I used to spray the closets with Fabreeze "Linen & Sky", pour Pine Sol down the bathroom drains, and mop all the way out the door for every showing. Yup, certifiable. LMAO today. When we were selling a staged house my DH kept asking: When am I going to have my stuff back?!!! I'd say: Soon Dear. As soon as we sell. Soon. LOL Silicon Valley. Wow. I'm in NE. Two different worlds. How's your market? MB- Euro shams would be nice, and 2 regular, with the purple one popping the finished look. -Do you have a couple of white or light slipcovered Parson's chairs for the FP area? Borrow them. Any small chair slipcovered for warmth(Target has slipcovers) will work. Kitchen- Stand the 3 paintings (12x14 or so)leaning against the backsplash wall, vertically , but not completely straight. If you have lights shining on them from lights under the cabs would be nice. The reason I mentioned BM Silkien Pine in the kitchen is because its considered a neutral green. Some buyers are sensitive to green, some are sensitive to blue. You can't win. A couple of light rooms with pale grey/blue, or pale grey/green are fine. The rest should be in the off-white/ cream/beige family. You shouldn't have a problem finding paint to go with Ivoire. Any BM Neutral Whites will work. BTW- I read where you're considering making one of your sons' bedrooms into an office. Don't do it. Leave it as a bedroom. One den downstairs is enough.
...See More
Thank you for my kitchen! (Long, lots of pics)
Q
Comments (86)
Very surprised to see this come back up, but so happy to be able to share and help! kathec, I'm so glad my kitchen could be of help to you! We have decided we love our 2nd island. It is a great buffet surface that allows for easy flow of traffic even with groups of people. roseofblue, thank you for all your kind words. The ceiling fan is not in the kitchen but in the living room which is open to the kitchen. Unfortunately, the air does not get to the kitchen at all. That is one thing I regret, not putting some means of circulating air into the kitchen. It gets pretty hot with that induction range going. (Since you asked, I think it was about $3200 before a rebate of 10% in the form of a cash card.) I still absolutely love the color on the walls, and still amazing to me that a blue can actually feel warm. The fun memories have already started with the weekly pizza-making and bread making and menu planning and school work (oh.. well, I guess that's not so much fun, memory making, but definitely the kitchen is a central part of our lives). firsthouse, I hate that you haven't been able to enjoy that gorgeous kitchen/house just after you've finished it! I guess it's better to have all that travel after it's finished rather than during the process. I have 3 monthly calendars, a weekly to-do, and a magnetic bulletin board, all from Storables.com. If I have two months in advance right in front of me, I'm more likely to write things down and not forget them. So I have Sept/Oct/Nov right now. They do get erased when the kids try to write things on them, but overall I think they work well. They are definitely not glamour items like the Pottery Barn ones but I just needed functional. The bulletin board is, though. I love it; it has a layer that takes pins, covered by a metal layer which consists of pin-sized holes all over. I also mounted some metal strips from Storables, under the shelf, on which I have hooks for keys and magnets for grocery lists, etc. On the weekly to-do chart, I transfer the week's events from the month calendar. That's really my brain. I also got a pocket for mail; if I remember to put it there instead of on the table, it works well. I don't know if ebse ever posted her finished kitchen to the FKB, but hers was my inspiration. I just couldn't bring myself to spend that much money until I saw that I was using such a system. I am still in training, so not using it consistently yet, but working on it! phoggie... thank you! The granite is Impala Black in a leathered finish. It is a fairly common stone, I believe; it looks darker leathered than polished.
...See More
My custom built-in office was installed today (lots of pics)
Q
Comments (22)
We ran into a bit of a snag last night when trying to hook up our components--somehow the installers must have blasted our outlets as now none of them are working. Arguh!!!! We had our regular contractor out last week to move the plug for the charging station and he had to add a junction box. The wires were all pushed back in the wall so we have a sick feeling the installers must've nicked one with a screw. Luckily we've not made the second payment yet for the cabinets (odd they've not asked yet) so we do have some leverage to get a resolution. Who do you think would be responsible for the electrical fee to get it fixed? I'm just hoping they don't have to pull any cabinets off the wall to fix it. As for the rug/floor protector as much as I like this rug when I tried to scoot on and off a rug with my desk chair it was a PITA. I looked at the floor protectors and don't like them. I'd need two and I just don't see it working with the angled seating--unless I were to have one custom made and then there would be plastic over 1/2 the floor and first thing I see when I enter the room. Now I am thinking of using two wooden desk chairs with upholstered seats with no casters and just the felt bumpers on the bottom of the legs. I was originally thinking I'd need the wheeled chairs since we'd need to scoot out of the way to access the center drawers, but it's really not that bad and the felt bottoms allow for some slide without the scratching. So if I go that route, anyone have some suggestions for chairs? Should I look for an unfinished maple chair and see if the custom folks will stain them to match? I'm completely open to other ideas. saraschlos: Yes, I am shameless about copying good ideas and that shredder idea is a good one!
...See More
Messy Curtains - any advice on improving how they hang? pics
Q
Comments (38)
Thanks again to everyone for their nice comments and helpful advice, I really learned a lot from this post. Also I have to give credit to Lindac, who would win the prize if there was one! The pleats looked good after training them, but quickly started to fall out. Since I am obviously obsessed with getting these curtains to look just right (ha ha!) I took them to a seamstress who agreed with Lindac that there was way too much material between the pleats. For a small fee she redid the pleats, and NOW they really look just right!
...See More
brutuses
16 years ago
That's beautiful. You folks are so darn talented. Is there anything you can't do? I love that desk. MY DH has a dinky roll top, but I'd love to get him one as substantial as yours however, I know that's way out of our budget right now.
oceanna
16 years ago
Dang! You made that? Will you marry me? ;)
moonshadow
16 years ago
lol @ oceanna! ;D
Well done, nice creation! Will you share the site where you got that very unique hardware from?
squirrelheaven
16 years ago
Gorgeous work.
loribee
16 years ago
Amazing....just beautiful!
mry193
16 years ago
Not only is it beautiful and looks great in the room but it is also so functional!! Good Job!!

