DIY Teacher Desk

Hey there, people!

I had a super busy week filled with all sorts of plans and meetings and appointments and this and that. UGH.

BUT.

One thing that I am STILL obsessing over is my NEW teacher desk. I put it up on Instagram and holy cow. If I was the type of person that thought likes on Instagram meant I was popular or famous or a celebrity or something, then I am here to tell you that I should be of the status in which a person has their own private plane. And that private plane should be taking me to Bora Bora or my own private island somewhere with one hundred of my closest friends.

Because it got a lot of likes.

Okay, maybe not a lot, as far as Kim Kardashian or Thor or Deanna Jump goes, but a lot for me.

It also got A LOT of questions. Which I answered. Even though most of the questions were the exact same ones over and over again, but you know what I realized? People don’t tend to scroll up.

I, on the other hand, always scroll back up to see if my question was already asked because I am afraid to leave questions pretty much anywhere. I don’t know why. Maybe I was traumatized back in the day when a teacher asked if there were any questions and I asked something like can I go to the bathroom three seconds too late because I’d already wet my pants. True Story. First Grade. Me. Ask my mom. (But in all actuality, my mom thinks it was because of the male PE teacher and/or PE, in general, which makes complete and total sense because I have not one iota of physicality to me whatsoever at all, especially when I was six years old and the size of a four year old, wearing glasses with a patch over one eye to correct a lazy eye situation, and sporting a Dorothy Hamill haircut which my mom says was darling, but I am here to tell you, it was NOT.)

ANYWHO.

I thought I’d write a post all about my new desk so I can direct people right here and save myself the trouble of answering a bunch of questions.

First of all, I need to credit my teammate, Heather, who did this to her desk FIRST. And when I saw it only halfway done, I said I have got to do this, will you please help me, I will buy your lunch for the entire month of August, and because she is a good friend, she said she would help me, and said she wouldn’t allow me to buy her lunch at any time whatsoever. My other teammate, Laurie, made the decision to GET RID OF HER DESK ENTIRELY this year, and now we think she is the smartest one of all.

Meanwhile, we had talked for YEARS about fixing these desks. Talks of spray painting, regular painting, throwing them away, buying new ones, getting rid of a teacher desk entirely, using shelving systems, etc. You name it, we talked about it. But then school and life and school got in the way, and our teacher desks got covered up in all manner of paperwork and pens and water bottles and sticky notes and lists, and on and on it went. When your desk is covered in all of that, you don’t care anymore.

Well. This year, Heather just got the ball rolling. BAM. I went into her room to say hi (yes, we went in to school in the middle of summer, we are THOSE teachers, I am sorry, don’t judge us) and BAM. THE END. I was OBSESSED. She finished up her desk and then helped me with mine. I could not have done it without her. NOT AT ALL. I was too afraid to get going.

Here’s my desk BEFORE:

NOT.

Well.

Three hours and a very scary situation with a very scary black spider later . . .

VOILA!

RIGHT?!

I KNOW!!!

PEOPLE! LISTEN UP!!

It’s just WHITE CONTACT PAPER. From Walmart. AND THAT IS ALL. This is SIMILAR to what I purchased, but my local Walmart, in person, which is how I purchased it (even though I’d much rather have been in person at Target, just to be clear) had it as 18 inches by 20 feet. I bought 4 rolls to be extra safe because I am known for doing things three or four times before getting things right. It’s a thing. I just like to do it that way because I am crazy. You know this. We’ve gone over this before.

Heather used two rolls and had left over contact paper.

I used two rolls and part of a third because I am Kristin, and this is how I do things. I told you.

Those were the main two questions asked on Instagram.

Where did I get the contact paper? Walmart.

How many rolls did I use? Two and part of a third because I messed up a few times and, in a fit of anger, ripped off pieces of contact paper, balled them up, and threw them away.

Any tips? Get a friend named Heather to help you.

Also, measure everything ahead of time and cut all the pieces. That will help it go faster. When you measure the pieces (for example, the front panel of a drawer), add extra. Then, use a razor blade or an X-acto knife to cut off the excess. Better to have too much than not enough!

Honestly, though, just get started. For real. The hardest part for me was just DOING IT. I was so afraid to mess up, but honestly, you can’t. Just peel it off and start again!! REALLY.

AND!

SUPER IMPORTANT TIP: If you have air bubbles, you can take a push pin and poke them. Then, just smooth them out!

I did leave a lot of air bubbles, though.

I did.

I was like . . . I am so over this now.

Heather got rid of all her air bubbles so she is probably sleeping way better at night.

I am thinking of having get rid of all the air bubbles as a class reward or something this year and letting the kids do it.

Here were some more questions:

Where did you get your pink chair? Do you LOVE it? I do!!!! It’s my one big purchase for this school year because I got TWO. One for my desk and one for my teacher table!!! I got them on Amazon, of course! At $40 each, I thought it was a steal.

Where did you get your tool box? I got it on Amazon!

Did you spray paint your tool box? Yes! Well, actually, Steve did because he tends to take over things like that.

Does the spray paint chip off or peel on your tool box? No! NEVER! I think I’m going on three years (maybe four) with my tool box and not one darn thing has happened to it. I LOVE IT.

Where did you get the labels? I got the labels on Teachers Pay Teachers from Teach Create Motivate!

The labels have never come off, either. I just used double sided sticky tape.

Where did you get the pink organizer box? It is from the Target Dollar Spot from a few years ago.

How do you keep your desk so clean and organized? Well. I mean, LET’S BE REAL. It’s summer.

And . . . I think that’s it.

If you have any other questions, leave them here!!!

Also, not asked, but I feel the need to answer . . . I did NOT ask permission before doing this.

I just did it.

I’m a rebel like that.

I mean.

Contact paper comes off.

And I think I still have a good ten years before I even think of retiring. And if I have to move rooms (noooooooooooo!!), I’ll take my desk with me. And if I have to leave my school, well . . . well . . . well . . . who wouldn’t want a nice white desk?

My only question now is . . . will this last? Will this last for the next ten years? Does anyone know???

Because I can’t imagine doing this again. Ever.

Nope.

I mean, I had to battle a black hairy spider! It crawled out from under my desk, and I stomped on it with my shoe, and then it was NOT on the bottom of my shoe or on the carpet, and I LOST it which led me to feel as if things were crawling on me for the rest of the day.

It was the worst part of the whole thing.

Anyways.

Let’s take a look at it again, shall we?

OBSESSED.

And, just to put it out there, I do know, and I’m perfectly aware, that having a white, contact papered teacher desk will not make me a better teacher. It will not prepare my students academically or socially or emotionally for anything. I get that. I understand.

I’m also perfectly aware that in the 17 years that I’ve had that desk (whether it was the actual desk in my current classroom or a number of other ones when we were year-round and rotated classrooms), I’ve sat down in front of it on maybe, just maybe, and I’m being generous here, a total of ten times.

I know.

I obviously did not need to do this. I could be brave like Laurie and get rid of it entirely.

HOWEVER.

It does hold stuff.

I use it to organize stuff.

And it’s mine. Pretty much everything else in the classroom belongs to my kids. It is THEIR space. I don’t really have a space except for my director’s chair, and the chair at my teacher table. Other than that, my classroom is for the kids.

So.

Now that I have a beautiful white desk, I might use it more often. Most likely AFTER school.

But, with all of that being said, I am here to tell you this:

I LIKE IT.

I wanted to do it.

I am happy.

And I am clearly obsessed.

The End.

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