It was probably almost a year ago that Chris sent me a text from work one day with a picture of a desk. All it said was “You want this?” All I said was “Yes. Yes I do.”
I guess it had been taking up space in the office somewhere and they had just decided to toss it in the dumpster and clear up some space.
It looked like this:
A nice shape, but really beat up and it was hard to tell if it was real wood or just some kind of press-board with a picture of wood on it.
Well, he brought it home and it was real wood alright. Nothing that heavy could be fake. It lived in our garage until August when I thought I’d be more motivated to fix it up if it was staring me in the face everyday. So it got moved to the kitchen. I thought I’d get it done once school started up again in September. Ha. Ha!
Seven months later, it’s finally got a new look.
I love it! Of course, it’s still sitting on an old uneven floor. That would explain the cardboard wedged underneath.
But just imagine it once the floors are done and the walls are painted! For now I added a few plates to the wall to try and make this corner feel a little happier.
Chris asked me when I was going to get the bowl of hard candies to go with all of my plates on the wall.
Whatever, Chris. Whatever.
I used some paint stripper on the top to remove most of the old finish. Honestly, that was a big giant mess and I still ended up having to sand it down a whole bunch. Next time, I’ll probably just suck it up and sand the whole thing. It would probably be easier, actually. It got the job done though! I used Minwax early american stain on the top. It turned out a little darker than usual because there was still some reddish color on the wood, but I like the end result. The bottom part is done in a regular semi-gloss paint in Martha Stewart Picket Fence. I’ve been using that white for everything lately and it always looks great.
I kept the existing hardware and just brightened it up a bit with some gold acrylic paint. I love how it looks!
One of the best things about this desk is that the drawers are secretly filing cabinets. No more accordion files all over the bedroom floor! Since I do most of my blogging at our new giant kitchen table, with my papers spread out all over it, this desk is a perfect little family command centre for storing all of our important papers, and just day-to-day office supplies. I may just have to make a wine cork board to go with it, if I’m feeling really ambitious one day, or possibly after a super large party for 600.
I love how my new desk turned out and I think I may even have the courage to tackle some more big projects like this in the near future. It may be a bit messy, but the mess only lasts a weekend and it’s totally worth it!
Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.