So, I picked this piece up from the Habitat Restore to give a facelift for an art show. The projects are to be auctioned off to benefit our local Habitat for Hu…

FacebookTweetPin37 Hello! I hope you’re having a great week! I have been a busy bee trying to finish a desk redo so that I can get it out of my garage sell it. I’m really thrilled with how it turned out, and I think you’ll appreciate the transformation as much as I do. This post contains some affiliate links to products that I use (and love). I have wanted to redo a furniture piece like this one for awhile, so when it came up for sale on a local Facebook page, I snapped it up right away. It wasn’t in great shape, but I knew I could make it pretty. This is sadly the only “before” image I have – it’s the one that was provided in the listing. You can see that it wasn’t in the best of shape, but I loved the style, and it’s a solid piece of furniture. Originally I was planning on going with Coastal Blue by General Finishes. It’s a gorgeous navy blue, and I used it for a table and a set of chairs for a client. But I had a change of heart midway through the project and decided to go with Lamp […]

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I had gotten a few requests for an Organize, Please for desks.. so here we go! This is my desk in my room at home, but I think the tips really can work for any desktop. If you have the option to choose your own desk, pick one with drawer space, a good writing surface,...

This dated desk was transformed using the new Silk paint line in a gorgeous true black, Anchor! The newly shined hardware sets it off and wait until you see the interior!

Secretary Desk Makeover w/ Duck Egg Blue & 3 Different Colored Waxes for depth and dimension! (Chalk Paint® by Annie Sloan)

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This is how the piece looked when it came into my possession… Typewriter MMSMP is our color of the month for October, so I thought it was good timing to use it on this piece. I generally don’t paint pieces all black, but I knew bleed through would be an issue and nothing hides […]

Well, I'm happy to finally be finished this project! I started it last spring just before I started feeling icky with my pregnancy. I worked at it s-l-o-w-l-y for awhile then ceased altogether. Until last week. I had a burst of energy and decided it's time to get this project DONE! I had bought this vintage age roll top desk from Craigslist with the intention of giving it a few updates and reselling it. So, it's now for sale if you know someone in Northwest Ohio looking for a good solid desk. :) The people that were selling it had cats (read there was cat hair all over it) and it was their daughter's desk. It was good and solid but dirty and not pretty. They lived in a very small house and were getting a piano for their daughter so the desk had to go to make room for the piano. Here are some pictures of it "Before": And here it is after I added some cute little bun feet, changed the drawer pulls, painted it with Annie Sloan chalk paint (old white), and waxed it. I think it's 100% improved. You notice I didn't paint all the cubbies.... I was too lazy. :) I thought about just removing that part of it but there's just something I like about having it for organization. It was in good shape, unlike the top and the work surface. So, I just left it as it was. And I think it looks ok this way. The insides of the drawers were kinda marked up and ugly so I lined them with some pretty damask scrapbook paper. I didn't like the big 'blocky' drawer pulls so I found these pretty, vintage knobs with back plates on eBay. They were white so I gave them a coat of oil-rubbed bronze spray paint. I think they're much better. And here are some other shots 'just because'. In this picture you can see how I did the feet. First I added a board that was 1" larger than the bottom of the desk on 3 sides and screwed it down. Like this: These two pictures are shown with the desk upside down. Sorry, this is a really poor shot but it's the only one I have like this. Then I put cove (I think that's what it's called) moulding around it on the ledge I created. For the feet, I just bought bun feet and mounting plates from Menards. Screw the plates to the bottom of the desk and then screw the feet into the mounting plate. I didn't take any progress shots (they're boring anyway). And because I like side by side comparisons here's the before and after again: So there it is. Hopefully it will find a new home soon. Linking to: Between Naps on the Porch's Metamorphosis Monday Coastal Charm's Nifty Thrifty Tuesday My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia's Tuesday's Treasures Savvy Southern Style's Wow Us Wednesday DIY by Design's Winter Blues Wednesday Chatty Chics' Wild Wednesday Beneath My Heart's Best DIY Projects of February Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday

Secretary Desk Makeover w/ Duck Egg Blue & 3 Different Colored Waxes for depth and dimension! (Chalk Paint® by Annie Sloan)

Welcome to another Trash 2 Treasure Tuesday! If you are a blogger, this is where you can share your trash to treasure projects with t...

