Refinishing Furniture is EASY!

I am finished with the desk that I posted about a few days ago. I am honestly having the hardest time deciding if I should sell it or keep it. šŸ™ I want it. In fact…it would go perfectly in my spare bedroom. It matches so well!! So, I think I’ll hold onto it for now. SHHHH… try not to spill the beans to my hubby. šŸ™‚

Here is a reminder of the “before” picture. This desk was given to me by a friend. It is a great piece of furniture and is well made. It has been in a garage for a few months, waiting for some love, affection, and attention. 

Here she is AFTER ! Really, refinishing furniture is super easy. All you need is a little paint, patience, and perseverance. The three P’s. šŸ™‚

Here are the details of her transformation:
I took the drawers out and primed and painted them. I used KILZ spray primer (as usual) and used Krylon Ivory gloss for the paint.

I decided that the drawers were a little too plain for me, so I got out my paintable wall paper that I bought at LOWES a while back. I used it on my Window Valance project, and I have a TON left. With some precise measuring and cutting with my OLFA cutter, the wall paper created a GREAT result! After the wall paper dried, I painted it with the same ivory gloss Krylon spray paint, and then glazed it when it was dry.

The inside of the drawers had a picture that someone had drawn, so I decided to put some fabric on the drawers to cover up the sketches. I used spray adhesive to glue down the fabric.

I also sprayed the top of the desk with Chalkboard paint that I picked up at Home Depot. Yes…chalk board paint comes in the SPRAY can! šŸ™‚ I then sprayed the GREAT pink hardware with my trusty oil rubbed bronze spray paint, and VIOLA, she looks brand, spankin’ new!

I decided to write a to do list on the top to give her a try. I LOVE doodling, and “to do” lists are a MUST in this household. This is when I fell in too deep to sell her.

 Doesn’t she look GREAT!?!?

I can already picture all of my sewing stuff in her drawers. šŸ™‚ What do you think? Should I keep her, or sell her?

Published on September 9, 2010

63 thoughts on “Refinishing Furniture is EASY!”

  1. i love this desk!! you do such amazing work! i am going to attempt my first refinish tonight using your spray paint and glaze techniques. i am re-doing two frames. wish me luck! (i'll need it! ha)

  2. Keep her! She is too beautiful to let go of. The paintable wall paper is an excellent touch. I am still a novice at glazing and would be afraid to glaze it after attaching it to the piece of furniture. Would it be possible to do it before?

  3. It looks great! I am looking for a desk to redo at the moment. That is at the top of my to-do list. I used chalkboard paint to do a backsplash in my kitchen and LOVE it!

  4. The desk looks awesome! Hopefully, my husband and I will be looking into getting our own home soon and I've been trying to find blogs of people who do things like this. Your site is awesome!!

  5. it looks great! that wall paper is the perfect touch! i think you should give her to me šŸ˜‰ wink hehehe
    btw, i like that you remind yourself to shower! LOL

  6. sell her to me..my husband and i just got our first place and the only furniture we have is our bed, and we are trying to save up to buy furniture. but i'm definitely going to try the DI out here because of you! thanks for all the inspiration and tutorials!

  7. I think if you sold it, you would regret it every time you saw these pictures – it is just a great looking desk – looks Ballard'ish or Pier One-ish – really simple lines but just enough pizzazz to make it unique and have some funky flair to it. Love the B&W; – it is a piece that you could refinish over and over as your life and likes changed… KEEPER in my book.

  8. OMG I am in love with this piece. You are amazing….love the chalkboard top, the fabric drawers and especially the wall paper thing. Could you elaborate on how you did this in a future post, pretty please!?

  9. Keep her! You put so much work and creativity into it. I did the same thing – bought a chest of drawers to repaint, distress, and then sell and kept it for myself!

  10. If I were you I would keep it. But then it would be awesome to have a desk like that in my home as well.
    Beautiful job as always!

    justenoughstyle.blogspot.com

  11. Oh, I'd definitely have to keep her. She's a beauty. I have a similar style desk that I'm trying to get up enough nerve to redo. You have inspired me!

  12. Keep her! It's adorable!!!
    This post is great timing b/c my mom is bringing over an old desk for my first grader, so now I can copy this technique. Whoo-hoo!

  13. I love this desk! From the houndstooth fabric to the glazed wallpaper, this desk is fabulous. Great job, it's adorable.

  14. You put the subject of this post as "… is easy"!! It has not been easy for me! I bought a huge dresser for $13 at Goodwill and it is amazing. However, I primed it then rolled the paint on (way too big to spray paint). It looked horrible. SO I am going to sand and brush the paint on. So you my friend have a talent for this stuff! Cuz it sure doesn't come easy to me! The desk is beautiful!

  15. W.O.W….I can hardly believe that it is the same desk! Brooke, you have an AMAZING talent for seeing the potential in any piece of furniture/wood/project/item/room/can-o-spray paint! I {heart} this desk, I am sure that if it was mine I would struggle mightily with selling a piece with SUCH personality!!! šŸ™‚ Love it!

  16. I love this! I'm a new follower and I've been so impressed. This looks really great, thanks for sharing šŸ™‚

  17. Sell it!!! It would be perfect in my house. I'll come pick it up today!! No seriously, if you think about selling it, I'm first in line. Really. šŸ™‚

  18. I am a new follower and love your blog! This dresser is so cute and I am now excited to play with wallpaper more! I do all types of crafts and have recently decided to add furniture rehab to my skills. After reading so many great blogs like yours I decided to even start one of my own to share my projects with friends and family.

    http://www.creationsbybonnybee.blogspot.com

    Thanks for the inspiration!
    *Bonnie

  19. LOVE IT!!!! I would totally keep it if I were you. The drawers are fabulous. Since someone gave it to you for free, it's not like you would lose out on $$. Great job, as always! Move your sewing stuff in there before you have a chance to change your mind!!

  20. This turned out to be a beautiful piece!! I think you should keep it, it would be so hard to let go…

    I can not believe your result with the paintable wall paper. It is truly amazing!!

  21. So pretty! Keep it! I'd personally use it near the entryway or hallway as we could leave speedy notes to one another as we are always on the go. If I used it for anything other I'd prob get chalk all over my arms lol! Beautiful work and great blog to inspire!

  22. I love it! It's so much like the one I have. I am just itching to paint mine. How did you paint the wall paper?

    Love it!
    Hope you don't mind I put a pic of your desk on my blog. :o)

    Cheryl

  23. Hey I was really wondering how much and where you could get the chalkboard spray paint? My mom and I want to make our own little chalkboards using picture frames. If I could get some feedback ASAP it’d be great! Thanks! (:

  24. Hmmm, as a furniture and cabinet maker I am fairly ce rtain that refinishing furniture means stripping and restoring fine wooden furniture to its original glory. This means always showing the wood it never means covering it with paint. To paint it, just means to paint it, not to refinish it.

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