Anyone who is furnishing a home knows just how expensive it is… particularly when you decide to change your interior style and feel like everything needs to be replaced!
Moving into our new house, I felt like nothing I owned suited the modern Australian style I wanted but I needed to be selective about what new pieces I bought as the build seriously stretched our budget.
So when it came time to create my home office, I looked for a way I could make my daggy L-shaped glass and aluminium desk work. I took the corner piece out which left me with two identical individual desks (pictured below) and today I’m going to show you how I used these and just a few other materials to create one long, modern black and white desk.
Related article: Your guide to creating the perfect home office
Related article: 11 ideas for styling an empty corner of the home
Desk before…
![Before desk makeover](http://stylecurator.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Before-desk-makeover.jpg)
![Desk before side](http://stylecurator.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Desk-before-side.jpg)
Items you will need:
- Desk or other piece of furniture
- Piece of MDF board at the size of your new table top (mine is just over 2m long)
- Undercoat so the paint bonds to metal or glass surfaces (I used Haymes Ultracover)
- Black spray paint (I used matte black)
- Paint brush
Steps:
1. Use undercoat to prepare any metal or glass surfaces for painting (I used two coats of Haymes Ultracover to completely cover the glass top and aluminium legs).
![Paint glass top](http://stylecurator.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Paint-glass-top.jpg)
2. Spray paint the frames in 2-3 light coats of black paint. It’s better to do more light coats than load the paint on to prevent runs or cracks.
![Spray paint frame](http://stylecurator.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Spray-paint-frame.jpg)
3. Once the legs were completely dry, I placed these side by side along a wall in my office and measured the length of the table top I wanted.
4. Cut your MDF board to size or have this done at the hardware store and place it on top of your legs.
Voila, you’re done! Now I have an extra large, custom-made upcycled desk that looks fab in my new office!
The MDF board was inexpensive compared to a new desk (particularly of this size) and is super durable and easy to clean.
I hope this furniture upcycle has given you some ideas on how you could rework an old piece of furniture you own rather than having to buy new.
Desk after…
![black and white desk makeover](https://stylecurator.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Ginas-office.jpg)
![Working at desk](https://stylecurator.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Working-at-desk.jpg)
![New desk top](https://stylecurator.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/New-desk-top.jpg)
![Desk upcycle](https://stylecurator.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Desk-upcycle.jpg)
This post was originally published on 17 September 2015 but was updated with new steps and photography by Thorson Photography.
Wow, this turned out great! I have an old side table that could do with this kind of freshen up. Thanks 🙂
Yay, glad it helped inspire a DIY project of your own!