Making What's On The Inside Count

Here's a project I did recently to freshen up a secretary desk using some wilderness wallpaper and white paint. If my car battery hadn't died and/or my registration hadn't expired, I would have tried to find an older vintage desk on craigslist to go pick up in the city. But neither of those conditions existed, so I went for this inexpensive, but nice, solid wood option at Target which was delivered right to my door!

I started by priming the entire surface of the desk, inside and out.

Then, using a white, latex paint, I painted the entire outside desk surface and the insides surfaces that I chose not to cover in wallpaper.

I changed out the knobs with some prettier ones from Anthropologie.

Next, I measured the inside sections of the desk that I wanted to cover and cut wallpaper pieces accordingly. Using an acrylic adhesive [recommend 3M Hi-Strength 90 spray], I covered a section of the desk with the adhesive and pressed the wallpaper flatly onto the section of the desk starting at one end and pressing and smoothing with my hands down and out until the section adhered to the wood completely.

This was repeated until all sections have been complete. Then, I let it dry.

One thing to watch out for: When cutting the wallpaper be sure to consider the direction the pattern will be in the desk. It looks best if the design runs in one direction through the entire desk.

Finally, I sprayed the wallpaper with a protective coating and let it air out for a bit.

I was so happy to see that a picture of the desk end up on the Editor's Picks page in September's Sunset. I hadn't actually noticed it made the cut (thanks, Dad!) so was quite delighted, because I thought it looked so fun with all the brightly colored desk accessories that we borrowed from Area (thank you, John). And, thank you, Katie!