If there ever is a project that deserves the old adage “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” it would be this one.    I originally stumbled on this solid wood desk at my thrift store for $9.  Yes! Only NINE dollars.
It was solid wood, had a finished back and even the doors were dove tailed.  I immediately snapped it up.  The molding near the floor was scratched up and the top was slightly damaged, but I knew a little TLC could bring it back to life.



And like the ugly duckling, check out the swan now! I LOVE how it turned out.  And the best part? I used only paint I already had in my stash!

The other feature that makes this dresser unrecognizable is the new hardware, graciously supplied by D.Lawless Hardware. They update the entire piece. 
This would be the perfect student desk since it has ample storage and a large work surface. My kids are fighting over who will get to put it in their room.  The same kids giving me the side eye when I first bought the piece home. So how did the makeover go?

Well, first I used my random orbit sander to strip the finish down.  You can see in this photo how I propped the piece up on a flowerpot in order to get the sander all the way to the bottom of the trim without running into the ground.

For the trim work I sanded by hand using 120 grit sandpaper wrapped around my painting tool. Since I wanted to STAIN the top of the piece and not paint it, I needed every flake of paint stripped off. Next I wiped down my piece with disinfecting wipes.  These work so much better than tack cloth!  Plus they smell great, cut grease and are cheaper than tack cloth. 
I retained the top with Polyshades (a stained polyurethane product) in American Chestnut.  Using this product meant I didn’t need to add a coat of poly on top of the stain.  For the body of the desk, I used my HomeRight Finish Max paint sprayer which gave me a beautiful finish.  If you do a lot of furniture painting, this thing is worth the less than $70.  I painted the entire desk (two coats) in less than an hour.  And the beautiful finish on both the flat areas and the trim is better than I could get with a brush or roller. Next I sanded down the drawers.  The desk LOOKS like it has 4 drawers on each side, but it really only has three. The center drawer to really deep and has a fake facade.  that meant I had to paint and tape off the drawers.  I also didn’t want to paint over the dovetail joints, so I taped the drawers off before painting them blue.  
The color was Evening Dove by Benjamin Moore.  A leftover paint sample from when I choosing the wall color for the nursery.
I sanded down the black inset top, taped it off and also painted that with the same blue color. 
Finally, I installed the hardware.
I specifically used the Liberty Octagon Knob and the 5” Caspian pull.  If you didn’t realize it, 5 inches for a pull is not a standard width and D.Lawless has such a great selection of hardware, they had me covered.   
I think they look fabulous, and the combination of the chestnut stain, with the blue and the white is such a pretty finish.
I may not be able to give this desk to either of the kids, my husband has his eye on it for his office. 
But I love it so much, it may have to become my new creative space.. so I can whip out more projects just like it! 

If you just can’t get enough paint makeovers, here are a few others you may like: