Going Where I've Never Gone Before - Finished Desk

I worked on my desk as the weather would permit throughout this past week - Winds like California has not had in over a century hit us these past two weeks and I was determined it wouldn't slow me down. Lets take a look back a my desk -

Before and after in a few simple steps listed below...

Since the desk was in pretty decent shape, I used a coarse sanding strip then followed with a fine strip to smooth out the desk top and face of the drawers. For the tough to reach areas, I used my sanding block (a great $2.27  investment for simple projects such as these)

I ran in the backyard for this shot just before the winds picked up for the evening, I barely remembered to get a shot of the primer. I used the Glidden brand Gripper Primer in Grey. I love this primer soo much!

If you notice the patio furniture looks awful close together, that's because it has been relocated since the high winds to battle against the strength of the gusts. One morning, the entire set was strewn about the backyard and those pieces aren't lightweight. 

I finally gave in to the weather (sort of) and decided that I would work on the drawers inside, I couldn't bear the cold any longer. This is the first (and very light might I add) coat of black paint on the drawers. I always do at least two coats of paint, seeing how rich the black is already made me very happy.

I used a basic Black paint, I purchased a quart of Color Place brand paint from Walmart for the desk. I figure, black is black... I hope I am right. I am debating painting the inside of the drawers...


In the process of painting the first coat, I discovered... I will need three coats on my desk

The weather only got worse after this picture, so I finished the desk in the family room... The rain caught me off guard.


Here is my finished sewing desk

I applied three coats of black paint to the desk and drawers and two light coats of gold spray paint to the pulls. I really like the way the desk turned out.

Overall, the desk was a real joy to update and a steal compared to prices out there for a desk similar to this:


Desk: 30.00
Primer: 0.00
Paint: 10.30
Spray Paint: 3.47
Pulls: 0.00
all bushes, sanding blocks and sponges were from my stash
total: 43.77

Going Where I've Never Gone Before

Salvation Army made me a happy woman again! One evening after grabbing Jai from school, I decided I wanted to stop at the Salvation Army - I hadn't been in a few weeks and wondered if they would have anything to tickle my fancy. They never disappoint me...

I thought about this desk and went inside to see if there could be anything else I saw that could win me over before the desk. I thought about if I even needed another desk since I still haven't gotten around to painting my  Sweet Secretary Desk that I blogged about. I am a little apprehensive about painting the desk. I am trying to talk myself into it.

I paid a mere 30.00 for this desk - check out those pulls! I won't be swapping those out for anything new - I am going to spray paint (eek!) them gold.

After considering a few colors ~ Navy Blue, Plum, Burnt Orange, Evergreen... I decided, I am going to do something I would never do... BLACK! I am going to make a pitch to the family on the location of the desk because I have such great plans for it. Stay tuned for the after, its coming really soon. 

Black furniture is truly going somewhere I have never gone before and I couldn't be more excited!