Nicely done and repurposing.

Wow--great make-over!!

good for you!

Nice transformation!

Great job! Would love to do this to my honey colored oak desk.

Beautiful, budget friendly and earth friendly transformation.

Beautiful, but I miss the kitty :)

I miss the cat. I think you should put the cat back on the desk.......

You did a marvelous job! Looks like something you just brought home from the store!

Very impressive!

kitty has a mind of her own. she was on the cat tree next to the desk when i took the photo. she's always there when I work (if not in front of my screen). :-)

Did you use a brush or roller for the cabinets?

I just used a brush. After sanding the finish on the cabinets to roughen them up, I gave them a coat of water-based primer, then I used the same latex semi-gloss paint I used on the house trim. It took about 3 coats till I was satisfied with the coverage. The paint tends to stretch tight when it dries so you don't get brush marks. Looks very smooth.

When first reading the description, it seemed like you could have gone with cheaper drawer pulls but they really make the desk look expensive, so good job! Also, the bottom trim transformed the cabinets into furniture and really elevated the piece.

Great transformation! I want to do something similar on my landing. Did you use kitchen base cabinets and cut them down to desk height, or are these vanity base cabinets? I'm having a hard time finding vanity base cabinets in the price range I need! Any info would be helpful!!

Awesome work!

Nicely done!!!

Looks great, what brand of paint did you use?

Lovely but the cat is missing!

That really looks sharp.

the paint was actually a semi-gloss latext paint I bought at walmart. i'd used it on all the trim and inner doors in my house and it worked well for them. got the cabinets at a building materials recycling center that supports Habitat for Humanity. It is called ReStore. Not sure if they are kitchen cabinets or not (i suspect so). I did not cut them down at all. They were the same height as my old file cabinets.

Thanks for sharing this, you did a great job! I was just at Staples last weekend and cannot spend money on a new desk, I just cannot get past the newbie stuff since I am a vintage collector. I was thinking of some ideas for refurbishing one for myself, and I thought about using a door for the surface. Did you use a solid smooth door, because in my mind I was wanting a slab of wood for the surface and an old door came to my mind. And was the height of the cupboards a perfect height for your desk? Looks like I have a hunt for a project this summer...

Fantastic DIY job ...looks wonderful!!

The luan doors are hollow core and I'd rather have used something solid, but this didn't cost me anything and it seems to do the job. The cabinets were already the right height.

What a great transformation!

This is beautiful. I always wish the HGTV reno shows would give their old cabinetry to Restore rather than putting them in a landfill. I've gotten some cool things from Restore.

Fantastic job, all round!!!!!!
My brother fabricated a similar desk for our father when he moved into a senior living apartment tower.
He made a paper template, (as it was going into a bay window area), and the desk surface was being custom made out of one piece of MDF board. He purchased two 2-drawer file cabinets, (not identical in appearance, but the same height), from The Salvation Army store, and painted them both black. The desk gave our dad a huge work surface.....Regards, Judy Cholfe of JC Redesigns

@sunsandsong, yes I couldn't agree more. I hate when the Property Brothers take a sledgehammer to kitchen cabinets just for the sake of drama when they could simply be unscrewed from the wall with a lot less effort and recycled. They can often be repainted and reused in a kitchen or garage or repurposed for some other use.

What does your cat think? :-)

You really updated your entire space with this. Very creative and resourceful indeed!

my cat is just fine with it. she lays on the corner of my desk while i'm working when she's not standing in front of the screen so i can't see. ;-)

I can't think of more charming decorative accessory than a happy kitty!

OMG You are sooooo funny!!!!!!

This looks awesome! Great job!

Great work!

Wow! Amazing work!

wow, looks great!