School desk at my cousin's house in The Netherlands I received an e-mail this morning from my cousin Leonie (pictured below) with a picture of a vintage, European, school desk and chair that used to be in our house. My brothers and I each had our own desk in the living room (all different heights) where we would keep our pens and papers and sit for hours drawing and crafting things. The desk is probably an old decommissioned desk from the school my mom used to teach at. I am so glad it is getting passed onto the next generation- it will look stunning in my cousin's modern home (check out the amazing grey epoxy floor she has in her house). I will try to find a picture of myself behind a school desk but that requires some digging in the basement (and basements are creepy). Found it (see below). 1. 2. 3. Picture Source 1. 2. 3. That's me, with the red hair, sitting behind a school bench. Sabs (left) and Leo (right)

I am an artist and musician and I already own a piano that I play on a regular basis. My family and I had just moved into a home for the first time, and I wanted a desk for my office but a lot of them were so expensive. Then I came across a post on Facebook of someone turning a piano into a desk.

I painted this secretary desk in Duck Egg blue. I use it everyday and really like it as my new office space. It is a Governor Winthro...

I decided to change our cherry wood desk from a dark stain to a light wood bleached look with the help of two-part wood bleach and lime wax.

This lovely Broyhill desk had been sitting in a garage for awhile. Luckily, I got to it before they hauled it to the dump! Just because a piece is outdated or d…

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Looking for an easy DIY project to tackle soon? We'll show you how to update an old desk so it's as good as new! (And good news, it couldn't be easier!)

Just finished and in stock This beautiful walnut bureau has 3 external and 4 smaller internal drawers, and is set on Queen Anne-style legs with ball and claw feet. The handles are brass as are the hinges. This piece was certainly a labour of love as preparation was lengthy to ensure a long-lasting finish. The bureau had all hardware removed and then it was taken apart. It was thoroughly cleaned before sanding began. This is to remove any silicone, wax, oil, and dirt that has built up so that it isn't pushed further into the grain. Once cleaned it was then sanded, followed by another clean to remove dust. Then and only then did the painting begin. The external areas were painted with Little Green Shift, a grey with green undertones. The internal parts were painted in a vibrant orange called Firelight from the Paint Couture range. The writing pad area was damaged so that was replaced with a printed velvet fabric in a deep jungle print in striking oranges and greens which complements the paint colour really well. The same fabric was used for the smaller pigeon hole drawers. The writing pad was then trimmed with gold edging. Gold was used to highlight the ball and claw feet. All the hardware was cleaned polished and refitted. It really is a show stopper, demure and understated on the outside but when opened, the striking colours are revealed. Please be aware there is a slight bow to the bureau lid, it closes well but juts out a couple of cm at worst. Message me for a photograph. As such the bureau price has been reduced to reflect this.

Looking for a way to make some side money? Make extra money refinishing furniture with these easy tips and ideas to make the most profit!

Everyone loves a piano. They're beautiful works of art; true conversation pieces.We love them so much, that we've got three of them right now at Bunch Auctions coming up in our June regular auction and Catalog. If you decide to place a bid on this gorgeous Steinway or one of our others, remember not to leave your old piano in the dust. No one ever wants to throw out their old piano, even when it has become non-functional. Instead of kicking it to the curb, teach that old piano some new tunes.

Painted furniture makeovers are a fun way to refurbish vintage furniture, add character to your home, and explore your creative side!

