I am always drawn to color. It invigorates me and it boosts my mood. It can evoke feelings of peace and feelings of energy. When I started dreaming up a home office, I knew I wanted to include color that would set my mind free to create.
I had previously used this room as a lounge retreat for my husband and I, but we weren’t using it like we wanted to. What we really needed was a home office. In order to transform it, all I needed to do was to add a desk.
But not just any desk (desks tend to be a bit on the chicken flavor end of the spectrum when it comes to design). I needed a desk worthy of a coloful modern boho home office. A desk like that I would need to create myself!
Building it was simple. I used these modern Queen Anne table legs from The Home Depot, and a top that I made by joining four 2 x 8 boards together using dowels. If you don’t have the equipment to build a top that way, some easy alternatives would be using plywood for the top (I like using two layers of plywood for a table top) or even a flat wooden door. I attached two pieces of wood to use as brackets around the legs. I attached the brackets into the table top with screws, and then attached the legs to the brackets using screws going through the legs at a horizontal angle.
I knew I wanted to incorporate color into my desk. I found this spray paint Deep Forrest by RUST-OLEUM, a teal green that matched the leaves of the wallpaper in my office perfectly. Using spray paint makes for SUCH easy application, and RUST-OLEUM’s 2X ULTRACOVER paint and primer in one meant I was able to skip the priming step as well.
Next was to decide which parts of the desk to paint. I knew I wanted a dipped paint look, one that left part of the desk with exposed wood. I needed to decide if I wanted to dip the top in paint, or dip the legs.
I racked my brain trying to think of a way that I could visualize each option. I ended up spray painting a few pieces of tissue paper first, and when they were dry, taped them to the desk where I was thinking of painting it. It worked perfectly. The tissue paper was flexible enough to bend around the legs, and I was able to experiment with the different looks and how much of the leg I wanted to paint or leave exposed.
Once I had my painting plan, I taped off the portion of the legs that I wanted to keep raw wood using painters tape and some plastic, and started spraying the top.
I’m pretty picky when it comes to spray paint. I find some cans tend to spatter paint out a lot, or go on unevenly, but this paint went on easily and without spattering. The 2x COAT cut way down on the amount of coats I needed. I originally purchased four cans of spray paint for the project but only ended up needing barely two.
Some tips on getting a perfect finish when spray painting. Paint the surface using broad strokes left to right, and never begin the stroke while you are pointing the can directly at the surface. Start spraying a little wider than the actual surface, and end the spray after you’ve passed over the surface on the other side. This will avoid a build up of spray paint where you start and finish the stroke. Always check the paint can for the specifics of applying, they all tend to be a little different. This spray paint recommended applying coats a few minutes from each other. Also, keep in mind that while the paint is dry to the touch within 20 minutes, it takes a full 14 days to fully cure, so make sure you handle the piece with extra care during the first two weeks. I used an outdoor paint on this table so that it will be resistant to moisture. I’ve found I can place a glass of ice water on the table and it doesn’t disturb the paint.
Because the application of this spray paint was so easy, I opted out of applying a top coat over the spray paint. If the table top gets a scratch, it will be much easier to simply touch it up with a spritz of spray paint then to sand down the top layer, repaint, and then add the top layer again. So far it’s held up beautifully.
Putting together this office was an absolute joy! I hung plants from the ceiling, layered rugs, and brought in a vintage wooden chair for seating.
I’m happily typing away at this blog post using my new desk, watching the leaves fall outside my window, and feeling so satisfied at creating such a bright little spot to work.
I want to give a huge thank you to The Home Depot for sponsoring this project! You can find everything you need to build your own colorful desk in stores or online.
Items used for my colorful desk DIY:
