
When Wayfair contacted me a few weeks back
about a DIY challenge that they were offering to several bloggers,
I was so excited!
The challenge was to turn a piece of furniture of my choice into something else.
I chose this:
I cut out cardboard and rolled cork to fit inside a door panel.
I hot-glued them together and painted it black.
I chose this:
Giftcards.com also gave me a $50 giftcard to buy supplies
with which to complete said transformation.
My high school senior daughter Miss A's office armoire project
has been on my to-do list for a few months.
It had held a TV, but we made a theater space in our basement and the TV went there.
It already has a slide out shelf, perfect for the monitor and keyboard
to be slid out to make room to sit and surf work.
Instead of selling it on Craigslist, we thought it could be put to better use.
It looked like this before I started transforming it.
When my coffee table arrived, I set to work
measuring it, cutting it in half, and turning it upside down.
I went to Hobby Lobby, Michael's, and Lowe's
and got a few things with my gift card:
three different fabrics
(a chevron pattern for the back,
a houndstooth to cover the bins,
and a Parisian script pattern for a pillow),
glue and scrapbook paper to cover the ugly Dell mouse pad,
Zinsser Cover Stain primer and rollers to apply it,
L-brackets and flat brackets,
two bin handles,
a pre-made flag banner,
a cardboard "A",
two polka-dotted bins to organize school supplies,
and some paint:
(I was originally going to paint the inside blue but decided to use)
Valspar's Frappe, a creamy pale greige color.
{That was fun!}
I then started assembling the table pieces to resemble a box
that would fit up inside the armoire for shelving.
{I also had a cup of coffee. OK, I had many cups of coffee.}
I cut out cardboard to fit the inside back of the armoire
and hot glued fabric and handles to the bins that came with the table.
I hot-glued them together and painted it black.
The table then got hoisted into place
(with the help of my girls) and secured with shelf pins and screws.
I was relieved and extremely proud of myself that it actually fit!
All that measuring twice, cutting once stuff does work!
After sewing a pillow,
framing some pictures,
covering some books with craft paper and labeling them,
printing out a calendar,
painting D-A-N-C-E on banner flags,
with the help of Miss S, the college girl (thank you!),
we declared, "It is finished!"
And here are the befores and afters.
I wanted to encourage my daughter that she could finish
her last year of high school with hope for her future!
She wants to take International Studies in college
and go to Korea and teach English.
She fell in love with Korea
when we had an exchange student from Ansan with us last year.
We now call Hyojin a sister and daughter.
Here is the post about our year with Hyojin.
She is a dancer, and prefers Hip Hop style to anything else.
Her Senior Project is, in fact, a K-Pop flash dance mob.
You can print out your own adorable and free owl calendar HERE.
Funny friends and my daughters and my Asian children running to the Atlantic Ocean.
Bins to hold homework and what-not.
I found the polka-dotted, handled bins in the craft organizing section at Michael's.
I did some research and discovered that
as long as it is elevated and turned in the correct direction,
the PC tower can be turned on its side.
It's OK, too, because we never use this PC to run CDs.
Miss A loves her new space
and I am honored to have been chosen
by Wayfair and Giftcards.com to
be given the items and means
to transform this into a one-of-a-kind
Senior Project Center/Office Armoire!
Thank you!
Check out the Pinterest Board featuring the rest of the DIY Bloggers, HERE.
I couldn't believe some of the fantastic and creative ideas they came up with!
Have you got an old armoire that needs help?
Here are some more ideas:





































Wow, friend, that looks amazing!!
ReplyDeleteHi Suzanne!
DeleteIt took us 3 weeks to finish it! Ugh.
It should be amazing, LOL! ;)
Looks awesome! You did a fabulous job!!!! We purchased an armoire on Craigslist and turned it into a makeup/hair station for our daughter. http://diydesignfanatic.blogspot.com/2010/11/organized-armoire.html
ReplyDeleteHey Pam,
DeleteI've seen your armoire!
I loved it!
And I had already put your armoire in this post:
http://www.goodbyehousehellohome.com/2012/07/new-uses-for-old-armoires.html
:)
WOW! Great job Leslie! I love it and I'm sure your daughter does too. You really thought "outside the box" with the coffee table. Great vision and even better execution :)
ReplyDeleteHi Hilda!
DeleteThank you! Yes, Alyssa loves the armoire. Very much.
It helped that the coffee table arrive unassembled.
HUGS!
What a change. I really like what you did.
ReplyDeleteHi Debby!
DeleteI used to close the doors on it every night, now I leave them open because the armoire is not embarrassed anymore.
;)
Leslie,
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful idea, and looks so nice! You did a fabulous job!!!
Thank you! I am so glad it's off my TO DO list!
DeleteI'm so proud of you for finishing it even when you wanted to give up! It looks amazing. ^^
ReplyDeleteLooks amazing. Great job and I am sure Miss A loves it.
ReplyDeleteIt looks awesome! Great job!
ReplyDeleteAnna
askannamoseley.com
This really is amazing! Even a bookshelf?! Awesome!
ReplyDeleteBut one thing that perplexes me as I keep looking at: where do you put your legs when you work at the computer?
Hi! greetings from Poland<3 The office look wonderful but I'm not sure is it good to put the computer on the side. I think the hard drive can break down erlier, then in normal position.
ReplyDeleteVery Clever!
ReplyDeleteI love this look. so neat and organized too.
The PC on it's side nifty idea.
I'm sure you did your research on the tower, hard drive, etc.
...enjoyed it!
Pat
Now this is what I call the ultimate makeover. It's a wonder how things that we think cannot be used anymore are being transformed into multifunctional pieces. I just love it!
ReplyDeleteAwesome use of space! The black board is my favorite part.
ReplyDeleteGreat transformation! I bet Ms. A is happy as a lark w/ her new work station, it's beautiful and fun! Love it!!!
ReplyDeleteWow! What a transformation! Looks great and I'll bet it's so functional. You are a wonder!
ReplyDeleteAmazing transformation! It's so fun! Love it!
ReplyDeleteThis really is amazing! Even a bookshelf?! Awesome!
ReplyDeleteHotel furniture
Beautiful work! :) Hats off to your creativity. You brought the best out of that TV armoire. Congratulations!
ReplyDelete