DIY: Kate Spade Inspired Desk

For our first One Room Challenge this spring we tackled Lily's room. When we were looking through Pinterest for inspiration she saw the "Downing" desk by Kate Spade, loved it and we never looked back!

The real Downing desk was definitely not in our budget so we looked on Kijiji for a piece of furniture that could help us achieve the look for less. We found a hall console table that was the perfect fit - short enough to fit underneath her window and narrow enough to tuck into the alcove in her room. We went to work right away by removing the hardware, filling holes, patching and sanding.

Next a quick trip to Orillia Home Hardware for Beauti Tone oil primer, Beauti Tone Designer Series Cabinet & Furniture paint (no tint) and fabric rollers.

After one coat of primer and 2 coats of paint (with sanding in between) this desk was ready for finishing touches - painted spots and hardware!

This console has a false front without doors so we drilled 3 holes for hardware to make it look like a 3-drawer desk. A few months before we bought a colourless lucite ghost chair that we thought might work but it didn't fit underneath the desk. We searched for a while but just couldn't find anything that worked but a couple of years ago I found a footstool on Kijiji that we had reupholstered in a spotted fabric which Lily already loved - problem solved.

Now that her desk seat was spotted we knew that painting spots on her desk would be too much. Still focused on achieving a Kate Spade look, we searched for hardware that would fit the bill.

When I think of Kate Spade, I think of classic black and white, bold colours and bows - lots and lots of bows.