before and after by Grace Bonney 36

before & after: anne’s room and barb’s desk

annebefore
today’s first before & after comes from anne at the city sage. she recently updated her kitchen and i love the simple, modern result. and that table? gorgeous.

anneafter

barb_before
next up is barb from knack- who made over a lovely desk with a little paper (for the top) and paint (the single grey drawer). i love the little grey accent and new knobs. perfect!

barb_after1
barbafter_detail

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36 Comments

Jennifer

What a great transformation! Can you please let me know what you did to prep the desk to put the wallpaper on the top and also what type of adhesive did you use? Thank you so much!

Anne @ The City Sage

Thanks for the love, Design Sponge! The new kitchen is such a refreshing change from the grimy space that greeted us when we moved in. And that table? It used to be the hatch door of a ship!

Teri

So pretty… I do love the desk too! I love that you made the one drawer gray… it gave it a little whimsy to pull together with the top. Really nice.

Phil

What a great idea to finish the top of the desk with paper. Did you finish the surface with a coating for durability or did you simply paste it on and cut the edges? Lovely result!

Uncle Beefy

Anne’s color & table choice? SPOT ON!

Barb’s desk? GORG! And, yes, Grace, that single grey drawer is brilliant. She really does have a “knack” for the before and after. (Sorry, no coffee yet = bad humor. Thankfully, I’m super cute.)

Abby

This is one of those rare times where I like the before better than the after in terms of the desk. I love the new knobs but prefer the original, weathered look for the desk without the paper top. Or maybe I just really miss my old wooden desk that’s 3,000 miles away!

dominique

hatch door of a ship.
EXCELLENT.

desk is very very cute as well (grey leopard lining=hot)

amy

what a gorgeous and serene color in anne’s kitchen redo. please share the name and brand! thanks.

Jessie B.

Love it! But, actually, what caught my eye were the oversized glass vases/jugs. Where are they from??? I want some!!!

object:ORANGE

Love the kitchen table. Where did you find it?

Melissa

I love the room transformation! Can I ask where the chairs are from or where I can find similar chairs?

thanks!

JFM

i’m impressed. a hatch door? that’s great!

all i can do is agree with the other comments; this is such a beautiful transformation!

Anne @ The City Sage

Hi All! Here are the details on the kitchen makeover.

Paint:
Wall: Sweet Innocence
Ceiling (not shown): Marilyn’s Dress
Trim: Wedding Veil
All by Benjamin Moore

The table was purchased at a terrific vintage store down the street from my home in San Francisco. I paid $450.

The chairs are vintage Bertoia side chairs purchased on eBay.

The Glass bottles (which coincidentally both Barb and I seem to have!) are available at Viva Terra: http://preview.tinyurl.com/qo8vjx

Thanks for all the positive feedback! There are lots more pics of the re-do here: http://preview.tinyurl.com/nmjy3t

vintage simple

I think the desk transformation is spot on — it’s an updated, hip version, respectful of the desk’s past. I love it! I think Barb has a great sense of style.
-maria

robin

that desk is fabulous! before and after… but i really love what they did to it!

knack

It is always a treat to be featured here at Grace’s place and today is an extra special treat to be featured along side such a lovely room redo by Anne! I’m LOVING that gorgeous table {and of course the bottles!} especially since it is an old part of a ship….so cool!

As far as the desk redo …..thank you once again for all of the lovely feedback! The papered top can be adhered with either modge podge or wallpaper paste….whichever you have on hand….but I used MP and then I do always put two more coats of MP over the top and some water based poly to protect the paper. I do recommend for desks that you have a piece of glass cut to keep the paper in tip top shape!

Oh, and I do sell the fantastic glass bottles at knack too! The large size in the photo is 65.00 and the small is 35.00. Just email me …….if you can’t live without one! :)

have a great day friends! xo

knack

oops….I forgot to include prep before the paper! The top of this piece is NOT wood and was just a lovely , dirty ,plastic mess…so I cleaned the top really well with bleach and then lightly sanded to ruff it up a bit!

There….all better:)

Norine

I went for the hatch door table. I am also finding the grays here very fresh looking. I’m watching Man from Uncle reruns with all the midcentury modern color schemes (gray) and gray just looks like a new way to do midcentury to me all of a sudden

Cathy

ah!!! Where did you get the wallpaper for the top of the desk? I’ve been searching for it for months and it has been discontinued at all of the outlets I’ve tried to buy from… thanks!

erin

of course i adore the desk by barb and anne’s kitchen is helping to see past the grime of the rental kitchens i saw this past week. thank goodness.

knack

cathy….I have had this particular wallpaper for a while…..I bought lots of it! I did hear that it was discontinued, but if I hear of where you can find some I’ll let you know!

Thanks! xo

Sari

I think there is too much going on in this desk, that does not mesh together.
The desk was of great potential, but the end results in too many design ideas… sorry ;-)

Rachel May

I never would have thought of painting one single drawer (I might be a little too OCD for that), but that desk is adorable! Great for crafters:)

Rhonda

very clever, both! I LOVE the ship door and the desk is just a great reuse of something someone else may have done away with…lovely! These items are perfect examples of resourceful design. LOVE IT, LOVE DESIGN*SPONGE!!!!

PS~Erin

Both of these are great… Anne’s room is such a transformation. I love how bright and airy it seems now. And Barb is always spot on with her redo’s. I love the personality in this piece. Well done girls!! Thanks for sharing them!

Rebecca

Hi! Love the photos of the renos. I borrowed one of your pics for my story on demijohns and sent you some linklove. Love your blog and it’s a regular read for me!

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