One Room Challenge – Week 6 – Desk makeover (again)

We’re in week 6 of the Fall 2017 One Room Challenge and I’m so close I can taste it!!

*Note: I was provided with Enviro Tex Lite® epoxy resin for the purposes of showcasing it’s ease-of-use and beautiful finish.  This article also contains affiliate links.

As long as I don’t call another audible like I did last week…

Week 5 I showed you how I made over my craft desk from faux-granite:

to faux-marble with some peel & stick shelf liner.

I recently received some Enviro Tex Lite® epoxy (a pour on, high-gloss finish) for the “Fab Furniture Flippin’ Contest” I’m participating in – Showstopping TOPS with ETI Envirotex.

If you’re going to have a show-stopping top – it may as well be for my new home office right?

I thought I’d take my new marble desk out to the garage and give it a shiny coat to make it look even more marble-like….

but then I noticed some leftover grasscloth wallpaper a friend had given me…

and my faux-marble desk quickly became my new-and-improved grasscloth desk (with an epoxy desk top coating).

I’ve never applied wallpaper before, and I didn’t want to wet the paper for this project, so I decided to just use double-sided adhesive to stick the grasscloth down – leaving a 2 ½” overhang on all sides.

I tucked the excess around the edges of the top and stuck them down with double-sided adhesive as well.  (I did a much better job getting the corners crisp this time).  Any excess was tucked under the desk and stuck into place.

Using Enviro Tex Lite® will give you a beautiful shine – “the equivalent of 50 coats of varnish” – and the durability is fantastic!  Once completely dry, you can polish your epoxy desk top with a bit of pledge for that mirror sheen.

I will say that, for a surface this size, the epoxy is a two-person job; one person to mix the resin while the other applies it and smooths it out.

Hubby drew the short straw and had to do the mixing (which is the most specific part);  you have to measure exactly one part resin to one part hardener and then stir it thoroughly for a solid two minutes.

Hubby’s arm got quite the workout because my epoxy desk top needed about 5 batches of resin to cover it.

If you are trying to make your own epoxy desk top – PLEASE put down disposable drop cloths, wear scruffy clothing and have throw-away mixing jars and/or tools.  Enviro Tex Lite® sent us the little mixing cups and wood sticks for mixing and I made sure to lay down lots of plastic sheeting underneath to catch drips.

You’ll also want your surface to be as close to level as possible.

Spread the epoxy over the surface (batch after batch after batch – while wet), smooth with a piece of stiff cardboard and wipe a light coating over the sides of your grasscloth desk top.

After letting the epoxy set up for about 15 minutes, you’ll notice tiny bubbles come to the surface.  If you blow on these gently they will pop and you will be left with a perfectly smooth and shiny surface.

Pray that no fruit flies or dust get into your epoxy, and let it set for 72 hours.  For the best results, you want the epoxy to dry slowly, over a longer period of time at room temperature heat; essentially long, slow and hot.  lol

You’ll have to visit your epoxy desk top a few times in the first hour or so to scrape off excess drips from the underside before they harden.  If you do miss a few, they can be sanded off afterwards, but remember that “50 coats of varnish” thing – it will take a bit of work.

 

What do you think?!

Better than the peel & stick marble and WAY better than the black faux-granite.

The grasscloth has a beautiful sheen to it that I wasn’t sure would still show through the Enviro Tex Lite® epoxy, but it does and it’s gorgeous!

I did make a mistake though; as crisp and clean as I was able to get the grasscloth on the corners, once it’s epoxied, it becomes hard (and kinda sharp).  I’m wondering if wetting the paper to get it perfectly flat to the surface might have made it better?  Not that big a deal, just wanted to tell you what I found.

I have to confess, my friend Del of Divine Decor, staged my grasscloth epoxy desk top to make it look even more beautiful.

This has got to be the fanciest craft desk going – and certainly the most durable.

It might even be too fancy to craft at now.

I just want to sit and stare at it.

Check out my blog post on “How to make a lamp”  for the easy DIY tutorial on my giant lamp.

I also have a post I did previously on creating art for your home for the floating shelf that is in my new home office.

To recap:

Week 1 – the before and style board

Week 2 – the cabinets

Week 3 – the paint

Week 4 – AWOL (working on the Instagram Builder’s Challenge)

Week 5 – Faux-marble desk

 

Still to do:

• remove all hubby’s “stuff” from the room and re-home to the basement office
• remove built-in window seat and bookshelf
• repair walls
• paint walls
• paint trim
• new carpeting (still hoping for a carpet miracle here)
• refinish cabinetry
• floating shelf and art over desk
• gold desk accessories
• build/buy/repurpose craft desk  makeover desk TWICE
• craft storage and organization
• accessorize and decorate

 

Next week – November 16th – is the big reveal!

Click over to the link page for the One Room Challenge and see what the other guest participants have been up to – these women are TALENTED!

If you are a blogger and are interested in participating in the Fab Furniture Flippin’ contest, you can apply by sending an email to: [email protected]  In the meantime, click over and see what the other bloggers in the contest are up to – you might just want to try a Show-stopping top yourself!

Have a great one!

 

 

I was provided with Enviro Tex Lite® epoxy resin in quantities enough to cover this desk top for the purposes of showcasing it’s ease-of-use and high-gloss finish.  Enviro Tex is not responsible for the dialogue of this blog post.  All opinions expressed are sincere and my own.

 

Linked to:

• Between Naps on the Porch

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