Before & After: Clara's Two-Toned Desk

Ginger wanted to hand down her own childhood desk to her daughter Clara, but due to water damage and "the remnants of various stickers I put on there long ago (oops)" she needed to give it a refresh first. See how it looks now:

Great job Ginger! We see desks like this all the time at flea markets and usually dismiss them as too dowdy, but bright paint totally modernizes the look.

Ginger says she was inspired by the two-toned dresser that John and Sherry of Young House Love re-did for their own Clara. She tells us that she "sanded and restained the wood with Minwax stain in English Chestnut. The metal bottom was spray-painted with Valspar in Mediterranean."

Thanks Ginger!

(Images: Ginger Gibson)

Related:
School Desk Makeover

Categories: Family, DIY, Before & After

Posted by Carrie McBride

As Apartment Therapy's Family Editor, Carrie covers design and modern homelife with children. A lapsed librarian, she lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two kids and is in contention to break the record for most hours spent at the playground.
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Comments (12)

Love it! We acquired one of these, and I wish we had kept it. Unfortunately, we need multi-child seating so had to replace it with a cheap-o IKEA kid table.

Amazing - such a great job!

great job! we have a one just like this and have been meaning to clean it up for our son to use. thanks for the inspiration!

Oh, just perfect! Thank you for the terrific inspiration. /heads into basement to have a look at ye olde desk

I had a desk just like this when I was a kid. Wonder whatever happened to it?

Well done! We have two similar desks in red that could use a few touch ups. Thanks for the inspiration!

Julia @ Baker Hill Homes
http://bakerhillhomes.blogspot.com/

Just lovely! I need to keep my eye out for one of those desks. They're perfect!

Thank y'all for the kind comments! The bottom is more turqoise and less powder blue than it appears in the picture (apologize for the photo quality - Clara is only 10 weeks old so I'm a little busy at the moment!).

The desk was made by American Seating in Michigan. My parents got it around 1980, but I'm not sure of its age at that point.

That's awesome! Also love the rug... where is it from?

Haley - Thanks! The rug is from Pottery Barn about 2 years ago. I believe it was called "zinnia"

adorable. I love it. I think they were so smart not to paint the whole thing. They kept the charm but made it new and cheerful!

I have a desk similar to this I got at Salvation Army for $10...I can't wait to give it a makeover. Great job!

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