Title: Refinish an Antique Desk
Name: Lindsay
Time: 10 hours
Cost: $130
Lindsay gave this desk a cheerful makeover with sage-colored paint and bright and colorful new knobs. Click above for the pics and head below for all the instructions. Give Lindsay a THUMBS UP if you find this project helpful....
BEFORE
TOOLS:
fine sand paper
wood putty
putty knife
foam brushes
eggshell paint
knobs
desk (the desk cost $80 and the rest of the materials were $50)
STEPS:
1. I started by cleaning the desk with a damp cloth
2. using the wood putty and putty knife, i filled in some of the large gaps / holes. I wanted the desk to have a worn look so I didn't fill everything
3. after the wood putty dried, I sanded the surfaces with fine sand paper. I didn't want to take off all of the red paint, so I only used fine grade instead of medium.
4. I vacuumed the dust off and used a wet cloth to remove the remaining dust.
5. I applied two coats of the sage green paint.
6. after the paint dried, I used the sand paper to lightly distress the corners and edges.
7. I used a damp cloth to remove the dust from sanding.
8. I put on the new knobs. a new desk that fits my decor with only a coat of paint!
RESOURCES:
Anthropologie has some great knobs for cabinets, desks, etc. I found these on sale for $3 each.
Give Lindsay a THUMBS UP if you find this project helpful....
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Comments (16)
eh... I want to like it, but it's not quite there for me. I think it could use a bit more distressing (but maybe it's more apparent in person). it looks very controlled and selectively distressed (unnatural); I'd personall throw some gravel at it. I like the color of the red knobs (though how they're attached appears a bit messy), but the white knobs are don't work for me. I think, since the red ones command more attention, they pull your eyes out to them which makes it a little awkward to look at.
This makes me really sad. She took a beautiful piece of antique furniture and killed it. I don't understand this.
In the before photo it looks like the piece originally had some sort of deep cherry stain, and it seems almost sad to cover that up. (Don't get me wrong, I like painted wood, but I prefer to paint over pieces that aren't valuable and have damaged finishes.) But from the description, it sounds like the original is actually a red paint. In that case, painting over an already painted piece to suit your taste is brilliant and lovely.
Nooo take it back!
I would really like it with wood finish, and if not maybe something like an antique white?
Though the green is cute, I would replace the handles with either white ceramic or metal.
Pepperjo, how about you look at it like this instead:
She took a piece of antique furniture and turned it into something she loves and will get use out of.
Isn't that the reason we put things in our home?
Regardless, I'm pretty sure the desk was ALREADY painted red with gold trim. That's what it looks like to me, and if you read the post, she does mention the red paint.
woulda looked better in a high-gloss color (black, white, maybe even a deep poppy). that green is so weird, especially with those knobs.
I'm afraid I'm with the others on this. The green is really not working. It's drab and goes poorly with the knobs. I liked the original better, which is not to say that I liked it all that much.
Lindsay, I think your desk looks fantastic. Thanks for posting your project, I paint pieces too and it's nice to see how others go about it. You enjoy it!
"Our goal here is to accent the positive and remove the negative from what we see as a great opportunity to share knowledge."
lots of negativity in the posts.
And your rant about Anthropologie knobs helped us all how, exactly?
Spouting off ad nauseum that you hate Anthropologie's knobs is different than oh, I don't know CONTRIBUTING AN ALTERNATE SOURCE so we can all gain from your infinite wisdom.
Do you see the difference??
Most "antique" furniture has little value. The only reason not to change the finish on a piece of furniture is if doing so will lessen the value. This piece is not valuable (excepting sentiment) and there is no reason to not paint it. It can always be stripped and refinished - there is absolutely no loss her. In fact, I think the green paint is preferable to the dated red paint with gold trim.
Nice job Lindsay, enjoy!
I don't think that's a real "antique." It looks like a 20th century reproduction, so no harm done.
Thanks, Lindsay. I have a couple of (non-antique) wooden trunks in my bedroom (stained dark, not painted) and they're the only items I own that have that look going on. I've been wanting to refinish them with a beachy, washed-out kind of look but didn't quite know how. This is a big help to me.
Hi Lindsay! I'd love to know what color of paint you used.