Remember that farm(house) fresh cabinet Tim and I picked up at Junkstock and made into a sweet desk? Well, it only took about six months, but we've put it to good use with styling and organization, to create an adorable and useful kitchen desk!
I just love the idea of a bill payin', schedule postin', family organzin' command center in the kitchen. The kitchen truly is the center of our home. Of course I have been pining and pinning for a kitchen desk of my own. I have the perfect little spot for it! Here are two pins I really liked that gave me some inspiration!
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| from Better Homes and Gardens |
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| Found here. |
And this ours!
Here's what we used to get that custom, organized vibe I had been yearning for.
1. Magazine holder from Target. I actually have some magazines in there, also some envelopes of developed pictures waiting patiently for the perfect frame so they can be hung on a wall, miscellaneous paperwork, blah blah blah.
2. Old chrome bread box. This thing is seriously my secret weapon. I put anything and everything in there that I can't seem to find a place for, mostly papers that I'm not sure if I need to keep, and sometimes, hidden chocolate. I love how it looks - it goes so nicely with my kitchen - and you'd never suspect that it is packed full of stuff. I did have to reinforce the magnet closure to keep it shut. I picked it up a junk sale for just a couple bucks.
3. Little box. This mostly a styling piece also. I dug it out of the collection of junk on top of the refrigerator. This one is an old cellphone box, but I thought it looked pretty on top of my little stack of magazines. The top of the fridge has seriously got to be my next organizing project. It is getting out of control, along with the desk drawer and the junk drawer.
4. Magnetic board for keeping track of receipts, color swatches for upcoming projects, whatever else. I bought those cute fruit magnets off Ebay and switched out the old tired magnets for new to give them extra holding power. The tin trays I already had from the wedding decor hoard.
5. Chalkboard Calendar Decal. I got this decal from an Etsy shop, Studio 336. It is a one-piece vinyl sticker that you can write on with chalk and erase. It cost me about $45. We are using it to keep track of monthly bills due, and appointments, meetings, and those sorts of things. We used to have a notebook planner/calendar that we wrote down bills and expenses in, but it was too much out of sight, out of mind, so we didn't utilize it the best. I love that this calendar is always in sight. We just started using it last month, so I haven't used it much. I'm hoping to use some kind of color coding system with bills and appointments eventually... so we'll have to see how it all works out.
6. 'Wire' basket to hold stationery, cords, miscellaneous junk, and other supplies I need to keep corralled to the back of desk and out of Ivy's reach. This is actually a $3 white, plastic-coated basket from Shopko that I spray painted black. Much better than spending $11 or more on one basket. It is a little hard to see in this photo.
7. Industrial mail holder from a garage sale. Industrial/retro office supply stuff is totally in right now, so I jumped on the trendwagon when I saw this at a garage sale about a month ago. It does its job perfectly, keeping bills in sight and organized.
8. Desk cabinet. I am super glad and lucky that my printer fits beautifully inside the cabinet. That keeps it off the top of the desk and out of Ivy's reach. The cabinet door even has a latch that keeps it locked, so she can't get in there (until she learns to push the little button on the handle as she pulls it). The printer cords are also in there.
9. Magnetic rubbery caddy. Perfect for holding coupons, invitations, and the like.
1. Magazine holder from Target. I actually have some magazines in there, also some envelopes of developed pictures waiting patiently for the perfect frame so they can be hung on a wall, miscellaneous paperwork, blah blah blah.
2. Old chrome bread box. This thing is seriously my secret weapon. I put anything and everything in there that I can't seem to find a place for, mostly papers that I'm not sure if I need to keep, and sometimes, hidden chocolate. I love how it looks - it goes so nicely with my kitchen - and you'd never suspect that it is packed full of stuff. I did have to reinforce the magnet closure to keep it shut. I picked it up a junk sale for just a couple bucks.
3. Little box. This mostly a styling piece also. I dug it out of the collection of junk on top of the refrigerator. This one is an old cellphone box, but I thought it looked pretty on top of my little stack of magazines. The top of the fridge has seriously got to be my next organizing project. It is getting out of control, along with the desk drawer and the junk drawer.
4. Magnetic board for keeping track of receipts, color swatches for upcoming projects, whatever else. I bought those cute fruit magnets off Ebay and switched out the old tired magnets for new to give them extra holding power. The tin trays I already had from the wedding decor hoard.
5. Chalkboard Calendar Decal. I got this decal from an Etsy shop, Studio 336. It is a one-piece vinyl sticker that you can write on with chalk and erase. It cost me about $45. We are using it to keep track of monthly bills due, and appointments, meetings, and those sorts of things. We used to have a notebook planner/calendar that we wrote down bills and expenses in, but it was too much out of sight, out of mind, so we didn't utilize it the best. I love that this calendar is always in sight. We just started using it last month, so I haven't used it much. I'm hoping to use some kind of color coding system with bills and appointments eventually... so we'll have to see how it all works out.
6. 'Wire' basket to hold stationery, cords, miscellaneous junk, and other supplies I need to keep corralled to the back of desk and out of Ivy's reach. This is actually a $3 white, plastic-coated basket from Shopko that I spray painted black. Much better than spending $11 or more on one basket. It is a little hard to see in this photo.
7. Industrial mail holder from a garage sale. Industrial/retro office supply stuff is totally in right now, so I jumped on the trendwagon when I saw this at a garage sale about a month ago. It does its job perfectly, keeping bills in sight and organized.
8. Desk cabinet. I am super glad and lucky that my printer fits beautifully inside the cabinet. That keeps it off the top of the desk and out of Ivy's reach. The cabinet door even has a latch that keeps it locked, so she can't get in there (until she learns to push the little button on the handle as she pulls it). The printer cords are also in there.
9. Magnetic rubbery caddy. Perfect for holding coupons, invitations, and the like.
10. Shelf made from our old waterbed frame, stained to match the top of the desk. The bottom is terribly scratched up, but the shelf was a must-have to get even more stuff up and out of Ivy's reach. Have I mentioned she loves to climb up on this desk?Mason jar pencil holder. Okay, this really is for looks. None of those pencils are sharpened, and I have a mess of pens in the drawer that I actually use; really it is a mess.
Not numbered: Mason jar of yellow number two pencils. This is a styling piece. None of the pencils are sharpened, but they sure look cute. I love yellow pencils.
Man, I have to say we are good at reusing stuff and not spending much money! And, the desk looks amazing. I am so impressed and pleased with this project! You can do it, too! Click the following link to see the step by step we used for this project!
Love,
Kenz
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