bLOgST

Ahoy-hoy. Remember me? So yeah...I've become lost with blogger the last couple of weeks. Rumor has it that blogger and I recently engaged in a nasty brouhaha.

No comment.

Our home-improvement days have come to a halt as of late, therefore my blogging days will be on hiatus. Perhaps I can convince my in-laws to allow me to blog about their BIG retrolicious home re-model they are currently in the midst of...and I'm talking notorious b.i.g. big.

Until then, I will leave you with a picture of our latest upcycling project courtesy of these little tile-like guys.

Who ever said floppy disks have become obsolete didn't think outside of the box. They are alive and well in our home office and our Mac (and tanker desk) love the company. If anyone has a box of old colorful pagers sitting in their garage, ship 'em over my way. I'll pull a Ted Lawson and create my own robot or something...

See you in another life, brotha~

File This

How awesome are these little office trapper keepers?

via zgallerie

Probably not suitable for the workplace, but for my home office desk, they are perfect!

refinished tanker desk

Speaking of the awesome 80's velcro binder, I was sporting a hello kitty edition paired up with xuxa jelly shoes. Bodacious. 

Frugal Fridays: DIY Refinished Tanker Desk

Earlier this week, we took a look as some sleek refinished Tanker Desks that were a tad too much for our wallets. As luck would have it, we found a slightly bruised Tanker Desk on craigslist... and to our advantage just one city from our home.

It definitely needed A LOT of work. Luckily the seller had not 1, not 2, but 3 desks for sale; I guess you can say we got the pick of the litter (though admittedly, all were kind of the runt). Ready for the price? $60 buckaroos! Plus, we threw in an extra $15 and the seller transported the heavy metal mayhem back to our place and safely in our garage.


When we brought her home, the tanker was a "lovely" band-aid tan color; which helped to perfectly highlight the faux wood laminate top...oh, it was an eye soar, complete with several dings and dents. Chris was anxious to start disassembling. After the dissection, we were left with 2 side drawer compartments, a middle back panel, a stack of drawers and last but not least, the aforementioned "wood" top.

If we were to completely restore a desk, I think we would have wanted to start off with a better example; instead, our goal was to go for "respectable". It took some 409 cleaner, a sander, primer, plus 2 colors of spray paint (very limited color selection at Lowes), elbow grease and a lot of waiting for paint to dry. Once the parts were ready for reassembly, Chris and his trusted bff, Chris (#1 baby boy name of the early 1980s) helped out.

And without further adieu...

We topped it off with a custom made piece of glass.

Wealthy Wednesday: Refinished Tanker Desk

::Twenty Gauge::

Ah, the tanker desk. An iconic American vintage piece. During the 40's and 50's, the Tanker Desk was a staple in many schools, military offices and police stations. The fire proof all-steel material topped with either a soft laminate or tough Formica surface, has recently been rebirthed by many refurbishers and DIY-ers. Unfortunately, a refurbished piece can get SUPER pricey. Most company's will not list their prices directly on their websites, but I've seen prices range between $800-$2,000!

::Retro Office::

Chris has the luxury of working with and around a field of tanker desks at the University. When Chris and I began inquiring with some refurbishers, we learned of a local company based in my hometown of Santa Fe Springs!! Before we had a chance to visit, we came across a doozy on craigslist! I still want to check them out though.


Stay tuned!