The Map Desk

I found this desk at the thrift store. The price tag said $24.96. I waited it out until it was 50% off and the price was $12.48. Then I bought it (well, actually, my sweet Emily went and bought it for me because I was out of town on the date of the price reduction -- bless her!).

I knew something that most others did not: that the pieces to the missing pen drawer were inside one of the other drawers -- thus making the desk complete. I knew how to put the drawer back together. And I knew how to save the desk from worn ugliness:

I decoupaged maps over all the worn and damaged surfaces. 

Out of consideration for my wood-loving friends Jeff and Barbara, I did not cover any un-damaged wood but, instead, let it shine in its own natural beauty:

I love the little pull-out work surface! Wasn't that where the principal taped his passwords?

The top is a collage of many smaller maps of U.S. cities and states. A kid could learn a LOT from this desk! Ok, so could an adult. That blue spot with the green around it is Crater Lake (in the top right portion of the dest top). That's my favorite spot on the whole desk!

Total cost: $12.48 for the desk plus 29 cents for the glue. I had the maps and the sealer (all free). Now listed on Craigslist for $225.00.

The Chalkboard Desk

Bless Mark.  He supports me in every crazy endeavor I get into.  He was dumpster diving on my behalf when someone offered him this desk for free.  Of course, he took it.  He knew I would have wanted him to. 

At the time, it was all white with no knobs. 

I added some detail to the desk with black chalkboard paint.  

And added some knobs that I had on hand.



And, honestly, I really don't like it much.

But it was taking up precious space in my project room.  So I put it on Craigslist for $75.  Immediately I had three buyers -- all of whom LOVED it! 

I wish I could sell it three times over. 

Today's agenda:  Find more crappy vintage desks.



The Next Best Thing to Free!

No, I didn't get these beds for free.  But I DID get them for just 50 cents each which is the next best thing to free, isn't it?  Actually, it's almost better than free because such a low price is an amazing victory!  Who would bother to SELL a bed for 50 cents?

I love cheap, UGLY stuff.  The uglier the better!  I love to have a hideous before picture because that just makes the after picture so much more satisfying!

This twin headboard wasn't so bad before.  It was just boring.

So I painted it with (free) shiny, bright red paint.  

It can be used in it's red form or there is an removable and reversible insert that has pages from a vintage encyclopedia on one side...

and vintage colored maps with some really great colors from the same encyclopedia on the other side.  I can see some little boy learning lots of geography and general knowledge information (all beginning with the letter "A" since that's the book of the encyclopedia the pages came from!) from studying his headboard when he's supposed to be sleeping!  There just HAS to be a globe on the night stand next to this bed!

The second fifty cent project was a really ugly 60's era headboard and footboard.

These were painted with (free) split pea green paint.

This is not my style and not my era because I am old enough to have lived through it, but I hope some twenty-something person will think it is really cool retro!

Next, I am eyeing a vintage desk that will be $12.50 if it's still there on Thursday.

It has a broken drawer, a gash in the back, and a heavily worn (or should I say "beaten"?) surface but I have a vision for it! 

The really neat thing is that my projects always turn out to look exactly like my visions!