Ready to see my mystery office desktop? The one John and I have been working so hard on for the past few weeks? And learn how we did it? I mean, I know *I'm* excited. Here, I'll ease you in slowly. It all started....[dramatic pause]...WITH THESE: DUN DUN DUUUUUNNNN!! And it became...[more dramatic pausing]...THIS: Ta-DA! Ok, that's not the best shot. Here, try this one: Oooh. Aaaah. Now, on to the photo-intensive tutorial/progress shots! If you want to try this yourself, or just see how insane *we* are, keep scrolling. First, if you want your top to have any shine to it, you're going to need to polish up some of the pennies you're using. Here's a quick way to do that: Fill your bowl about a quarter of the way with pennies, pour in a little Tarn-X, and then swish and shake the bowl around over the sink (in case of splashes) to evenly expose the coins to the liquid. This only takes a matter of seconds. When they seem evenly shined up, dump the lot into a colander in the sink and rinse well. From there, dump the batch onto an old towel to dry them: I polished roughly half of the pennies I planned to use, so there would still be plenty of color variation. Still, it would also look amazing to have the entire surface polished, so the choice is up to you. Next you're going to need a surface to adhere the pennies to. John built this desktop out of plywood, and then painted it flat black: This fits in a cubby between two bookshelves, so only the front edge is rounded prettily. (Routers: very useful.) Oh, and those pennies aren't glued down; we were just testing out the pattern. To begin, start with the oh-so-important front edge: John clamped a long metal ruler down to use as a straight edge, which I used as a guide to glue on the rounded pennies. And how do you round those pennies, you ask? Well, we used these: That's an old titanium ring of John's with a bit of electrical tape wrapped inside. After a bit of trial and error, John found that clamping a penny inside the ring with pliers made just the right curve to fit the desk edge: However, be warned, ye of lesser hand strength: this is HARD. I tried with all my might and couldn't get the penny to budge, much less bend. Even John wore a heavy work glove to protect his palm while working. NOTE: If you don't want to (or can't) bend pennies for the edge, you still fill the flat top of your surface with pennies. So don't get hung up on the bending thing: it adds a nice touch, but is not really necessary. Once the first line of bent pennies are glued down (ah, Gorilla glue, my old friend...) it's a simple, if time-consuming, matter to fill the rest of the desktop: This wouldn't have taken me quite so long if I weren't arranging the pennies in a non-random random arrangement. That is to say, it *looks* random, but only by design. I mixed the various colors and designs just so, to get it all consistent. I kept a small bowl of "special" pennies on hand to mix in at regular intervals. These included wheat pennies, prettily corroded pennies, and the various new back designs from 2009 and '10. I even have a few Canadian pennies in there, plus one from the Bahamas (which has the prettiest penny design, really) almost smack in the middle. To keep the coins from shifting, you really do need to glue each and every one down. However, it doesn't take much glue to do it: I was about to apologize for the blur when I realized John took this shot. (John! Get in here and apologize!) Almost done! The pennies hanging off the edge were for John to trim off with a Dremel later. At this point John took over with the Dremel and heavy-duty snips. He trimmed the edges and cut penny slivers to fill in the small spaces. As you can see, for the corners he had to cut the pennies on the seam *and* bend them to fit the curve. Not easy. This all took him about two nights. (By the time the desktop was completely covered with pennies, we'd been working on it for about 6 nights.) Next comes the scariest part of all: covering your top in bartop epoxy. We set our desk on sawhorses in a small room with the floor covered in heavy plastic sheeting. Because the epoxy takes a few days to cure, you need an area with minimal dust, bugs, and pet hair blowing around (close your room's air vent, if you can). The plastic covering the floor is also *extremely* important. You'll see why in a sec. Here goes nothin'... You may notice our epoxy is tinted a golden orange. This is not intentional: it's just old. Heh. However, since the stuff is so expensive (well over $100), we decided to use it anyway. Waste not, save money, right? Besides, the tint just makes the pennies slightly more golden, which actually looks rather nice: Once all the epoxy is poured on, it's time to start tipping the desk slightly to get the epoxy to spread out to all the edges. See why that plastic is important? You really, REALLY don't want this stuff on your carpet. "Somebody blows their nose and you want a sample?" Ahem. Once all the edges are coated, you can use a small spoon or spatula to scoop some of the epoxy off the plastic on the floor and back onto the top: The epoxy self-levels, but we had to go over that curved edge several times to make sure it filled in all the gaps. (Even so, our front edge is not perfectly smooth; it has ripples over all the coins. I think it feels kinda cool, though.) But wait, we're not done yet! Next, get out your BLOW TORCH: And you thought I was kidding. The torch is to get rid of bubbles in your epoxy. And believe me, there are going to be lots and lots of bubbles. Keeping the flame about 6 inches away from the surface, pass it over the surface and watch those bubbles magically lift up and away, leaving behind a nice, glass-smooth skin. And NOW...we wait. For about two days. (I think it's dry to the touch after one, though.) And then... Voila! An über cool penny desk! Here's a close-up: It looks amaaazing, if I do say so myself. I'm letting it cure an extra few days before putting anything heavy on it, though - like a vintage typewriter, perhaps? We'll see. Also, once the desk was installed I realized I need something equally amazing to go on the wall *over* it. (Currently that's the only blank wall left in my entire office.) Which means: yup, another project! John and I are already eight hours into it, and I'm typing this completely covered in sawdust. So. Fun. But, that's for another day. In the meantime, I hope to pick up more with posts; I know they've been a bit sparse lately. John helped me catch up on e-mail, so now I have tons of goodies to share. You guys send in the best stuff - keep it up! In fact, I think I'll feature some of your crafty triumphs next, so stay tuned for that! ***** Want more DIY goodies? Come see ALL of my craft projects on one page, right here!

Hometalk. The world's largest online community of home and garden DIYers, where you can find tons of how-to's, ideas and advice to create the home you love.

Learn how to refinish furniture and distress existing pieces with paint techniques, sanding tips and refinshing projects for updated DIY home decor ideas.

