Desk Job

{here's a before shot}

A couple of weeks ago I scored this awesome mid-century modern desk thanks to my friend Rosemary, who first discovered the post on Craigslist. It wasn't in the greatest of shape - as it had served as a desk for several kids in the family - but my friends are pros when it come to refinishing furniture and they promised to help me restore it to its rightful state. So, I forked over the cash, loaded the desk into my friend Sarah's Volvo station wagon and stored it in Rosemary's living room until it was time to work our magic. The top was covered with water stains and one of the kids had carved into the top that they "were here." There was also what appeared to be a pentagram carved into the top. Needless to say, I was a little concerned that we weren't going to be able to get rid of some of the darker, deeper blemishes.

{water stains have never frightened me so much}

Lucky for me, Rosemary and Nathan really do know how to refinish furniture and they were more than willing to put in the elbow grease this job required. Armed with fine-grit sandpaper, we got to work sanding down past the stains and carvings as best we could. Then, we moved on to the tack cloth, removing any dust created from the sanding.

{here's the desk post sanding, pre tack cloth-ing} 

After the tack cloth, we rubbed furniture re-finisher into the wood using steel wool. Let me just say, that shit evaporates like nothing I've ever encountered. I swear, we'd pour a tiny amount into a shallow bowl and it would gone not even a minute later. Wild! At any rate, when we were done with that step, we used rags to apply the final stain and this is what the end result looked like:

{shortly after applying final stain}

 Isn't it beautiful?!! Oh, and remember all those water stains? Look now, they're gone!

{look!! no water stains!!}

After a week or so of the desk sitting in my laundry room drying and me dying to put it to use, I finally got to move it in the house. Isn't it lovely? Best. Find. Ever. Thanks to Rosemary and Nathan for helping me with the process - you guys rock! Here it is in my house:

{my computer is so happy with her new home!}

{close-up shot for your enjoyment}