Here's how it looked when I first dragged it out of the barn...the barn and all of it's belongings were there when my parents bought the house...so I have no idea how old the desk is, but I'm guessing somewhere around the 60s or 70s...
Doesn't look too bad from far away, huh? Let's take a little closer look...
And how 'bout an even closer look...
Really rusted-out legs & cross-bars...
...super worn-down, water-damaged wood top (which, by the way, had the words "hs girls suck" carved into it...isn't that awesome?)...I LOVE the pencil holder on the top...
...don't even ask...I have no idea what that drippy yellow stuff is...shellac? paint? mouse pee? don't know... ...but I do know that NOTHING took it off...ummm...gross.
My husband removed the top & cleaned it really well...then he re-stained it for me in a beautiful shade of walnut...
Then I took some steel wool and scrubbed & scrubbed & scrubbed &scrubbed the rust. I gotta tell ya...I really didn't make much of a dent in it. I gave up after a while and just crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.
I found some spray paint in a really nice pewter and gave the desk 2 coats...I love that I was able to find paint that almost matched the original color...and the paint covered the rust and the yellow stuff really well...no problems at all...the rusty areas are still a little rough (as rust tends to be), but the color is great...
After everything dried, I screwed the top back on, hauled the desk upstairs and noticed something was wrong...the desk was really tall...like 6" taller than the tops of the beds...it must have been an art desk or something...who knows...
So after a sigh and some begging on my part, my husband hauled it back downstairs to the basement...took the little knobby feet things out of the legs, sawed the legs down a bit and glued the little knobby feet things back in.
so sorry...i didn't notice that it was actually the STOOL that was in focus (not the desk) when I snapped this photo...yikes...
I love the way this desk turned out...it really adds a little retro flair to the boys' room...
I can't wait 'til they find the little carving in the top...(smile)
