Finished!

A lot has occurred this past week. I turned in my final project for my first Interior Design course on Thursday and I finally got my desk finished, upstairs in our bedroom and decorated. Yay!

The desk was a huge project and needed ALOT of work but as I starred at it today I couldn't be happier with the outcome and the fact that I put in endless hours scrapping, sanding, and painting because my $15 purchase has turned into a great treasure. I'm excited to start school next semester and now I'll have a place to sit down and do my homework that's solely mine. Yay again!

The base of the desk didn't need much work other then some heavy cleaning and a slight sanding. For the cleaning I always use Green Works all purpose spray cleaner. It does the job and it's not toxic to my health. Some elbow grease and an old rag got it down. For projects that require a light sanding (in this case the body of the desk) I choose my corner sander with an 80 grit sander paper. You can choose to hand sand but this is a quicker method. Just make sure you don't hold it in one spot too long. Now let me just state that typically when working on a project and using ASCP I wouldn't even sand it. For this grey piece I didn't sand at all. 

But if you are dealing with an older piece that's been lying around for a while and has taken a beaten to the elements you're going to have to sand. That being said if you don't like the idea of sanding then don't get that piece. I hate sanding but in this case the design of  the desk and the price was right and I had been searching for a desk for about 4 months so I jumped when this fell into my lap. And I'd do it again because I love the way it turned out. On a side note, do to the age of the piece you might also want to consider staining the insides of the drawers if you aren't planning on painting them to get out any musty lingering smells. (Just a clear coat polyurethane or a darker stain will do the trick. I prefer this over painting the inside of the drawers because the paint could make the drawers stick over time.)

For the top of the desk this require a lot more work and this was the part I dreaded. The top was veneer with 3 leather inlay pieces. Would have been beautiful to have keep the original look on top and I originally wanted that but the veneer was pulling off and the leather was stained and unable to come clean. I had to strip all the veneer off the top. I did this in three ways. First was to just try to lift as much as I could with my putty knife (you can use a 6&1 tool also which everyone should own). The second step was to sand with my detail sander and see what lifted from sanding. The third was to apply heat with a blow dryer or heat gun and try to lift the veneer that way. Eventually after doing all three methods I we (needed hubby's elbow grease) were able to get a clean wood top. 

For the base of the desk I painted it in ASCP Old Orche. Then I mixed equal part Paris Grey and water. I did a wash finish. As I would paint the wash over the Old Orche I'd wipe it quickly with a lint free rag. This created a slight grey hue and some streaks in the paint. 

I applied a three step process to the top. I applied an easy crackle from Artisan Enhancements. Then I applied the base coat ASCP Old Orche (same color as the base of the desk) and then I finished with my ASCP in Paris Grey. When I applied the Paris Grey I laid it on thicker in some spots. I let the paint sit out for 45 minutes before using so it would thicken up. I wanted the top to have some texture so I dabbed in some areas, lightly brushed in others and allow some cracks to come through. To get more cracks I applied a telescoping work light and a blow dryer.

When I was done with the entire desk I waxed it in ASCP clear wax. Then I used an entire small pot of Miss Mustard Seed white wax. I put this on my Christmas list. It's a must for any "shabby chic redo".  The wax needs to harden. This takes anywhere from 1 week to a month. 

When I purchased the desk it was missing one handle. I knew I'd have a hard time finding the match but was okay with that and still decided to get it. I searched Ebay and Esty and finally found a set of two handles 3" apart that had the same look as the handles I had. Since the desk had a center drawer I knew I could do it and use those as the accent handles for the center. I dry brushed all the hardware in ASCP Pure White to make the hardware all match (the new hardware was shinier than the original so painting was the obvious choice). 

After the wax was hardened I applied the hardware, lined the drawers and moved the desk into our bedroom. I just love the way it looks in there.