I have been really, really loving navy lately. In our home reno I am painting all the interiors door a super dark charcoal that reads primarily as an almost black navy (if that makes any sense). Completely a happy accident. This last week I fought through working in our workshop in a seriously crazy pollen filled haze. (I can't imagine what still needs to bloom out there, but it's something and it's very slowly killing me.) Anyway, it was worth it because I'm enamored with this vintage china cabinet I just finished. This was actually a piece that we sourced ourselves a while back off of a Facebook tag sale group. While I did all the painting, Darrell did all the stuff that would make me cringe and question why we had gotten this in the first place, like breaking and removing the lock. (The door was locked when we purchased it and the key had been recently lost). I used a combo of regular and chalk paint for this. The exterior is a custom mixed color that I came up with. I had recently done a navy dresser and felt the particular shade would be a bit too light for this piece so I mixed in some black. I did some light distressing and added a ceramic patterned knob. After I removed all of the contact paper from the shelves inside the cabinet (That was totally the thing to do way back when!) I painted the inside with a linen white chalk paint and more heavily distressed it. This piece is currently for sale in northern Connecticut. If you liked my Navy & White Vintage China Cabinet you may also like... Painted & Stained Waterfall Desk Klein Blue Dresser Antique Dresser Turned Kitchen Island Follow my blog with Bloglovin

You might remember Lauren’s style from her bedroom before and after; she turned a kind of boring bedroom into an exciting nautical and rustic-themed retreat. Well she’s back on a smaller scale, infusing some serious fun into an inherited desk from the in-laws. From Lauren: This past summer, I made over a roll-top desk we inherited from my in-laws…and it’s my new favorite project!

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Hide your clutter and organize your home office in SECONDS with this small space solution.Guard your office from prying eyes and flying toys.Great for command centers,dorms,and apartments.

The past few days have been difficult and sad. My heart is broken. I know all you animal lovers/pet-parents understand because the response on FB has been overwhelming. Thank you to every one of you who took the time to offer your support. Although I wasn't online last week, I did pop in to read every single post and found comfort in your kindness.Here's what I've been working on to keep my mind off things.This pine desk and chair are both rescued pieces.

We've never seen this crackle technique before but it's gorgeous!

Turning an antique piano into an amazing desk isn't difficult...or expensive! People frequently give antique pianos away, because they are can't be repaired,…

We've never seen this crackle technique before but it's gorgeous!

Many of you know that I love all things French. I love the timeless feel of classic/traditional styles of furniture and decor. A problem that I have been trying to solve lately is that I do not hav…

I am an artist and musician and I already own a piano that I play on a regular basis. My family and I had just moved into a home for the first time, and I wanted a desk for my office but a lot of them were so expensive. Then I came across a post on Facebook of someone turning a piano into a desk.

This dated desk was transformed using the new Silk paint line in a gorgeous true black, Anchor! The newly shined hardware sets it off and wait until you see the interior!

Part 5 was here After yet again stuffing my spring loaded luggage together, Karen and I head out Lucketts way. We went early afternoon because we heard they had done most of the setup for us. Really?! I couldn’t wait to see! The countryside when crossing into Virginia was AMAZING. Lovely postcard styled farms against […]

It's been one c-razy week! The stomach bug hit my family this past Monday, so I had to set down my computer and paint brush to be on full-time standby in

A pre-existing Cable Piano case adapted with Maple Veneer sheet goods and solid Mahogany drawer fronts to become the best rolling tool chest I could have ever imagined.

NOW SOLD BUT I HAVE ANOTHER BUREAU THAT CAN BE FINISHED WITH THE REQUIRED COLOURS. MESSAGE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND PHOTOGRAPHS DIMENSIONS OF STOCK BUREAU 90 x50 x 107cm. A unique, eye-catching bureau that will sit beautifully in most colour schemes due to its subdued exterior. However, when opened it reveals a big, bold and brilliantly beautiful interior. Fuschia pink & gold paintwork with the back panel, writing pad and small internal drawer having a dark moody floral finish that matches the interior paintwork. The contrast is striking and this is definitely a statement piece that will be a talking point. This has been painted in a silk acrylic dark grey paint (external) and a fuschia and gold acrylic paint (internal). Finished with Polyvine wax finish varnish for protection. This piece was certainly a labour of love as preparation was lengthy to ensure a long-lasting finish. It was cleaned, sanded and, cleaned again. Only then was the surface ready for the first layer of paint. In all, this piece had four layers of paint which were followed by a couple of layers of dead flat varnish to ensure it has the best protection. The handles were also treated with the same care to produce a beautiful gold finish. This bureau has three exterior drawers and a petite interior drawer with several pigeon holes sitting alongside. This could be used as it was intended as a desk. Equally, it could be used for storage in a hall or it would look fantastic in a bedroom as a dressing table due to the amount of storage for makeup or jewellery. This is a genuine vintage piece of furniture and has had a previous life and a story to tell. Therefore it may have minor imperfections relative to its age and wear and tear over the years. This will not affect it’s function or detract from its beauty. Delivery is an estimate only. Please message me with your postcode for a firm quote