Dang! You made that? Will you marry me? ;)
Oceana -- too funny!!
cliff_and_joann
Original Author
16 years ago
Thank you everyone for your nice comments. The hardest part is in the design, It's hard for me to visualize things sometimes ... I need a lot of visual aids. I'm not sure if I posted the original drawing, however it does look different
and we also kicked up the molding a notch, by making it a little 'proud' for the overall plain design.

The hardware link -- I got from someone on this forum :)
I scoured all the stores on the Island looking for unique
pulls.
First, I want to show the 4 pulls (court jesters) that
I snagged from a yard sale. They were 4 for 3.00
Can you imagine parting with these? We built two curios for our Living Room around these pulls, as well as a
dvd cabinet for the den. They were about 2" longer and had a mounting screw on the end. We cut them down to the size they are now. For the Living room I bought fancy backplates and for the den I bought plain ones...
pictured below...
The DVD cabinet pulls:

The Living Room pulls, with a fancy backplate:

Here is the link for the pulls that we used on the Secretary Unit....I found the drawer pulls in Home Depot and antiqued them to match the pulls. It took me two weeks to choose the pulls, as they had so many nice ones.

Here is a link that might be useful: Vandykes Hardware
cliff_and_joann
Original Author
16 years ago
This is the overall view of the room...my son last night suggested we do the ceiling molding in the oak as well.
It's funny cause that thought ran through my head as well, but I dismissed the thought from my head, because I thought it would just make your eye wander up there, and do I want that? Do I have enough going on already in this room already?
The reason I'm second guessing myself over this now, is because my son has such good taste and design sense.

Opinions are welcomed.
decorpas
16 years ago
gorgeous and practical! wow! what a find with the hardware; so unique. I never would have thought to cut it down, either. thanks for the inspiration. I wouldn't dare post the disaster zone that is my desk.
texashottie
16 years ago
I think the moulding would finish it off nicely. You have quite a lovely room; very cozy. I like your look.
livvyandbella
16 years ago
What a beautiful room! And so cozy also.
Barb
daisyadair
16 years ago
Really love it! Such beautiful wood work, and it's all just working together so nicely. The little drawers - too cool!

Related Stories

HOUSEKEEPING Got a Disastrously Messy Area? Try Triage

By Alison Hodgson

Get your priorities straight when it comes to housekeeping by applying an emergency response system

HOUZZ TOURS My Houzz: 2 Tools + 1 Resourceful Guy = Lots of Great ‘New’ Furniture

By Nanette Wong

With scrap wood and a hands-on attitude, a San Francisco renter on a tight budget furnishes his bedroom and more

HOME OFFICES Expert Talk: 11 Desk Designs That Really Work It

By Lawrence Karol

Boring or inadequate desks don't cut it for productivity in a home office. File these desk designs and expert insight under "To Do"

FEEL-GOOD HOME Inherited Pieces: Embrace the Approach That Works for You

By Glamour Nest

How you remember and honor loved ones through heirlooms is your decision alone

MORE ROOMS 24 Amazing Walls of Books

Take a page from wall-high shelves for books remembered, and yet to read

DECORATING GUIDES 14 Ways to Bring Bohemian Romance to Rooms

By Laura Gaskill

Make your home an affair to remember with worldly poufs, old-time candleholders and other poetic gestures

BATHROOM VANITIES Vintage Vanities Bring Bygone Style to Baths

By Susan Mathison

Turn an old table, desk or dresser into a bathroom vanity with a character all its own

CLOSETS How to Turn Your Closet Into an Office

By Becky Harris

15 tips and lots of inspiration for small (but mighty) home offices

DINING ROOMS Room of the Day: Putting the Dining Room to Work

By Mary Jo Bowling

With a table for meals and a desk for bringing home the bacon, this dining room earns its keep

BATHROOM DESIGN Turn a Favorite Piece of Furniture Into a Vanity

Add a Bathroom Sink to a Sideboard, Farm Table, Vintage Chest or Desk

Sponsored

More Discussions

Thoughts on a white Roof?

16

Valance Box with Drapery

4

Flooring Color to Replace Carpets

6

Mantle Mirror Ideas

3

paneling on ceiling

0