Organizing Made Fun: Boys' desk how to's!

So, last week I told you about the fact that we are moving stuff all over the place! First, we bought a dresser on Craig's list and I fixed it up and it took the place of the desk above. Then, I took that desk and painted it for my son's room.

Here is what I did to get it to look this way! First, I removed all the old varnish that was on it. Then, I sanded it a little bit and primed it with a coat of primer.

Then, I put on two coats of gray paint - I used a flat paint for a couple of reasons. I planned to paint stripes on top and thought it might be easier if it was flat. Second, I planned to have a final clear coat over the entire desk in a semi-gloss finish to help it last!

So, once it was all painted, I took a yardstick and began measuring out every inch all across. I did this to the top of the desk and the drawers.

Then, I took two different sized tapes and began taping everything off. I didn't really make them a pattern of anything, but I just did it randomly.

This wasn't hard and I also lettered the striped area with the color of paint I planned to use, just to make sure I wasn't picking the same colors too much.

I took left over paint that I have used around the house that also happened to coordinate with his room. I had black, red, and white stripes.

So, here is something I SHOULD have done, but didn't. I should have painted a coat of the gray painted over to the top of the tape that I laid out above. This would keep it from bleeding. But, I did not...and so this is what happened because I did not.

So, it bled...but I fixed it. It wasn't hard, but did require a little extra work. I then took an acrylic, clear coat of semi-gloss paint and put two coats of that over the entire desk - three over the top of the desk since it will get the most beat up! And, here is the final result!

Woohoo! It's done and it's so fun, too! See....it matches his bedding so it makes it really fun!!

Here is we organized his desk! I highly recommend that you teach your children how to organize their own things. Allow them to label things with a label maker or their own writing. Teach them how to set up a system. This will be a life-long skill you teach them. Not only will it help them personally, but it could be helpful for them as a job skill later in life.

On to his desk! He loves his new desk because he gets to take his Hot Wheels cars and use the stripes as racing tracks!

So, we found some spare organizing bins around the house and put them in his desk. You could use 99 Cent Store bins or even cardboard boxes wrapped in something fun! Here is how we divided up his ~~junk~~ stuff.

Each drawer we set up so that when he was sitting at his desk, he could easily see what goes in each bin.

This desk also has a great big bottom drawer for files. I taught him how to file and how to set up files. He did a great job. I wrote them out for him on these great tabs...

Then, he made a pattern with the colored file folders and decided what he wanted to be written on each tab. It's easy for him. He put each thing that went into each category, easily!

Then, he set up his top drawer for all his pencils and other goodies. I used this other organizing bin when it was already in this desk from before. I just left it in for him and used his little goodies in it - coins, rocks, etc.