For the last two years I have been in love with Bernhardt's Griffeth Secretary Desk and Stanley's Mercantile Drop front desk. The two tone color combination on these pieces is stunning. I love the contrast between the dark wood on the frame and the white drawers. The Bernhardt desk actually has white leather inset panels on the front and side panels. The construction is amazing and the style is classy and timeless.
And just look at those cute little interior drawers! And a grommet for cords!
Bernhardt Desk : $2209 on High Fashion Home
Stanley Mercantile Drop Front Desk: $1369 at various stores
Anyway, I don't exactly have a couple grand to shell out for some furniture I don't technically "need," especially since I'm a little nomadic renter. However, I am tired of the utilitarian set up that I have going now. I purchased the mirror about six months ago and I just finally got around to taking it out of the box and hanging it so that was step one of the little mini makeover. Since I live in basically a studio, I don't have space for a workspace and separate vanity so it has to serve the needs of both. While my current desk solution is somewhat functional, it isn't pretty and I would love for it to be pretty.
Here is my current "situation."
The super simple solution would be to get the drawer tower add on from IKEA, but that alone is $80.
I'm also not in love with the style. I'd like it to have a little more personality than just an Ikea Desk. Being the craigslist shopper that I am, I found this desk:
The color is almost right. It has removeable drawers on top. I like the dark wood. I like the clean lines and simple hardware. It might be a tiny bit boring and the storage isn't as much as the inspiration pieces but it's a big step up from the current situation and for the price it isn't bad at all, chair included.
Just to see what the potential could be, I did a quick PS rendering to see if I could make it work for my needs and wants. I think this will definitely do the trick for now. Plus it'll be a fun little weekend project. I texted the owner and will be picking it up this evening with two of my best friends.
The DIY idea is to get some white (faux)leather and inset it in the panels myself. Not sure how hard it will be or how legitimate it will look but that's the idea thus far. I haven't decided yet whether or not I want to paint just the bottom drawers or do the top drawers in white as well. I like this rendering for the moment. Eventually, I want to get a cute tan or gray tufted side chair instead of this office chair... but that is a project for another day.
After photos to be posted...
UPDATE:
11/19/2014
I managed to talk the owner of the desk into selling me only the desk for $45. The chair was in poor condition and very cheap... not worth salvaging. I splurged and found a pale blue greek key chair at Home Goods to compliment my bedding. I buffed the scratched up finish to get an even surface for staining. Since I was essentially keeping it the same color, I didn't strip the finish off or prime it. I refinished the desk with two coats of Rustoleum wood stain in Kona.The finish turned out beautiful and shiny and you can't tell that it was significantly scratched or water damaged before. I haven't recovered the drawers with white panyl paper yet but that project may come about at a later date. I found some gorgeous marble carrera tiles on craigslist for a steal of $40 for 3 22x20.5 3/4 inch tiles. For now, they are serving as my vanity top. I have another use in mind for them later but my busy schedule doesn't allow for too many DIYs at the moment, as you can see from how long it took to update this post. I am much happier than I was with my makeshift vanity that I had before. I found a pretty Ralph Lauren lamp at Home Goods. The West Elm lamp I put on top of my Ikea bookcase.
