I was up for the challenge!
The wood wasn't in great condition, but certainly nothing that a little chalk paint couldn't cover!
My husband made a drawer front out of some spare wood from our shed (it didn't take much convincing to get him to play with wood and saws), and I set out to putty up the holes. The hardware wasn't original and some were missing, so no loss there.
With a little inspiration from Fox Hollow Cottage, I decided to try a harlequin technique for something a little fun and different. Contrary to the blog, I did NOT find it "a simple DIY technique"...for dummies, you say?...I don't know what that makes me...but it wasn't simple. So, I did what any determined woman would do...
...passed the task onto my husband!
He measured and drew...erased...measured again...drew again...sighed...
erased...measured again...drew...and on and on it goes...meanwhile...
I decided on a mixture of my own version of duck egg blue and paris grey chalk paint with a creamy white.
Piles of eraser shavings later and a few coats of chalk paint, this is what I ended up with...a little bluer than I imagined but nothing that the dark wax couldn't tone down.
I finished with a little rough sanding...
And the usual coats of paste wax...
Ready for knobs...
Did I mention how cute the inside of the drawers are? Love the music notes!
Mercury glass knobs...perfectly girly! I'm happy with the way it turned out. I think it would make a super cute desk or if you added a mirror, why not a super cute vanity?
You can find it on the sales floor at the shop - $249.95.
Onward to the next project!
Until next time,
~Mary
I think I just bought the exact same desk, or one that is extremely similar to it! If you have the dimensions of this one, I'd be interested to know if they are identical as I'm trying to figure out how old mine is and if it was mass-produced. (I was image-googling to see if I could find any more info on it and came across your site.) Nice refinish; I was thinking of painting mine too, but decided to oil the wood instead. Mine came from Goodwill and looked like it had spent the last 20 years in someone's garage; it took me all afternoon to get all the old leaves and twigs out of it!
ReplyDeleteI got this one at the Habitat for Humanity store. It was filthy as well, missing all the hardware, and one of the drawer fronts. I'm not sure how old it is. My guess would be30's/40's? It sold quite a while ago, so I can't measure it for you. Good luck on your search!
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