Art, Inspiration and General Musings

October 13, 2010

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}

9 comments:

Monica said...

It came out so good!!! Evan's been scouring craigslist for fun finds... but he always keeps landing on motorcycles.

Stephanie @Femmena Mala said...

It looks awesome!! I am jealous! Good find and good job :)

Stephanie
http://femmenamala.blogspot.com

Alli (One Pearl Button) said...

Wow, gorgeous!! What an amazing find and awesome refinishing job!

Kimberly said...

Bellissima!! You have wonderful friends and a lovely new desk. Life is good! :)

mary van note said...

SO JEALOUS!!!!!!!!!! That desk is to die for.

Angeline said...

Gorgeous! I love the shape and lines of that desk. So jealous--hubs and I aren't buying any furniture until we move next year since we have no idea where in the country we're going. But when we do I hope to fix-up some great finds like you did here!

Thrifty By Design said...

WOW! You really scored... :-)

Unknown said...

This is amazing! I always have a bit more love for something that I've put such hard work into. You feel different about a piece that you just handed cash over for and threw into the house. Great job!

Bows and Sparrows said...

Thanks for all the comments!! I'm really happy with how it turned out...and it's even more special since I put so much work into it. :)

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