"Re-Vintage" a Vintage Desk

Christopher Giles
by Christopher Giles
4 Materials
$50
5 Days
Medium
A card catalog inspired transformation.
I found this little gem on OfferUp. I saw it as a small desk with huge potential. I have always been fond of the old library card catalogs and thought the desk provided the opportunity for a taste of that.
After measuring out how large I wanted the faux drawers to be I went to Hobby Lobby to see wnat I could find. I lucked out! They had the perfect sized pieces and for only $2.99 So I bought two packages
I was concerned about how in the world I was going to measure out the circle for the lock. I came up with a hair brained idea that worked out perfectly.
I used a permanent marker to outline the lock, lined up the piece of wood where I wanted it to go, and pressed down firmly. The marker left a perfect imprint for me to drill out.
I lightly sanded the surface of the drawers to ensure the wood glue had a surface to bind to. I applied a liberal amount of glue, clamped the pieces down and left it to dry overnight.
I wanted to go REALLY bold to make a big statement with this piece. I used Annie Sloan's Amsterdam Green for the color of the body and drawer fronts.
I was a little worried at first with how it was shaping up, but I kept going with it, after all it's just paint right?
While the paint was drying I darkened the top of the desk using General Finishes gel stain in Java. this is my go to color for pieces. It's a rich color And it dries very quickly.
It took me a little while to find the drawer pulls I wanted to add on to it. I found the perfect ones on Amazon. While I waited for them to be delivered by Amazon Prime, I lightly distressed the body of the desk as well as some of the drawer fronts. I also added two layers of clear and dark wax to the piece to add some dimension to the flat color.
I love the way it turned out.
Suggested materials:
  • Wood craft pieces   (Hobby Lobby)
  • Elmers wood glue   (Annie Sloan chalk paint- Amsterdam Green)
  • Annie Sloan clear and dark wax
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Frequently asked questions
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  1 question
  • Cheryl Cheryl on Jun 04, 2017

    How do you distress a piece of furniture! In this case, desk was painted green at first. what paint was put over it? Was that paint Then wiped off?

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