Family Room Writing Table

 When I replaced a huge old ugly desk in our family room with my vintage dresser-turned media stand last year, my husband no longer had a place downstairs to work on the paperwork he often brings home from the office. 

 I'm pretty sure he didn't mind being moved upstairs where he could work while watching football and hockey on his big TV, but I missed having him in the family room with me on those evenings.  

Even though I was kind of loving the new uncluttered space in our family room, I decided I loved my husband even more and started looking for a desk to surprise him with for his Father's Day gift.

 

The available space was pretty tiny, and I didn't want to make it look even smaller with another bulky desk. I also didn't want to block the light and view out the back window. I thought about making a pallet wood table, but I didn't know how I could keep that a secret. So I hunted high and low at thrift stores and consignment stores and just regular old stores for something small enough.

 

I finally found this little wood writing table with metal legs for under a hundred dollars at Target. It had a rustic industrial vintage vibe going on that I liked, and it fit in the corner perfectly. There wasn't one on display in our store, so I had to go by the photo on the box and the online description which said it was composite and veneer. 

 

When I opened the box at home I didn't find a wood veneer top at all, though. At least not any wood veneer I'm familiar with. It looked more like a picture of wood.

You know the saying? If it sounds too good to be true... ?

Yup. 

 

 I liked everything else about the table, though. I liked the fairly heavy metal legs and the size, and the directions sounded easy to put it together. I don't like shopping, and I like returning things even less, so I did what any self respecting DIY-er would do. 

I painted it with chalk paint, distressed it, and waxed it.

 

Then I bought a shiny new lamp at Pottery Barn to go on it.

 

 I hung the girls' portraits above and put an extra dining room chair below. 

 My husband loved it, and I do too. 

It's just the right size to jot down notes or make a shopping list during the day, and in the evenings my husband is back downstairs where he belongs, watching Rehab Addict with me while he works. 

 How about a party today?!

Elizabeth & Co. 
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