Antique Desk Revamp

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This is my first furniture post, although you can certainly expect MANY to come. This is due to what I am sure my husband would call a "problem" of picking up trashed furniture off the side of the road. I never quite have a plan or place in mind for furniture I find, I just always know I HAVE to have it! I love taking old, ugly, destroyed things and making them beautiful once again.

My latest victim was this miniature secretary's desk. When I saw it I thought it would be perfect for my daughter someday. My husband had a hard time seeing past the amount of sanding it would require, but I was not deterred.

The first thing we did was sand down the desk. It had two coats of THICK paint on it. Then, it was up to my husband and his father to fix all of the cracks and missing pieces. The drawer had to be re-fitted as well so that it would slide in place properly. I wish I had better pictures of this process to share. It was certainly entertaining!

Next, I used a beautiful Laura Ashely color to give the drab old wood a fresh look.

Seeing as how the desk was definitely an antique of sorts, I wanted to give it lots of unique character. I tried to accomplish this by "antiquing" the edges with my favorite old Martha Stewart Anjou Pear color (as seen on the Sock Exchange last Thursday.) I just used a sponge brush to apply the contrasting paint color to the edges and in random splotches of the desk.

To finish off the desk, I painted the inside of the drawer with the pear color and added a crystal knob.

I have to admit I was very pleased with the product! As soon as we turn Laurelei's nursery into a big girl room I have even bigger plans for the desk, for of course it is going to need the perfect chair to go along with it!

For now it is bouncing around my home, having found its current spot in an awkward kitchen corner, (which is certainly another post for another day! I mean, what do you do with such a tiny, inconvienent corner in an already small kitchen? hmmmm)

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be linking this now to the CSI Roadkill Rescue Challenge. Stop by and check it out!