This transformation is perfect for back-to-school season! Who else has a student starting/going back to school this year?? We do! But honestly… I’m still trying to figure out where this summer went. I suppose it’s time to embrace the changing seasons… even if I might happen to drag my feet just a wee bit along the way. Keep reading for step-by-step instructions for this darling little desk.
This cutie desk started out as anything but cute. When we snagged her at an auction, her drawers were still stuffed with someone else’s garbage and her rickety little wheels were barely holding up her boxy frame. But, this well used desk still had loads of potential. Especially when we were able to bring her home for only $6! Add in some paint (around $15 worth) & new drawer pulls (around $14) and this frugal furniture flip rang in right at $35! Talk about a bargain!
So, grab your paint brushes folks… we’ve got a desk to paint!
Supply List
- Flathead screw driver
- Orbital sander (or other preferred sander)
- 150 grit, 220 grit, & 600 grit sand paper
- Shop towels or lint-free rag
- Paint brush
- Dixie Belle Chalk/Mineral Paint – Driftwood (https://dixiebellepaint.com/)
- Furniture Wax (We used Miss Mustard Seed)
- Polyurethane (We used Varathane “Triple Thick” in semi-gloss sheen)
- Drawer Knobs (We used these from D. Lawless https://www.dlawlesshardware.com/clear-glass-knob.html)
Prepping the Desk
The first thing Ethan did was empty out the drawers (we actually did this step before we even pulled it into the workshop). Then he went ahead and removed the castors. While he had the desk on it’s side, he also took care of any dust and cobwebs that inevitably collect over time beneath all furniture. At this point in a furniture make-over, it’s good to check over your piece and look for any issues in the construction or damage it may have. In our desk’s case, it had a minor split under the outer lip. So, Ethan took care of that with a little wood glue and a well-placed staple.
Sanding
Now that we’ve got everything looking pretty good, we can move on to actually transforming it. That’s when things start getting fun. I don’t know about you, but around here we love our power tools! For this project Ethan grabbed his palm sander and some 150 grit sandpaper and got to work. For this particular desk the finish came off very easily and didn’t give us any trouble at all. However, keep in mind that a lot of projects might require starting with a courser sandpaper and then working back to a finer grit. We were very fortunate with this piece though, and it was no time at all until we got down to the gorgeous natural oak below.
After we’re done with the orbital sander, we always go back and fine tune by hand sanding. For this step you’re going to want to use a lower grit sand paper (around a 150 grit) and go with the grain of the wood, working your way up to a 220 grit if necessary. This is going to help get out any swirl marks left by the palm sander and really makes the wood grains look fabulous. Word of advice… do not skip this step! You’ll notice after you stain/poly and trust me it won’t be great.
Let’s Talk Paint!
We tried Dixie Belle Paint for the first time ever on this project. I was thinking it was a chalk paint but the label actually says chalk/mineral paint. For me, I think it had more of a mineral paint vibe and not as much of the “chalkiness” that you usually get with a straight chalk paint line. We especially noticed this when we went to distress the desk. It responded to the sandpaper more like a mineral paint. Chalk paint usually is very easy to sand back off, whereas mineral paint can be a little trickier. It’s a bit hard to explain unless you’ve worked with both types of paint… they just have a completely different feel.
Chalk/mineral debate aside, the Dixie Belle paint was absolutely lovely on this desk. We picked the color Driftwood and it was a pale grey that complemented the gorgeous oak top to perfection!
The first coat went on just fine. Though I will note that this paint did remind me of chalk paint in it’s need to be stirred. Just like working with any chalk paint, when you first open your jar of Dixie Belle, you’re definitely going to want to give it a good stir before you start painting. Next, make sure you’re with a damp brush. I keep a mister bottle on hand especially for this use.
Once your paint is fully dry, go back and give it a second coat. This color was very easy to work with and provided all the coverage I needed with just the two coats.
Polyurethane
We like to polyurethane (or stain) the tops of our pieces after painting the bodies. We do this because it’s easier to just go back and detail sand off any little painting mistakes and there’s no need to tape anything off. If you’d rather finish your top surface first, that’s just fine too. You’ll just have to make sure to tape the top off before you start painting.
For this project we really wanted to showcase the natural color of the oak so we decided not to use stain. Instead, we reached for the can of Varathane Triple Thick Polyurethane in semi-gloss. It worked perfectly to protect the top without changing the color.
Ethan did two coats of the poly with a gentle sanding in between.
Distressing, Knobs, and Final Touches
We like to distress all of our furniture flips. It’s not for everyone, but it’s definitely true to our style. Distressing adds a bit of vintage charm and a more authentic, aged feel. For this particular piece we used a 250 grit sandpaper and gave it a very light sanding so only bits of wood were showing through on the edges.
Then, Ethan just went ahead and sealed everything up with Miss Mustard Seed’s furniture wax. You can you a brush, lint free rag, or even a shop towel (which is what we used) then go ahead and buff it back off.
In the final step of this back to school makeover, we give this piece some fresh yet authentically vintage looking drawer knobs.
We grabbed these glass knobs from our favorite hardware company D. Lawless Hardware. We use their products on just about every piece of furniture we flip and we absolutely love them!
Check out this video to see this desk makeover from start to finish!
This little desk turned out just darling. I love how the subtle grey can be dressed up to look ultra feminine or fit in with a more subdued masculine décor. Either way, it’s perfect for back to school!
Nice touches!
Thank you!