Farmhouse Desk

This old sturdy desk has been on my 'sprucin' up' list for quite some time. It's a piece that I cherish because it was given to me by an old family friend who is no longer with us. I could never part with it but she needed some fine tuning. When I was in my teenage years, I nothing short of carved (turns out permanent marker does just as much damage as a pocket knife) the names of all my 'sweethearts' all over the top. When I finally grew out of that stage (thank the Good Lord) I painted her white.

I got to work sanding the top piece to ditch all the white paint & years of true love markings.

I picked out an espresso stain - it said 'new' so I figured I had to give it a try. I usually use a walnut stain - which I will likely stick with in the future because only one coat of the espresso & it was still a bit darker than I desired. After the stain dried for an entire day, I sealed it with a layer of polyurethane clear coat. 

The bottom of the desk got another two layers of white paint. I debated sanding it all down & starting fresh, but aside from a few chips the existing paint really wasn't too bad. I would love to do something unique with the handles - thinking some rustic horse shoe pulls - but those are on standby until I commit to an idea I love.

Stay tuned for the 'after' ...

Power Sanding

I love nothing more than a good power tool. They tend to make everything so much easier and save a lot of time. My latest project is this chair:

As you can see, I got a little over excited about my last tool (the paint sprayer) & didn't tape/cover the seat before I got to work. The spot where the back of the chair is got the most paint & needed the most sanding ... but it was also the most awkward part to sand. I will have to go back and do some by hand.

I used a 220 grain sandpaper which was just rough enough to strip the paint/previous stain but leave a smooth finish. I can't wait to apply the stain! I think I'm going to get all four chairs prepped before I start that process just so I can make them as uniform as possible.

Spray Painting (& not just out of a can!)

It's been almost a year since I bought this table & chairs off Craigslist with every intention to start the project long before now. However, last week I finally cashed in on a Christmas gift I had received - a gift card to Home Depot - & bought a new paint sprayer! (this is the coolest thing ever!)

I figured out quickly that you can't just pour in the paint & start spraying. There is a certain consistency the paint must be in order to actually come out of the sprayer and then form an even, non-speckled coat. Because the paint I bought had a latex base I just added a couple teaspoons of water & gave it a good stir. Had I any patience to actually read the instructions before I started, I would have figured this out a lot easier!

Also, had I any patience, I would have taped off the wood seat before getting started. Here are the "before" & "during" pictures. I need to add another coat of the ivory/cream color, sand the seat down & stain it. (And of course repeat all those steps on the other three chairs and the whole darn table! yikes! no wonder I didn't start this sooner!)

I'm a HUGE fan of the sprayer. After re-doing a crib, I quickly learned how much spray paint can add up! One bottle is about $4 - between the primer, first coat, & second coat I easily spent $50 on paint alone. A gallon of paint on the other hand is less than $20 & will easily be able to cover this entire table, all four chairs, & probably many more projects to come! I can't wait to post "after" pictures!