Finished refinishing!

Well, minus drawer pulls. But I've varnished (several coats) and the decoupaging turned out wonderfully. If I didn't have a job this would have been an easy weekend project. I love the maps and I think they tie together a lot of my art from my travels that don't necessarily go together. You'll see that I didn't create holes for the drawer pulls (but I did for the locks) and that's because pressing the maps against the drawers doesn't give me a good indication of where they would align. A few times the paper even stretched out just enough so that it became too large and I had to use an exacto knife to take an edge off. All in all, it was a rewarding project and I hope it extends the life of my desk.(My carpet is hideous, I'm aware : )

4. Try wallpaper paste (it dries more successfully than a craft product like Mod Podge). I used a roller to apply it to both sides of the paper and overlapped. I'm pretty much a color-inside-the-lines girl, but I forced myself to attempt an organic feeling by having an image come over the green border on each piece.

5. After the paste and PLENTY of time to dry, I started applying the varnish. There was a paint "expert" at Lowe's and he told me the type of varnish I purchased is pretty much the only type that is safe to use over paint. I applied a few coats since a lot of my maps were thin paper and the desk gets a lot of daily use.

Desk:

Printer stand:I'm pleased, and probably more excied about having my apartment back in order.

Have a happy weekend!

Desk redo!

This project is SO much fun. Coming home from work and having two huge pieces of furniture to sand, paint and decorate is a blast. I'm 3/4ths of the way done, and here's what I've accomplished so far.

Some of these steps are taken from Shelia McGraw, author of Painting and Decorating Furniture.

1. First I sanded off the old finish. The desk was kind of an early 90's executive "power" desk.A brighter cherry maple color, with lots of shine! and gross gold drawer pulls I am excited to get rid off. I think the sanding was fun for me because I could do it by hand, without a power sanding tool. They sell sponge-shaped sandpaper now, instead of just sheets of sandpaper, and I think people are often worried they won't be able to sand evenly without help. Just sand and look, sand and look. (I prefer a coarser sandpaper, and they have parallelograms that are excellent for working with edges and wood under trim and in corners) It's hard to mess up a surface you're going to be painting over anyhow. The reason we do this step is so that the paint absorbs instead of sitting on top and being able to peel. You want a desk with this many layers to have the best starting hold possible.

2. I coated the top of the desk and the fronts of the drawers with a water-based primer. I taped off some of the old desk color and finish before sanding so that when I'm all finished it's a blend of the before and after. Keep tape on any edge you won't be painting: all four sides, any decorative trim, the sides of drawers, maybe the cover of key locks.... this is the most meticulous step so don't tape as you go.

3. After the primer I taped off an interior border. You can see this in the photos - I measured in a few inches from each side and placed tape around the surface area to create a nature looking "frame" for the decoupage on top. The edge of the drawers and other wood I won't be decoupaging now have this same paint color as well. I used the green color from my slide file drawers, since my offices for years to come will often have both in the same room. This green will tie them together.

Next I'll carefully peel up the masking tape and design the fronts of the drawers and surface area. I'm using maps. Yay, I can't wait to finish.

Always something new...

So I am recruiting assistance for my latest project - hope you can help.

My desk is 21" x 48" and I have a map I'd like to cover it with. My reason for wanting to do this (other than the fact that I love maps, of course) is because the desk is a hand-me-down, beat up and aged old friend. It has seen better times. But after months and months of considering trading it through Freecycle.org, or building one from old shipping crates and a weathered door as the table top, I've decided that keeping what I have is the way to go. I'll change the handle hardware, etc, but a glass or acrylic table topper seems to be too expensive. Decoupage seems to melt when under laptops (as I've learned the hard way), but is it save to sit a desktop computer on? Will either suffer?

And remember, I am on a budget. If not decoupage, what wallet friendly way can you suggest to protect both the map and the electronics on top?

-L