Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Thift Store Find

A few months ago I purchased a desk off craigslist but it was too small for our house.  Let the new desk search begin.  After a few visits to thrift stores and searching craigslist I came up with nothing, and gave up my search.

 
On a Saturday afternoon my husband and I decided to kill some time by stopping by our local thrift store.  Way in the back of their furniture warehouse was this dirty desk covered in cob webs.  I passed by it the first time but the second pass threw I say it.  It had great lines and gorgeous legs, I had to have it.  When I saw the price tag I really had to have it, only $25 plus someone else did all the sanding work.  Yay!


After a little cleaning I could tell it was going to work perfectly.  After looking in the drawers I could tell that it had been a really dark brown at one time with octagon design on the back and on the drawers.  The desk was missing a few knobs, which is ok the original knobs were very ugly and plain wood.


I began my search for the perfect paint. As you can see from the before picture I picked a few colors to try out before I found the perfect one.  Ask you local paint store for a sample size, this will save you a lot of money if you happen to pick the wrong color.  Usually a sample size is $2-4.  I save my sample sizes for small projects such as painting a picture frame or small box.



I finally decided on Blue Sage by Restoration Hardware.  I really like their paint it covers very well, plus they have great classic colors that go with anything.  I normally love their Silver Sage color but wanted something a little darker for my desk.

While painting this desk I skipped priming the desk, I don't recommend this but I was in a hurry.  After painting I realized that I needed to seal the paint to prevent the paint from being scratch, a desk can take a lot of abuse.  I purchased Minwax clear wax to seal the desk, it works really good.

The desk now needed new knobs, I went to my local Lowes.  Lowes has a great selection of knobs for really reasonable prices.  I purchased these great satin nickle knobs.  I really like the way the knobs pop against the Blue Sage.

Before

After


Here is a better picture, the first one was taken with my Iphone.


This is the brush nickel pulls that I got at Target, which are now available at Lowes. 

19 comments:

  1. What a transformation! I love furniture projects like this. I wish I had more room in my house to fill with pieces like that. Nice job!

    ReplyDelete
  2. that is a really cute desk! great job, love the color! visiting u via sns!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautiful desk. You did a great job. Love it. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. WOW! What a great piece!! This desk design is absolutely stunning and I love your choice of colour. Very elegant!

    Donna

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love the shape of this piece... it looks great!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great Job!! I Love the little can of paint idea!!Hi..I’m Barb….I am from Tatertots/jello. I am your newest follower. I hope you will get a chance to visit my blog @ santasgiftshoppe.blogspot.com & get inspired by something for your family/home. I hope you will follow me as well. I also would love for you to be a new Fan of my Facebook page too & click “LIKE” in the upper right hand corner of my blog & you’ve done it..Thanks so much! I am just starting at Facebook. Nice to meet ya new friend!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great job....and how perfect that you didn't have to do the sanding...love that color!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow! Another great find. Now I'm jealous, lol. It really looks great.

    -Rene

    ReplyDelete
  9. Those are some great legs on that desk! Very different, I love it. Great color for it too. I has new life now.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Very pretty. Love the color and hardware.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I had no idea Restoration Hardware sold paint! Love the color. Stupid question, but because the $35 price tag for a gallon scares me a bit I'm wondering if you were able to get away with painting your entire desk with one or two of the sample sizes? I have a small nightstand I want to re-do and I think that color would be perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Truly wonderful job! I love the color you chose and the hardware. Nice!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Sourkraut ~ I have painted a night stand in my guest room with one of the Restoration sample cans. It is amazing how much paint is really in one of those.

    I have also taken one of their sample cards to Lowes and had them color match the color in order to get a cheaper price per gallon or if I needed just a quart (which RH doesn't sell).

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thrift stores rock! Thanks for linking up to Mad Skills Monday!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh my gosh! So cute! I love it! Please come by and link up to Vintage Suitcase Friday!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Very cute desk! Looks similar to the one I did but white:)
    http://btweenblueandyellow.blogspot.com/2010/08/little-girls-desk.html

    ReplyDelete
  17. I love that color. And it turned out really cute. You were right, those legs are great!

    ReplyDelete