A Vintage Desk Makeover for a Little Princess

Lindsey
by Lindsey
3 Materials
$40
3 Hours
Medium
Do you have a project or a piece of furniture that you need to refinish but you just haven’t decided what you want to do with it? I originally thought I would strip it to the original wood, and keep it raw, but I quickly lost interest once I realized how many paint layers were involved. This is the story behind a little vintage desk I picked up on Craigslist a few months ago. This desk sat in my garage staring at me, until I received a sample color of paint from Kilz and I was suddenly inspired to create a desk for my daughter. This began my vintage desk makeover for my little Princess.

Below is the “before” picture of what she looked like in all her painted vintage glory.
THIS VINTAGE DESK WAS A MESS WITH LAYERS AND LAYERS OF PAINT AND STAIN ON THE TOP THAT NEEDED TO BE REMOVED.
My next step is my most unfavorable step; Stripping all the layers of paint and stain.
In order to strip the vintage desk, I used an easy technique where I cover the desk in paint stripper and saran wrap. Yep, I really meant saran wrap. If you want to see more details on this technique click HERE.


The next step is more scraping and then lots of sanding. After I completed a little more sanding, I decided to prime the table before painting because I did not remove all the old paint. Will priming prevent the old paint from chipping? No, but it will help. And honestly, the look I’m going for is a more vintage, aged, chippy look anyway.
After the sanding was complete, it was time to paint! The color that inspired me to complete this project is called Peach Glamour by Kilz.  I knew immediately when I opened the sample what I would do with it. I’m not big on bold colors (which you probably know). This paint color is very neutral and bright with a hint of pink, perfect for a little girl.
This desk came with a chair, but to say I wasn’t pleased with it would be an understatement. Craigslist came to the rescue again and I found these vintage swivel chairs that matched the style of my desk.
The chair was in decent condition, but the bar stool bottom area needed a coat of spray paint. I decided to spray it in an oil rubbed bronze color.
After the base was sprayed, I painted the actual chair the same color to match the desk.
Then I had to figure out what to do with the “hole” in the middle of the table that I can only assume used to be a drawer. I found a bathroom vanity organizer that fit perfectly, all I had to do was spray paint it the same color as the base of the chair.
After all the painting was complete, I knew I wanted to lightly “age” or “antique” the pink finish. You can see my You Tube video below where I shared my “antiquing process.”
After I completed the “antique finish,” I decided my vintage desk makeover was complete. The only thing left was to unveil it to my little princess.
Resources for this project:
Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Hometalk may collect a small share of sales from the links on this page.More info
Lindsey
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
Go
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
Comments
Join the conversation
Next