The Big Reveal "The desk"

Howdy! k, so remember the old desk (from my sneak a peek post) that I got a century ago from a friend, that I was supposed to fix up? Well, I'm just about done with it. If you've forgotten how it looked before, here it is. . . .

It had some cosmetic issues including wonderful crayon art compliments of the kiddos. Also, it was pink. . . .and I do NOT have any girls in my house (besides me), so although pink is one of my faves, it had to go!

And did I mention the leg was not attached?

Aaah, here it is.

Well, after doing some work on it, I pretty much finished the desk except I hadn't put any hardware on it yet.

K, don't be angry with me but. . .I didn't take pics of the process but I will tell you that it was basic and simple. I worked on the drawers and the desk at 2 different times but they both got the same basic treatment.

1. Sand

I sanded the desk.

2. Fix

 I re-attached the broken leg. 

3. Paint

I painted the desk covering each area with several thin coats.

4. Wait

 I waited at least overnight for the desk to dry before I used it.

Here's the already sanded desk on it's side waiting for it's leg to be fixed. I used my mouse sander and because it couldn't get everywhere (like all the intricately carved places), I hand sanded it. As you can see, I did not have to sand all the "pink" off  as long as I passed over it once with sandpaper. I used only a 150 grit sandpaper although because I was trying to strip paint, I could've used a more coarse paper. I decided not to distress the desk (although it would've looked awesome!) because the finish of the desk wouldn't have gone with the finishes of the other furniture in the room I wanted to put it in. Plus I was really lazy and I needed to finish it because I had guests coming.

I also had some helpers. . .

My hubby helped fix the broken leg and my baby helped by entertaining himself while we worked.

I love hot glue! I personally believe that hot glue will fix anything! To fix the desk leg, 1.we hot glued it to the desk so it would stay in place and 2. we attached the leg onto the desk with skinny finishing nails. It was important to use the skinny nails instead of thick nails or screws because it could 've damaged the desk further and made it harder to cover the cosmetic damages.

Here's the paint that I used. It's our leftover housepaint. I would rather use paint I already have then buy new paint unless that paint is in the clearance aisle*;) (I also used this same paint to redo my guest bedroom headboard)

I'll be posting this one up. . .someday!

I covered each area of the desk in several thin layers one after the other. For example, I did the top of the desk, then the left front, then the right front, then the left side, and finally, the right side and then I started again. By the time you get to the top of the desk again, it should already be dry and you can start all over. It seems very time consuming but actually, it went really quickly. Several thin layers of paint is better than 1 or 2 thick layers. The thin layers dry faster and cover better.

 Here's the hardware that I wanted to use on the desk. I got it off an old dresser at my mom's when I went back to Hawaii in March. I would've brought the dresser back to AZ with me (cuz my mom was gonna chuck it anyway) but I couldn't fit it in my bag*;(

whaddya think? I may not even use these because it won't go with the decor of the place I'm thinking 'bout putting it. Oh well, we'll see.

Stay tuned to see where I put my desk. . . .here's a sneak peek!

Brandi-Lee