A while back I found the perfect computer desk at Ikea. It’s perfect for me because it’s deep enough for my legs to stretch out, tall enough for me to prop my feet up and not hit my knees and there are no drawers or keyboard trays. And it’s black, so it goes with everything. But after a few years of use and of resting my arms on the desk when I type, the finish started wearing off. And underneath the black finish is this weird red tint.
I had this brilliant idea to buy some scrapbook paper and decoupage it when I’ve never once in my life used Mod Podge. I set out and bought a big pack of pretty paper and some Mod Podge and then…. I lose my nerve. I couldn’t bring myself to use Mod Podge for the first time on my desk. I couldn’t imagine telling my husband that we have to go back to Ikea and buy another desk because I ruined this one. So the beautiful paper has been sitting on my desk for the last couple of months while I tried to work up the courage to decoupage it or think of another idea. And that other idea came to me this weekend.
I hit up Lowe’s and bought a big piece of plexiglass. It’s Duraplex Acrylic Sheet and it cost me $42. The sheet was 30″x60″ and my desk is 30″x55″ and so I had them cut 5 inches off. Then instead of gluing the paper on my desk, I just used double sided tape and taped it to my desk. It was so fast and easy and the best part is if I ever get sick of these colors, I can change them out. Once I had all my paper on my desk, all I had to do is put the plexiglass on top and ta-da! I have a beautiful new desk.
Here’s the before picture with the big ugly red mark right under the mouse pad:
After taping the paper on the top of the desk and putting the plexiglass down:
I took it a step further and scanned all the scrapbook paper before I taped them to my desk and then set them up as wallpaper on my computer. If you have Windows 7, this is easy to do. Just put all the pictures you’d like to use as wallpaper into a new folder. Then right click on your desktop and go to Personalize.
You don’t have to change the theme, just look at the bottom for Desktop Background and click on that.
Next to Picture Location, click on the Browse button and find that folder that you just put all your new wallpapers into. Once you find that folder, click okay. Make sure to click on the Select All button, or you could select only certain pictures that you want to use.
At the bottom, set your other preferences like Picture Position (I have mine set to Fill) and how often to change the picture (mine is set to change every 1 minute) and if you want it to shuffle. Then just click save changes and you’re done.
Now my pretty monitor matches my pretty desk.
Does the plexiglass slide on top of the paper? Or did you use some type of rubber feet or something to prevent it from slipping? I want to get a piece of plexiglass to cover an executive size wood desk but I will be directly covering the wood and will not have paper in between. I also will not have a wall behind the desk like the one you have in the picture above to keep it from moving past the edge of the desk. So basically just wondering what/if you used anything. And you have some very nice ideas & projects… Thank you for Sharing!
Hi! I didn’t use anything to hold it in place. But the paper I used is textured, not flat, so I think that helps. And then my monitor really holds it down and keeps it from moving. It doesn’t touch the wall, there is a gap there for cords, so I don’t rely on that to keep it in place. I don’t know if it would slide on your desk or not, but I do think if you had a monitor, that would definitely help keep it in place. Hope that helps!
Yes, that helps a lot. Again, thank you for sharing!
My pleasure! Good luck with your project!