blog — Stacey Lanning

While it's no secret to my family that I've been painting and refinishing furniture since I was a teenager, I only recently rediscovered my love for this craft. Inspired by the chicest of mint green ceramic knobs from anthro and a strong desire for a clean white desk on a small budget, I decided to tackle this diy desk project in a weekend.

I purchased the espresso desk seen above in 2005 from target so that I would have a surface on which to work in my cozy little apartment. Little did I know, that I would spend every waking hour of my experience at the College of Design in studio. Since those days I've used this desk quite a bit and so rather than purchase this sweet desk that I've been eyeing for almost a year, I opted to reinvent the desk that is still with me : 8 years, 5 homes, and 2 cities later.

I started this project by removing the hearty, old knobs, and sanding away layers of beverage rings and moving scratches. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the desk wasn't just covered in veneer but was built with decent wood, making it possible to sand off all of the existing finish and prep it for a brand new coat of white paint.

My apologies for the lack of before photos. I was so pumped to get started, that I had to force myself to stop and capture this mere glimpse of my process.

and finally, the after...

My favorite part are the two-tone legs. I have been dying to try this look out on a piece of furniture for some time now and I'm thrilled with the result on my first piece.

I truly enjoy giving furniture with history a new look. It's so rewarding to see the potential in a piece and then transform it into something new and different, with my own two hands. Sure it's hard work, but when you peel away the last piece of painters' tape - it's pretty awesome!

As I mentioned in my last post, I've wanted to make over my workspace for some time now, years even. For one reason or another, I have managed to push it to the bottom of my lengthy to-do list. Honestly, I think it was easier to overlook this makeover as a priority since my current workspace is functional. However, functional and okay are not words that creatives typically use to describe their workspaces. Sure having a workspace that is functional is important, and even necessary most days, but it shouldn't decide the overall look and feel of the space. I really want my new workspace to be simple, clean, inspiring and one that facilitates creativity. After all, that's what it's meant for, right? Below are a couple of inspiration boards that I have compiled to help me create the kind of workspace that I have envisioned for carrying out my creative endeavors. I started this process with a few staple items that I wanted to incorporate into the design of the space. Somewhat unintentionally, I ended up with two different design options, both of which incorporate these staple items.

option 1 / clean, subtle, and a bit romantic