My New Desk - The Big Reveal!

I am seriously so excited about this post! It took a lot of willpower to not show you what I was up to last week, but the anticipation will be worth it :) P.S. This post has a lot of pictures - sorry, bu tI'm so excited to show it off!

So, last I posted about this baby, it looked like this:

I decided to just use the primed white color instead of painting a different white paint on top - you know, I'm cheap and white is white people. So last Thursday, I got my desk to the above point by around 7 pm. I went home for dinner and came back to work on it around 9:30 because I just had to get it done. I consulted Tara to make sure it had had enough time to dry before taping it off and then got to work masking.

This was seriously quite the process. I think it took me about 40 minutes to cut pieces of newspaper and mask off the areas to remain white.

Inside that little raised area was the worst. You can't see it in the photo, but it also has a piece on the top of the inside.

After all the masking, this is what it looked like. I had to take a photo just since it took me so long :) Then came the fun part - I sprayed the top and the top of the little raised piece with Valspar's Color Radiance in Coral.

I ended up doing 3 coats to get it totally even, sanding off the high spots in between each layer (those splotchy spots in the photo are where it's still wet - just so you know). The other side looked pretty cool too:

I know it doesn't seem like such a revolutionary thing, but I'm seriously proud of it. I mean, think about what it looked like before!

That's a pretty big transformation! Even with all the progress I had made, it still felt like the desk needed something to make it a little more "me". My lovely friend, Tara, happens to have lots of stencils that she graciously let me borrow from her this weekend. After making my selections, I set to work on Friday night and had it coated with poly-acrylic by the end of the night. Here is my creation ...

This isn't its actual place in the room - I'm putting it under the window. I had to move it so the pictures would come out ok. Check out my first ever stenciling job:

I used the same flourish in all the corners and then a larger scrolly design in the center. I actually ended up using house paint! I had grabbed some white acrylic paint, but since I used just Kilz white color for the rest of the desk, the acrylic didn't look white enough. Luckily I had some Valspar Ultra White latex paint on hand and it fit the bill.

Just for kicks, this is the side view again :) And to prove that my masking off worked ...

This shelf thing was the hardest area to get covered, and it seems like it wouldn't really matter much; but if I'm going through all the trouble to paint this thing, I was going all the way!

I seriously can't tell you how completely thrilled I am with this piece. It's the first piece of furniture I've put in my sewing room and it has me so excited to get everything else in there. This desk went from just a run of the mill laminate computer desk to something I really feel reflects me and I look forward to putting my sewing machine on it and getting to work :)

Here is the cost breakdown -

• Laminate computer desk - Free from Brenna (thanks!)
• 1 can Rustoleum Clean Metal Primer - $4.24
• 1 can Valspar Plastic Primer - $5.44
• 1 can Kilz Original spray primer - $5.98
• 1 can Valspar Color Radiance in Coral - $4.98
• 1 can Minwax Poly-Acrylic - $11.97

Total Cost: $32.61
Honestly, I don't can't really count that full amount for this because I have paint left over in several of the cans (which I plan on using on other pieces for the room), so I'm thinking let's call it $25 :) Not bad for a custom made desk, I must say. My personal recommendation - I know the poly acrylic sounds crazy expensive, but this is the best poly for furniture if you don't want it to yellow overtime. It didn't sputter - it sprayed great - even in a few spots where I thought it had little dots of build up, they evened out as it dried and has a perfectly smooth finish. So worth it!

So if you are thinking you need some new furniture - don't be afraid to revamp an old piece! I took something that wasn't so thrilling and turned it into my favorite piece :) I now am completely addicted and have a garage full of nasty looking old furniture that I have big plans for. I can't wait to fix up another one!