Funky Wallpapered Desk

Never make the mistake of thinking that teenage boys treat furniture with respect. By the time that my son had outgrown his desk it was chipped, scratched, ink-stained, missing half of the drawer knobs and sticky (and no, I don’t really want to speculate on the cause of the stickiness, thanks). I, on the other hand, was fed-up of sitting on the floor to do my make-up in the mornings so I jumped at the chance of repossessing said desk, which had been mine in the first place anyway, and converting it into a dressing table.

This was a quick and easy project costing less than £10 to complete even factoring in the cost of paint, varnish and new wooden knobs. No need for a full tutorial on this one, so here’s a quick summary of the process.

The desktop was sanded with different grades of sandpaper to remove the ink and scratches, then stained light oak and finished with a couple of coats of matt, water-soluble varnish. The rest of the desk, and the chair, was painted white (dead flat oil paint). After removing the knobs I cut two sheets of Paperchase wrapping paper to size and, using wallpaper paste, stuck the cut-outs onto the drawer fronts and in the panels on each side of the drawer plinth. The paper was given two coats of matt varnish for protection. The wooden knobs, plinth base and sections of the desk legs were pained with gilding wax and also varnished. I also gilded the edges of the drawer and panel trim.

The Paperchase wrapping paper is quite thick - thick enough that it would probably have been quite difficult to wrap a present in, anyway. It's a black sugar paper with a pressed metallic design. I was a bit worried that the varnish would bead on the metallic surface, but it didn't and after a couple of coats it holds up really well to accidental splashes (coffee mostly - did I mention that I'm not really a morning person and that I don't really wake up until after the first full cup?)

Job done! And it’s sooo nice to have somewhere to sit when I’m getting ready in the mornings.