Picking and fixing

Doing my daughters room has been interesting….fun, but interesting. The last time I decorated her room, she was ten and basically told me what colors she wanted. This time, it is a whole different story. Danica wants things the way Danica wants them. Actually she has a great eye for design, so it is actually fun having her pick out her own stuff and it is fun to have another partner in crime.  So a while back we were picking at my favorite antique store and came across this desk. It was in rough shape, but the lines were good, so we got it for Danica’s room. It was love at first sight for her, but her dad wasn’t quite sure we could fix it up and make it look nice again. If I were going to paint the piece, it would be no problem to make it look great, but she wanted the desk to stay wood.

I was nervous to tackle this project. The veneer on the top was peeling up, and there was chunks of veneer missing from the sides. We decided to try taking a toothpick with wood glue on it, and slip it under the peeling veneer, then press it back down again. I put a heavy piece of granite on top of the desk for a couple of days then sanded all the finish off of the top of the desk. The wood stayed glued, and the top looked great and ready to stain.

I grabbed some stain that matched the desk, and stained the top. It matched beautifully.

Jeff cut some wood patches for me to cover the sides. We just glued them on and clamped them to the desk for a couple of days. Then I went ahead and stained the wood pieces the same color as the top.

After I had finished all of the staining, I washed the rest of the piece down with a damp cloth. Then I took my favorite sealer and sealed the whole piece. I did three coats on the top of the desk, and one coat everywhere else.

This is the sealer I used on the desk. I found this when we did our counters for our bathroom. I use a cut up t-shirt and rub it in one direction on the piece. It takes 24 hours to dry, and you must lightly sand between coats, but it comes out perfect every time. Seriously my favorite sealer.

Here is the finished product. It isn’t perfect, but that is part of the charm. The reason I love finding old things and fixing them up, is because they aren’t perfect. They are full of character, usually pretty inexpensive, and it is just fun to make something myself that no one else has. Danica loves her desk, and it is way cute in her room. I usually paint over wood, but this time it was fun to just fix and enhance the piece. It really adds a nice warmth to her room.