Wooden Desk Organizer

I found this little wooden desk organizer at the local thrift shop about 6 months ago.  I put it on our bookcase, on our desk, in the craft room, & back on the bookcase.  It just didn’t fit our decor.  But what to do with it?  I liked it, but brown wood just doesn’t fit in our home.  It was sitting on my desk, and I was just staring at it.  I knew it would come to me, eventually.  Then it hit me.  It needed painted…. and mirrors.  This is the before & the after.

Desk organizer, before & after

And this is how I did it:

I removed the little knob & lightly sanded the box on all sides.  Then I wiped it down with a damp cloth to remove any dust.Wooden desk organizer

And then I got out the supplies.  Freezer paper for under the box, shiny side up.  (I like using freezer paper when I paint.  The item doesn’t stick to it)  A paint brush & black acrylic paint.

paint supplies for Wooden desk organizer

I started to base coat the entire box & drawer with the black paint.

Base coat Wooden desk organizer

After the paint dried, I flipped it over & painted the bottom of it.

base coat bottom of Wooden desk organizer

While it was in this position, I added a second coat of paint to the bottom.  After the paint had dried,  I flipped it back over & gave it a second coat of paint as well as a second coat to the drawer.

second coat of paint - Wooden desk organizer

After the paint had dried, I took it outside & gave it a coat of “Krylon Triple- thick Clear Glaze”.  I glazed the box, not the drawer, and did my best to not get any glaze in the drawer opening.  Adding glaze adds thickness, and if you glaze the inside, where the drawer goes, you won’t be able to get the drawer back into its place.

Krylon Clear Glaze

While that was drying, I went back inside & started to play with mirrors.  I have several sizes of mirrors & tried different ones on the drawer until I found the look I liked.

choosing mirror pattern for desk organizer

I decided on two rows of 1″ mirror squares.  I took the mirrors off of the drawer front & laid them in the order that I wanted them. (the squares aren’t always exact in measurement)

mirror placement order

Then I got out one of my favorite ‘glues’.  Kwik Seal Clear Caulk.  This stuff seems to hold everything & anything.

Kwik Seal Clear Caulk

I squeezed a puddle of the caulk onto a plastic lid, and with a wooden stick, I gently ‘buttered’ the back side of a mirror.

Puddle of Caulk to butter mirror

One by one, I placed the mirrors onto the drawer front.  No matter how carefully you butter the mirrors, some caulk is going to ooze up between them.  (don’t worry)

placing mirrors on drawer front

With a damp  paper towel & holding the mirrors in place, gently wipe away the excess caulk.  You will have to use several paper towels because you want a clean section each time you wipe the caulk away.

holding mirrors in place

Then the fun part… waiting for it to dry.  ahem..  I let it dry for several hours.  Probably 5 or 6 hours.  I wanted to make sure that the caulk had dried completely.

waiting for caulk to dry

While I was waiting for the caulk to dry, I took the little wooden knob outside & spray painted it with silver paint.

painting the knob silver

painting knob silver

After the knob was painted and dried I brought it back inside. Once the caulk had dried, I got out the E-6000 (I love this stuff)  and put some on the underside of the knob.gluing the knob with E-6000

I gently pressed the knob in place & again, waited for it to dry.

knob in place

While the knob was drying, I cut out 4 little squares from black foam.  Why did I use foam?  Because that’s what I had on hand.  If I’d have had felt, I would have used that.  But they both serve the same purpose.  To protect the surface of your furniture.

cut foam pieces for feet

Glue the pieces on to the corners of the bottom of the box & let dry. (yes, I used the clear caulk here, too)

Glue on foam

After everything has dried, replace the drawer & you’re done!  The hardest thing about this project is waiting for everything to dry.

Finished Wooden desk organizer

Add your stationary & pens & you’re little wooden desk organizer has gone from plain to unique!

Completed Wooden desk organizer

It’s not that hard to change something to match your home decor.  A little paint, and something a little shiny & it looks totally different.

Desk organizer, before & after

Happy Creating everyone!

 

 

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