Mego Cave: From Door to Desk?!

After what I would call a kitchen hiatus, I kind of left you hanging on the development of the Mego Cave. It was kind of like I led you into the cave but it was dark, so you actually couldn’t see anything but knew it was there. So here I am to turn on a light in the Mego Cave. You can see all the cluttered and no purpose of the carport room (what it was called prior to the Mego Cave) here and then when I began the evolution of the Mego Cave through this fabric art project, setting the tone of the room. That wasn't too much though to call a Mego Cave.

Before I moved on to any more fun projects, I needed a foundation piece for the room. To me, this was a desk. Being a tight wad on a budget, I started scouring CraigsList. I also had very specific guidelines for this desk, which made my search a little harder. Since this room was finished after the house was built, it has no a/c (but stays cool since it is open to the rest of the house) and it runs on baseboard heat. It is the warmest room in the house when those baseboards are on, but it also limits furniture placement. Since there was only one clear place for the desk in my mind, it set specific parameters for the desk. This was the space:

Wow, what an...ironing board?! Soon to be desk space though! Since there was a baseboard in the space, and that is where I wanted to put the desk, these were the parameters I had for the desk:

1.       It had to be open underneath so the baseboard heaters had room to breathe and fires would not start.

2.       It had to be large, preferably framing the six foot long heater.

3.       It had to be something either modern or funky.

I had a few inspiration pieces, both one on the side of modern and one on the side of funky. The modern ones were definitely budget busters, since they usually have to be bought new. I did contemplate saving up for a piece that I loved, making it be one of those pieces for life and cherished items in the home.

Source

Source

Source

I had also gotten my do it yourself magazine in the mail and made me want to do exactly what I saw on the cover (aka my funky inspiration): a saw horse desk.

Source

Source

My funky inspiration also made me think that I could make this into a really fun project that I would love for a while, although it might not be the investment piece for life. So I just kept searching because I didn’t have enough money for new modern, and I hadn’t completely decided on my funkiness level yet and if I wanted to go for it. I had also priced out what it would take to DIY the desk, and it was a little pricier than I would have liked.

Then a miracle hit on CraigsList. My funky inspiration piece appeared, already DIYed for me. I would have loved to make it myself but for the HUGE BARGAIN PRICE of $50 obo, I couldn’t resist. I think I found the listing at 10pm and it shot all chances for sleep for a few hours. I eagerly emailed them to see if the item was still available; it had been posted for a few days and I thought for sure something like this couldn’t still be available. Then, about an hour and a half later (after compulsively refreshing my email every minute) a reply showed up. It was available! I think I jumped out of bed and did a happy dance right there in my pjs. And guess what? I even negotiated on the price. I scored the desk for $40. There is no way that I could ever have made the thing for that type of moolah. This is the picture I saw in the ad.

I made the deal with the sellers yet alas, could not pick up the item for a week. So I spent the week ogling the pictures (yup, I saved them and would look at them every once and a while) and looking for inspiration on how to make it more my style. I couldn’t quite get into the yellow on white color combo. Especially because the room right now is sort of a yellow tan (which I should paint but that is a whole other story). So the accessories (like the desk) will be painted instead!

Pick-up day rolled around and the Cube and Subaru went to pick it up, with fingers and toes crossed that it would fit. We had measured it and it had about a ½ inch of wiggle room. Success! It fit to the centimeter! I giddily drove home, ready to get this thing in the house and start cleaning and styling it! But first, it had to get in the house. Did I mention that the door is circa 1800s, taken from an old home under restoration in the area? Which is just awesome, but it also means it is the heaviest door you will ever lift. Solid, thick wood. So I set about cleaning up the other parts and let the boys handle the heavy lifting. Once it was in, another happy dance ensued! It fit perfectly and ticked all my boxes. Long enough to fit around the radiator with plenty of breathing room. It also had character and charm!

Remember this room?

And here it is with the desk in place!

Here it is with a little bit of style. Remember this lamp that I picked up with my mom in our shopping trip? This was where it was bought for all along – a desk lamp! Along with the desk, it will also have a makeover, as its scratched gold finish isn’t quite doing it for me.

There is still a little bit more of playing and styling to go, but this was my first attempt. The options are endless! Let's do a before and after just because it's always fun.

My foundation is set! Now what next to get this room into true Mego Cave style? The plan at this point is to get the room settled with its big items, and then figure out the exact colors I want to paint things. There are a number of items I want to paint but am waiting on finding a super comfy upholstered chair before I pick the colors. I want this to be a super fun, colorful, and most likely patterned chair, so I don’t want any colors in the room to challenge it.

What have you been up to this weekend? Any fun DIY projects? How about any CraigsList finds?