What I really thought was going to be a quick DIY project has turned into quite the undertaking! It became painfully clear that this was not going to be a quick sand and paint project so we had to upgrade to paint-stripper. For some unknown reason, Hubby founded great humor in letting the neighbors know that I was going to be "stripping" all day. Why do boys never outgrow college humor!?!
The paint-stripper that I used was spray-able. This sounds like a great time saver but if I were to do it again I would buy the thick and messy regular kind. My sweet neighbor was kind enough to give me her leftovers when I ran out of the spray-able but did not have the energy to get in the car. Do you ever get into those moods, the "I want to finish this tonight but I have no desire to drive to Home Depot right now" kind of mood!?!
I was totally in awe of all of the layers that were under the white paint! White, red, yellow and two different green paints plus what must have been ink from a pen explosion. Not to mention the gum and tape that people had just painted over through the year!!! I am happy to report that the gum was no match for the paint stripper. Gum - 0 Me - 1
Finally me and "mouse" tried to tame this beast of a desk again. Man did things go better this time!!!
After about two hours of sanding I was able to get whatever was leftover from my first attempt at paint-stripping. It was not perfect by far but I have learned a lot with this project. Hubby might not like to hear this but I think that I need to spend more time in antique stores. (Hubby's note- I tried to insert more college humor here but I was shot down. Still, I am very proud of how hard she worked on this desk.)
So my friends, we are at a crossroad. Do I just polyurethane the desk, imperfections and all? Do I paint the whole desk after all that hard work? Or should I just paint the legs and polyurethane the desk top so I can vainly remember how hard I worked?
Decisions, decisions!!!
I am linking up with Savvy Southern Style and No Minimalist Here
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Wow!! That looks great! Personally I like the idea of painting it, but leaving the top. Have fun figuring out what you are going to do! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm with gabi! Paint the legs and stain the top. Can't wait to see!!!
ReplyDeleteI love painting the legs up until the box/drawer part and leaving the rest for staining.
ReplyDeleteI could see a fun pop of minty green or depending on where she will live....a fun high gloss color.
lobster peach Red? Navy? You will show us how she ends up, won't you?
pve
You can always live with it in this form for a little while before making a final decision. When the wood isn't precious or showing a lot of grain, I always go for paint...but all of my projects of this sort have been for resale, so take that with a grain of salt.
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy to have found your blog (through Pinterest)!
I also love when blogging worlds collide...Patricia (pvedesign), who commented above, did a portrait of my dog a couple years ago. :)
I am loving getting to "know" more people in the blogging community and getting back in-touch with old friends. So fun!
DeleteWhew! That sure was alot of work! I am with the rest of the crew! Paint the legs & stain the top! Cant wait to see!
ReplyDeleteSweet heaven above! That's a whole lot of work! And good for you for sticking it out, you are a better woman than me because I'm pretty sure halfway through I would have retreated to a bubble bath :)
ReplyDeleteI would not polyurethane....I would stain and then finish with butcher's paste wax or bowling alley wax.
ReplyDeleteYou can buff and you will love the smell. Poly always yellows and dries funny. I used to re-finish furniture and poly is ewww.
You need cheese cloth, gloves, apply wax after stain has dried, then wipe and polish with steel wool.
pve
Ok I promise no poly! Now I just have to google waxes since I have never done anything like that;)
Deleteabsolutely wax is the way to go! you will love it! BRIWAX is the best brand I think....
Deletecan't wait to see the results!
mb
Wow, you are awesome. I would love to see the top done in chalkboard paint so the kids could write on it. Good luck, I'm sure you can find plenty of inspiration. By the way, you might want to consider taking down your word verification.
ReplyDeleteHad no idea I had word verification. Thanks for the heads up!
DeleteThank you all for your feed back! I am going to paint the legs navy blue and stain or wax the top. M is super excited:)
ReplyDelete