Jason is a self employed software guy and works out of an office about 10 minutes from Altoona.   He does work from home sometimes but he can’t ever find a good workspace and ends up bringing this clunky, rough looking desk up from the basement.  It drives me insane!  When the kids and I went to Florida with my parents, he decided to work at home for that week.  The night before we left, he moved my adorable chest of drawers away from its space in the addition and put the hideous desk in it’s place.  He worked his buns off at home while we enjoyed a glorious week frolicking on the beach and in the ocean.  When we got home, the desk was still there.  And there it stayed for 2 weeks!!!  Argh!!!  As I said, he worked while we vacationed so I didn’t want to complain.  Although it was hideous, it was his productive space and I didn’t want to get picky.  However, I silently vowed to find an adorable desk to paint Shannon style that would be equal parts productive and adorable!  And that I did.

As I’ve said before, I sometimes bite off more than I can chew.  I know that I have a small case of ADD.  I can easily be pulled from the task at hand into something completely different.  It drives Jason crazy – I think it makes me interesting!  Ha!  Anyway, I had promised to take Jordan and her friends outlet shopping last Friday.  I got up that morning, did my normal FB “for sale” perusing, and then did my workout.  I planned enough time for each activity so that I would have enough time to be ready by 10.  I saw this adorable desk for sale and messaged the gal about the price before my workout and then forgot about it.  I finished at 8:45 and checked my phone and found I had a response from her.  It was $25, still available, and her sale was just about 3 miles down the road.  She would hold it for me.  I knew I could do it!  I hopped in the van and headed to her sale.  The desk had a veneer top with a small chunk missing in the corner but the rest was solid wood and in great shape!  I’ve fixed holes and dings before with wood filler and I knew that I could do that with this one, too.  I paid the $25, loaded it up, and headed home.  I had just enough time to get myself pulled together for a fun day of shopping with 3 lovely girls.  What a success!

As I said earlier, the veneer finish on the top had a small crack in the back.  I used a little bit of Elmers Carpenters Wood Filler to try and fill the corner in.  Usually I use it to fill knob holes or something like that so this was a little bit different.  I applied it like you would spackle with a spackle tool making sure to fill it in but get clean edges.  It’s very easy to sand and can be painted over.  You can see in the back corner where the wood filler is.  As I said, it’s super easy to sand so it’s almost better to sand off excess than it would be to try and wipe it off.   I like to distress the furniture, I figured it would just be another area of character.  I gave it time to dry and then sanded it down.  It wasn’t perfect, but that’s what makes each piece interesting.  They all have bumps and scratches, sometimes gouges.  Its the story of the piece.  

Aside from the veneer top, the rest is a beautiful, solid wood.  I love the spindles and knew they would be a fun, focal point.  I wanted to go with a different color but something that would match well with our current colors.  I decided to go with General Finishes Persian blue.  It’s a gorgeous grey blue that I knew would match well with my browns, teals, corals and creams.  Each shade of general finishes comes in a different consistency.  Some are a bit thicker and some a bit thinner.  I’m not sure the reason behind this, I’ve tried to google it, but to no avail.  The greys are quite a bit thinner, creams thicker, but this Persian Blue is like pudding.  I love it!  It coats so nicely!! Anyway, I applied my two coats and let it dry overnight.

This image shows after adding the color and distressing.  I love the color!  It’s a beautiful, muted, foamy blue.  The distressing just brings out all of the beautiful edges and curves.

I am loving the new application process for my polycrylic topcoat.  Using a small paint tray and different sized edging tools saves a ton of time to this process.  I ran out of my General Finishes water based top coat and have been using Minwax Polycrylic.  It’s the same water based topcoat and works wonderfully with this process, too.  You can find it at any home improvement store or your local Walmart.  It can start to get a bit bubbly after use, though.  You definitely want to make sure that you stir it before using instead of shaking it.  This infuses more bubbles in which you do not want.  I learn as I go along with all of this and found that if I use a clean paintbrush, I can lightly brush bubbles away that may appear after the application.  If they are left to dry, you will have a dry bubbly mess that you’ll need to sand away.  I always add at least two coats but sometimes more if it’s a heavy traffic area.  Such as a desktop!  Even though this paint hardens to a solid finish after it dries, the polycrylic adds a lovely shine.

I also really like the original hardware.  When it’s all there and in good condition, I like to try and use it as much as I can.  More brass.  Insert eye roll here.  Brass and golden oak, the shades of the 80’s!  Nothing that a little Rust-Oleum can’t fix!  I added two coats of muted black spray paint to the hardware.  After everything was dry it’s time to add the hardware back on.  It just adds so much character to the piece!  I am absolutely loving this desk!  

Unfortunately, after testing it out, it is not quite as deep as what is needed for Jason’s laptop and several monitors so this one may be going up for sale soon.  We will have to see.  It would be unfortunate for me to have to find another piece to refinish!!