Work Table Makeover & Customizing Unfinished Furniture
A budget-friendly option for customizing furniture to work in any space using unfinished, solid wood pre-built pieces & staining an office work table.
We finally have an actual desk in the home office. That’s kind of important I guess, huh?
While I was searching high and low for the perfect budget-friendly option for a big work table, I stumbled upon an unfinished one that was priced super low, was made of solid wood (meaning it would last longer), and gave us the option for customization.
Bingo!
UPDATE: Want to check out the home office final reveal?! See it here.
(Some affiliate links are provided below. Full disclosure here.)
If you’ve never looked into unfinished furniture, it’s definitely one to consider.
It’s like the perks of building furniture without actually having to build furniture.
So to customize ours, I tried out a couple of stain options and eventually landed on my old faithful color I come back to time and time again: Minwax Special Walnut.
I swear it looks beautiful with everything in any room.
The unfinished furniture usually needs a quick light sanding to remove the protective coating first.
Then just apply Wood Conditioner and wipe away any excess after a few minutes with a dry, lint-free rag (a must to keep wood from looking splotchy).
Brush on a coat of stain, let sit for 5-10 minutes, and wipe off. Repeat if you want a deeper shade.
And brush on a couple of coats of water-based poly. (I prefer water-based most of the time since it does not yellow like oil-based will.)
It’s looking so official in this home office now!
We rolled out this area rug, added these rolling armchairs, and hung up these creamy white curtains on these modern brass curtain rods.
The light fixture will be going up soon along with the frosting film on the glass doors and we’re finished! Besides the fun decorating part, of course. 😉
Are you loving it?!
While we’re on the subject, do you have any favorite places for buying “pretty” office supplies? Maybe that’ll be the extra productivity incentive… ya think?
If you want to customize some unfinished furniture for your home, here are some of my favorites that are super budget-friendly:
Beautiful room! If I wanted to keep the look of unfinished wood , would I put a clear coat over it or wax ? Thanks !
Hi Liz! Yes, just a couple coats of polycrylic would be fine to keep the look of unfinished wood.
Outstanding! I love yet another fabulous job of yours.
I used unfinished furniture many times when furnishing my home and always loved the quality. They aren’t cheap, but they are well made and you can personalize the way you want, stain, paint, whatever! Love thee desk!
Lauren you and Robert killed it again. Another beautiful room!! I love it! May I ask where you purchased your unfinished table from? Can’t wait to see the finished office!!