Desk Skirt Revealed and Other Home Updates

After over a week of trying out tons of ideas to no avail, I finally am able to reveal the desk skirt in all its glory.  Last time you saw it, it looked fine.  It has continued to look fine as it sat on our floor for a number of days, but now it looks nice actually attached to the desk!

Here is what it looked like last week when I showed it to you:



It was balancing on top of the desk.  Remember?



I had lots of ideas of how to hang it, from drilling a hole through the rod and screwing the rod directly into the desk to using a strap to attach it to the underside, but none of these seemed plausible for me.  The most logical idea would be to use some kind of hook to screw into the bottom of the desk to rest the rod on, just like a normal curtain hook, but finding something that would mount from above and scoop under to place the rod on was not an easy task.  I made many trips to a hardware store before giving up.

Then, while I was at Target one day, I found these:



They were a little small at just 1 1/2”, which was a little small than what we needed, but I figured I could bend them a little to make them the right size.  I took two pliers and used them to latch on to both ends of the hook while I made the hook opening just a tad wider.  Then, I tested the rod on the hook and it worked!

All I had to do was drill a pilot hole into the desk just where I wanted the hook to hang and then screw the hook in.  It took me about five minutes once I knew the solution would work!

Here’s what the hooks look like under the desk:



Since the rod with the hangers on it is pretty light, I only used two hooks (one on each end), but if this seems to be too heavy for the hooks, I’ll add one more in the middle.



Here it is from the other side of the room.  The pictures make it look more wrinkled than it actually is.





And, like I promised, here is the new layout of the room.  It still needs lots of updates, which I will list below, but so far the arrangement has proved perfect for what we need.  Oh, and in case you didn’t see what it looked like before, check it out in our home tour.



The view from the door is my favorite part (or will be once that nasty green drawer unit is replaced.  This view is much better than it used to be with the side of the desk greeting us as we walked in.  No thanks!



Do you see that huge ugly wooden step in front of our makeshift nightstand?  That’s the safety precaution for escaping through the window.  It may be practical, but it sure makes for a huge design dilemma.  New nightstands are on the list of things to buy, but they have to be very slim with no drawers in order to fit in that tight little corner.



Here’s the view from the other direction.  Now we can finally add some floor-length curtains!

Our to do list:

• Add art above the bed.
• Buy new nighstands that can fit in the wonky corner
• Find two narrow bookshelves to surround the desk
• Add shelves above the desk
• Buy more office organization to combat clutter
• Add art above the desk
• Find a better place for the printer
• Hang the mirror between the closets
• Buy sheets that bring in a new color to the room
• Buy chairs for the desk
• Come up with a lighting solution for the desk area

We have a lot to do!

Before I go, I want to show off the newest member of our living room family.  Do you remember the ottoman we borrowed from upstairs?



Well, it is gone, and has been replaced by something much nicer.  We got it from Overstock!







We love its skinny shape but long profile because it makes for a great footrest from anywhere on the sofa, but it leaves a ton of space for a walk way in front of the TV.  Plus, we love its lighter neutral color which helps draw away from the dark browns we have going on in the room.

But, this is the best part:





No more dumbells in the corner!  No more blankets taking up the whole couch!  Thankfully, the bottom of the opening is made out of really thick wood, so when we carefully place the weights on it, it holds very well.  We are in love, that’s for sure!

But, with one improvement comes another thing to do.  Here’s what’s lurking in the room from a different angle:



Newspaper taped to the wall.  Pile of frames stacked on the floor.  Hmmm . . .

Yep, we are trudging along on making a little gallery wall centered above the sofa.  We have the arrangement down (it’s slightly different than the newspaper mock up), but we are trying to find time and space to paint all of the frames since they look hideous together in all of their clashing colors.  We plan to have it up soon, so stay tuned!

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What project have you recently tackled?