A Tale of Two Desks

So today here are the two desks I mentioned earlier. They were a lot of fun to do--from deciding colors to deciding about distressing (to do or not to do), and then where they will go.

First is this little guy. I found this one last year in Petersburg, WV, and bargained with the old guy selling it until we could agree on a price.

 It needed refinishing and I thought we might put a front door on it, like many secretaries have, to cover the pigeonhole area.

 Well. Larry stripped it and made a door we thought would work, thought being a key word here. Because try as we might we could not figure how to hinge it so it laid flat!

Then while I was away one day he stained it--with the awfulest dark brown varnish stain that ran and dripped and puddled and...it was a mess.

The only thing we could do was to strip it again, and then we realized that the carved out places where the hinges had once been were going to need to be filled.

 So the whole thing just sat in the workroom for almost a year. I was disgusted with it, and he was disgusted with it and me for being so picky.

Then I realized that it could look pretty good painted, and began thinking about colors.

 I finally settled on General Finishes Millstone milk paint, an interesting shade between khaki and beige.

I  painted it, distressed and used a little dark glaze to bring out highlights, then dark-waxed it.

I am really happy with it now, and actually think it looks better with paint than it would have with stain.

What I love about this desk is that, like the green table I wrote about yesterday, this one was also made by hand by someone using whatever pieces they had on hand. It's unique and has so much personality.

The white desk was actually 3 pieces, found at different times.

First was the base, which had an ugly top on it. We took off the top and figured we'd make another one for it. Then I found the rolltop section and it fit right on that base.

 A little later we came upon the cubbies to go on the inside. In order to make the whole thing look like it actually went together, I decided to paint it.

White was the natural choice, it seemed, so I did it in General Finishes Antique white milk paint, then distressed and dark-waxed. I did not attach the cubbies section, figuring some people might prefer it without.

A new pull and plenty of sanding and waxing to get the tambour (the rolling section) to work right and it was done.

The primitive beige one will soon be in our Marietta, Ohio booth at the Antique Mall of Marietta and the white one will be in our Riverbend booth in Ravenswood, WV this weekend.

Next project? I'm already at work on it! Stay tuned.



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