Thrifted Upcycled Homework Station with a Vintage School Desk and Faux Chalkboard Chair
I am so excited to share today’s thrifted upcycled project with you: a new homework station for our oldest son featuring a vintage school desk and faux chalkboard painted vintage school house style chair!
I started out with the cool vintage desk I picked up at a garage sale for ten bucks; steal-o-da-century!
All I did was clean it, freshen up the top with some furniture wax, and then paint out the grubby damaged metal legs with some white oil paint… you can tell this paint has been well used around here.
I also found this old school house style chair at a thrift store for $7. Another awesome deal.
Original oak, but in rough shape so I decided to give it a little chalky-board look. Instead of making chalk paint I decided to give Mat Black spray paint a try – I read somewhere recently that you can write on mat black spray the way you do a chalkboard and that will wipe right off with a damp cloth. Well that sounded worth a try – so I gave it a go. Nothing quite like the ease of a spray on finish!
Then I just put these two pieces together to create a fun little homework station for our oldest son who just started grade one.
Since we have moved the two boys into the same bedroom the homework station lives in our new family craft room. It is so fun for him to have his own special little space to do his daily homework (yes, he actually has homework every day already!) as well as for him to work on other little projects.
The large globe was another garage sale purchase for $2 and the supply caddy beside it is from a thrift shop and cost another $2.
The mini globe is from the Dollorama ($3) as is the world map on the wall (another $3) and the pencil cup is a tin can that I covered in an old atlas page and some twine. Okay so maybe I am a little map/globe crazy but it was pretty cool recently when my sister came for a visit after just having traveled through Cypress, Greece, and Italy and she was able to show the boys where in the world she actually was. The lamp is an old IKEA special that we have had around the house for many years now.
My big boy loves his new homework/project space and spends a good amount of time there drawing and creating little projects (that often involve an excessive amount of tape – I think we should have shares in 3M).
I will be back soon to share with you a little project we whipped up to provide him with a way to display his schoolwork and artwork….
Now for the rest of my cohosts’ fabulous thrifted upcycled projects….
Can you believe all these fabulous projects were originally thrifted for less than $20?? Wow!!
Check out all the fab details for them over at my lovely cohost’s blogs:
Three Tiered Wood Trays by April at House by Hoff
Magnetic Race Car Growth Chart by Abby at Just a Girl and Her Blog
$3 Stool Makeover by Mandy at The Hankful House
Old Fence Turned Tray by Christy at Confessions of a Serial Do It Yourselfer
And I can’t wait to see what thrifted objects you have been busy upcycling these days!! Don’t forget to come back Sunday at 4pm PST to link them up! Old or new, we want to see all your thrifted upcycled goods!! Or at least your favourites!
Thanks for reading. And remember my housie friends, HOME isn’t built in a day. Enjoy the journey.
This was featured at!
I may link up at some of these fabulous places below, for more info check out housie parties:
Make the Scene Monday , Monday Funday , Give Me the Goods Monday , Inspiration Monday, Craft-o-Maniac Monday, Project Inspire{d} , Inspire Me Tuesday, The Scoop, Wow Me Wednesday Whimsy Wednesday , Sizzle Into Summer Party, From Dream to Reality, The Inspiration Exchange, Work it Wednesday, Hookin’ Up With House of Hepworth’s, Live Laugh Rowe Live Laugh Linky, Transformation Thursday, Thursdays Are Your Days, The Weekly Creative , The Creative Connection, Fabulously Creative Friday, Party Junk, Pinworthy Projects , Link Party Palooza,, Weekend Bloggy Reading, Strut Your Stuff Saturday, Spotlight Saturday, Get Schooled Saturday, Overflowing With Creativity , , Suburbs Mama , That DIY Party
Super cute and easy to do!
LOVE THIS!! You’ve been featured from our Give Me The Goods party! You’ll also be on my FB page today 😉
Hugs,
Jamie @ somuchbetterwithage.com
Yay Jamie!! Thank you so much!! Can’t wait to add your button and link to my post! Thanks so much!!
What great finds. I love it and I love that map too. Thanks tons for linking to Inspire Me. Hugs, Marty
Thanks and thank you for hosting each week Marty!!
I love your blog! Upcycling can turn things into such treasures! Thanks for sharing! I look forward to seeing more!
Kristy @ Cup Of Jo
Thanks so much Kristy!! So thrilled you came by – I totally agree that upcycling can be amazing!!
Wow! You really got some amazing deals. I love the map and globes and the chalkboard chair was such a great idea!
Thank you Tricia!! I love deals:) The chalkboard chair is looking better now that I picked up (one of your highly recommended) chalk pens. I love it!!
that is such a cute chair…I collect globes so I love the map and decor…I would do homework there!
I am on the globe collection circuit now myself… have managed to amass about five in the last few months. Most were only $2 at garage sales! Not accurate anymore mind you… but cool to accessorize with nonetheless. Thanks so much for your visit and comments!!
Such a great little homework station! I’m sure your son loves it! And you can’t beat the price, that’s for sure! Have a wonderful weekend, friend!
~Abby =)
Thanks Abby! I had a moment of pure elation when I saw that old desk… I knew it was perfect for my oldest son! And then the price was just the cherry:)
Further proof you don’t need to spend big bucks for a big transformation. Well done, Krista! I’m sure your son feels so loved having a space designed and created especially for him; the chalkboard chair alone is SUPER cool. High five to you!
Thanks Lauren! I just figured he needed his own zone in our craft room because, honestly, his use of tape is a big excessive and at least this way it is contained to one area:) Thanks for visiting girl! Have a great weekend:)
Hi Krista, the station looks really inviting – love the world globes! Looking forward to seeing your next post!!!
It is a fun little space- I guess you are looking forward to the art/schoolwork display method?? I was hemming and hawing about sharing it on Monday this week or next – I will stick with this week now!!
everything looks good Krista! 🙂 love the chair in black mat, I think it looks a lot like the one I got from the garage sale remember! 🙂 I did mine in grey but haven’t had time to post about it yet! yours is really nice in black! 🙂 & you got the globe for only $2 wow! I want one of those too! 🙂
Thanks Ingrid! The mat black is cool hey- gives such a different finish. Will be using it for some halloween decor projects soon too:) I have gotten three globes at Garage Sales so far and have only paid two bucks for each of them! I guess that is the standard going rate for globes around these parts (or at least old, outdated globes…)
So fun! I love the map and the desk is great! I hope they’ll actually sit and do homework for you.. 😉
Lol Kathryn! So far he still likes doing his homework, so that is great news! I will hold onto that as long as it lasts:)
So cute. I love it. The map and globe make it really stand out:)
Nicole @ HoldtheOffice.com
Thanks Nicole- I think they kinda make the whole thing too- that and the new chair colour. Thanks for your visit!
I love your homework station! So cute. That chair came out adorable. Makes me want to make one of these stations for my daughter.
~FringeGirl
Thanks Tricia! It was super easy! And if you aren’t a decor-commitment-phobe like me then you could just write on it with a white paint pen and it would look like chalk but never rub off… until you paint over it:)
You really got a steal of a deal on that desk! Love it! I hope this homework station magically makes it easier to get through homework time 🙂
I thought so- and so did the friend I was garage saleing with – I think she was a little jealous after – but she did get a fabulous bank of old school lockers… so you win some, you lose some I guess:)
love everything here…..awesome Krista
Thanks Christine!!