Expert Wood working

Weve spent months looking around for the perfect desk for our oldest sons room.  We really wanted to find just the right one without having to spend a lot of money and since hubby is always going to storage auctions, we figured that was the best place to keep our eyes open for one.

We finally hit the jackpot but it took me awhile to finally decide that it was indeed the jackpot.  This is what he brought home.


Neither one of us were a fan of the way it looked but it was solid wood and heavy.  Plus, I liked the modern lines and knew I could do something with it.  I just wasnt sure what, yet.

I went through a bunch of ideas in my head and kept going back and forth on painting it or not painting it until I finally decided to completely sand it down to the raw wood.  I really had my heart set on a wood desk for his room and I knew the wood could be really pretty if I gave it a makeover.

I hate using stripper so I tried to sand the orangey varnish off the top first.  Surprisingly, it was fairly easy to sand completely down.


At this point, my plan was to paint the base and only stain the top, but after staining the top with Minwax Dark Walnut, I loved it so much I decided to sand down the entire desk.  I also removed the drawer pulls and spray painted those with Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint.

Also hiding in storage was a vintage school desk chair that needed a bit of repair and some new castors to look as good as new.  I thought it would go perfectly with the desk.  Here it is in the room.


I cant believe how perfectly the desk and chair go together and I didnt even plan that.  :)  And I love the color of the desk so much better now.

Our son loves to pin things on the wall that mean a lot to him so I decided to make him a pin board with an old painting canvas that I simply covered in a coffee sack.  I used bronze upholstery tacks for the "pins".  The pins stick into the painted canvas perfectly.


I still have a couple more things to do on the opposite side of the room before I show the full reveal.  And by the way, I was having a terrible time with taking photos that day because it was raining and dreary outside and Im still learning the manual settings on my camera.

If youd like to see the other projects in this room click here, here and here.

I have had so much fun putting this room together for him and I know he is loving it which makes me so happy.  Ive also been working on our other boys rooms, as well, and will have some fun things to show you soon on that.

On another note, I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving next week.  Id love to know what you have on the menu.....I need some ideas!  :)  On Thanksgiving evening we always put up our Christmas tree and so Im really looking forward to pulling out the Christmas decor, watching a Christmas movie and being with my family.  :)

Have a great day!
Diana

Well, installation of the decking was begun and nearly completed the next day, but we were short a few pieces of decking, so more had to be ordered.
Work will start back again today with installation of the decking on the stairs, and hopefully some work on the railings.

The decking that was installed was been trimmed along the edge and caps were installed on all sides of the deck where the decking was already installed.  They got the stair treads installed today.

Waiting for the trim.

Putting trim around the edges.

Getting the caps on three edges was a bit tedious, but really trims out the planking nicely.

One section of rail and almost all the posts assembled.

Discovered that the directions for assembly the rails can be misleading, I think things have changed and the instructions have not.  Also, the same distance measurement in two different places reference off of different points and it is easy to miss.

Part 3

The guys got the stair rails installed today.  They look great. 




Apparently the company is aware that they need better instructions for the stair rails.  Today I studied the situation and think I can write up something that will work.  The company admitted to the contractor that they knew they need new instructions and are "working" on them.  Guess Ill send them what I come up with.

Tomorrow they will put up the lattice and once again we are waiting for the rest of the materials.

Part 4.5
Part 5