Easy Desk Makeover {with duct tape and spray paint!}

So, I’m not winning any DIY awards anytime soon, but I am thrilled with the way the girls’ school desk makeovers turned out.

Two of the desks belonged to my brother and I when we were young, and I am currently “storing” his for him. Ahem. The other desk was salvaged from the side of the road by my cousin.

I have been in the “process” of painting two of the desks for about two years. It’s just one of those things that I kept meaning to get to and never did.

Well I have now!

All of the girls chose their duct tape and “matching” spray paint colors. {I put “matching” in quotes because I wasn’t sure if the yellow Reese chose would actually look good with her tape print.}

Meleah’s desk is a typical plastic desk, and wasn’t a pleasant color. I figured a little bit of colorful duct tape would do wonders to it.

I tried really hard to match the pattern up. I’m OCD like that, and I am quite pleased. My little babe is, as well!

Reese chose leopard duct tape and bright {aka, school bus yellow. Ha!} for the desk paint. I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the color and pattern ended up.

I wasn’t as particular about lining up the leopard prints on Reese and Abby’s desks because for one thing, it was harder to do, and another, you really can’t tell. I did a few “test” pieces to make sure it was going to match up properly.

I love the colors Abby Grace chose for her desk.

Now. How did I do this? It’s very simple. I gave the desks a couple of coats of spray paint, and after it had dried a bit, I began sticking long strips of duct tape to the desk tops. As I mentioned, I wasn’t as worried about matching the leopard patterns all the way across. With each strip, I made sure it was more than long enough to cover the length of the desk and to wrap the side and stick on the bottom.

On Meleah’s desk, I did the same as above, only I made sure to match up the patterns as I went. Sometimes I had to overlap the tape a bit to make the patterns match; I just looked at each piece, matched it up, and then cut the strip off with scissors (for a clean cut).

Easy, peasy.

The girls are so excited to use their new desks as we begin our Fall semester today! And I am excited that a project two years in the making is now complete. Whew!