You don’t truly realize how little furniture/home decor you own until you move into a house and have very little furniture to fill the spaces! Leading up to and since Derick and I have gotten married, I’ve made it a goal of mine to find affordable and creative ways to furnish our home, piece by piece, room by room.
Y’all know my love of taking old pieces and giving them new life, but I continue to want to stretch my imagination for a piece and try new things beyond giving them a new coat of paint! I decide to go completely out of my comfort-zone with this project and try two new things: chalk paint and contact paper.
My materials:
I did a couple things in addition to working on the desk, and I used two forms of Rust-oleum chalk paint for both of my projects! I painted the desk of course, and then I gave a couple old accessories I wanted to re-use new life! 
I had both this faux deer head and antler that I bought on clearance from T.J. Maxx some years ago, and I decided I wanted to make them both a nice matte white to tie into the white marble contact paper I’d be using on the desk. I used Rust-oleum’s Chalked Ultra Matte Spray Paint in Linen White to give both pieces and quick and easy transformation! Now, onto desk details! 
This desk was given to us by my in-laws, so the cost of this project is was under $30! They felt it was old and outdated and didn’t really have a place for it. They were actually going to junk this beauty! They asked if we would want it before they did so, and I happily said yes as I envisioned what it could become! With all the detail work, I was dreading sanding it and prepping it. I remembered how I’d heard that chalk paint needed no sanding or priming and thinking “PSHHH, yeah sureeeeeee.” *cue massive eyeroll* I was so desperate not to sand or prime that I decided to give it a go, and y’all, I’M NOW A BELIEVER! Two coats and done. Complete, beautiful matte coverage in a beautiful color! I used Rust-oleum’s Chalked Chalk Paint in Aged Gray and was incredibly pleased with the color, ease of use and finish! 
I always use a detail brush for the detailed pieces and thin strips of wood first, and then roll over the bigger sections with a small foam roller and I find it gives the most even, professional look. For finishing details, I simply spray painted the old fixtures with Rust-oleum’s Universal Metallic Paint and Primer in One Spray Paint in Oil-Rubbed Bronze! It gave them an authentic bronze look and has a nice metallic shimmer to it!
Once everything was painted, it was time to apply the contact paper! I chose this one off of amazon and loved the price as well as the overall look compared to other ones. Applying this to the desk top was probably the hardest part of this project, it took both Derick and I and we still ended up with air bubbles here and there! So I’m not the person to ask on how to perfectly apply contact paper haha, but we cut it to size, and one of us held the paper above the desk where we wanted it to go and the other used a flat-sided tool to slowly smooth it down. I would highly recommend looking up tips to apply contact paper, because there could be other easier ways of doing it. That, or it’s just really difficult no matter what haha!
The finished product:
I was so pleased with how this project turned out, and glad I took a couple chances on materials I’d never used before. I will definitely be utilizing both in future projects!
Office details:
I was finally able to use many of the gifts we’d gotten for our engagement/wedding in this space once I had a desk to frame the room so to speak! I was gifted the Barnwood Shelves off of our registry, the adorable faux succulents (similar here) and tin container, and the white-washed wood list-holder! Pretty much everything else were clearance buys from T.J. Maxx and Hobby Lobby! A similar faux deer head can be found here, similar faux white antlers can be found here! Lastly, the chair is from our dining room set that I ordered off of Amazon!
Do y’all have an old piece you could give new life with some of these products? If you do, go for it! You won’t regret it.
Xo,
Konnor with a K
Konnor with a K 