Rocky Mountain Buckeye: Before and After: Desk

A couple things that I have been needing for my room is a desk and chair. Though I do love Ikea, none of the desk options that they had were what I was looking for. I decided to try and find a desk a thrift store that I could gussy up and make my own. Thanks to Yelp I found an awesome store in Lower Downtown (LoDo) called Cash from Clutter. When I walked in the door I was offered a beer, and the woman who owned the place was so helpful and accommodating. I found just the kind of desk I was looking for and an amazing wooden chair on casters. My total for the two pieces was only $45, which was way under what I had budgeted.

I loved the chair as it was, but I really wanted to do something special with the desk. after a little research on Pinterest I had my game plan. Here is the desk before.

I started to sand the desk by hand, and God bless him, my neighbor, Mike, saw what I was doing and offered me the use of his electric sander. I don't think I would have made it through the project without that electric sander. I spent the entire first day sanding, and even part of day two.

Next I stained the top and the front of the drawers. I had originally planed to paint the drawers gray, but I was loving the stain so much I couldn't stop. I also painted the drawer pulls a brass color. Some day they might be replaced, but I like the effect for now.

Last I primed and painted the body of the desk.The whole project took a total of four days, and three trips to Lowes. (Thanks to Mom and Dad for decided to return that huge Christmas tree and for the resulting Lowes credit you bequeathed me.) Here is the final result.