Desk Ideas and a $0 command center makeover…
Confession time. I LOVE renovations. I LOVE remodeling. I LOVE big, bold DIY projects. If you ask home buffs what their favorite project to tackle at home has been, many will say the kitchen. And that makes sense.
Kitchens are generally the heart of our homes. That’s where people congregate. That’s where homework is done and family time is shared. It’s arguably the most important space in the house. Guess what…I’ve NEVER really remodeled a kitchen.
Here’s my current kitchen…
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YIKES. I don’t even know how to really describe this space except to say it’s waaay too much of a not great thing. LOVE the space, not a fan of the look, AT ALL. Problem is that kitchens require funding to be made over. A LOT of funding.
Even if you DIY your little heart out, the reality is kitchens are STILL expensive. So, we tend to skip them. And that makes me a bit sad, because we end up with homes that are “done” with a period, instead of “DONE” with a big, happy, ecstatic exclamation point.
Today, a group of fantastic DIY bloggers will be showing you some of their best kitchen DIY projects and re-designs. If you need some good, usually thrifty kitchen ideas and inspiration, head to some of those posts linked below. You’ll be glad you did!
As for me, I’m going to show you what we did with one little nook of this kitchen to make it a bit more livable for now, until our ship comes in and we can really remodel this space as we’d like. Frankly though, I thoroughly enjoy the challenge of having to do “something” with “nothing”. So here is what we did to the “something” that is our kitchen office space/family command center literally with NOTHING…i.e. a budget of ZERO.
Similar to our master bedroom makeover on a ZERO dollar budget, here are the supplies we used for our ZERO dollar kitchen office DIY project:
kitchen office DIY project supplies:
- Annie Sloan Old White chalk paint
- 3″ polished chrome shallow cup pulls (new drawer hardware)
- Rustoleum chalkboard paint (we used green, but they sell it in black and tintable, so you can make it ANY color!!)
- flowers of other yard clippings for ambiance 😉
DIY kitchen office makeover – how to:
Again, we had these couple of supplies on hand. We are big chalk paint fans here, so it’s a supply we keep in stock here at the nest, although perhaps “hoard” is a better term.
And chalkboard paint? Well, that too is another one of our weaknesses. We have at least one, if not more chalkboard walls, in EVERY home we’ve ever lived in. So if you’ve ever considered trying your hand at adding a chalkboard wall or accent, we can give you some fun DIY chalkboard ideas and tips as well!
We only had a few items on the punch list for this cost-free kitchen office / DIY family command center makeover. The items included:
1.) Painted the unit and shelf above with our Annie Sloan Old White. That literally took about 1 hour, tops, and it was DONE. COMPLETELY DONE. (And this is why we hoard chalk paint…it’s the easiest kind of painting you can do!).
2.) Removed the old drawer hardware, and screwed in our new drawer pulls (extras from an old half-hearted kitchen makeover).
3.) Painted the chalkboard wall behind the desk.
4.) Go out to your yard…or sneak into your neighbor’s yard (kidding…unless they are cool neighbors like ours) and clip something that’s currently in bloom…or pine branches in the winter. Anything that’s alive will make any space look better. Maybe not a genius suggestion, but it’s one many of us (finger pointing to self) forget to do. And I love ambiance that’s AFFORDABLE.
There is NOTHING about this that was difficult, or even remotely challenging. Nor was any of it expensive. But to me, aesthetically, it made a good bit of difference.
What do you think?
The walls are painted in Benjamin Moore’s “Pale Smoke”, pearl sheen. Sometimes figuring out the right sheen to use in a space is the hardest part, right? Even more challenging than choosing a color. We tried to de-mystify that part of paint shopping if you want to check it out.
I’m not sure I would have chosen the green for the chalkboard wall if I didn’t have it on hand already. I might have chosen a tintable base and done a little more of a subtle color, but then again, the green kind of shouts, “chalkboard”, and I think I’m good with that, for now.
That lamp was just a basic desk lamp that I bought for like 10 bucks. Then I did a little DIY to add the sticks. Kind of fun 😊.
A mason jar from my Grandma’s house and a Paper Source spiral planner from one of my best friends are proudly displayed and used here.
I think the drawer pulls are probably one of my favorite pieces to this super cheap desk in kitchen design.
This little office nook sits right outside our dining room, which is now one of my favorite spots in the house. The sunlight just floods in from that room throughout the day. And that’s where I’m headed now because it’s about time for that big yellow bus to come lumbering over the hill with some precious cargo in it that will be waiting to see me with some smiles (hopefully) and maybe a hug or two (if I’m really lucky). But, until we meet again, if you’re in the market for more desk ideas for your kitchen space, or just some good desk ideas or office ideas in general, head over to my
I have a whole board there called ~Outstanding Offices~ where I house all of the office design ideas I find beautiful and inspiring. You know, I have to be ready to rock and roll when that ship finally comes in you know.
Just for fun though, here are a few of my current favorite kitchen desk ideas:
Be sure to check to see what the other DIY housewives have whipped up for you in their kitchens!
Designer Trapped in a Lawyer’s Body
Stephanie says
I have an interior brick fireplace that was clad in the ugly putty pink exterior brick used on the outside.(Its bad) It has wierd textured cut lines throughout. I painted the brick white and i still hate it. can I still do a mortar smear or a concrete finish if the brick is already painted with a solid coat?
Heather says
I haven’t tried that myself, Stephanie, so I can’t give you a definite. But I wouldn’t think it would be an issue to try it at all!
Lisa says
Going to do the German Smear on my cheap faux brick backsplash as the first step in updating my kitchen. TY for sharing all this info
Heather says
That’s awesome Lisa!! Would love if you let me know how it goes!! And if you have any questions, email me!! I’m always looking to make sure the tutorial for the german smear we’ve made is as good as possible!! Good luck!!
Lora says
Thank you for including my post about painting brick!