Monday, May 3, 2010

Bummer desk

We've been looking for a desk for our front room (you know, the one. The one that's supposed to be a dining room, but it has carpet in it and we've got three messy boys, and no use for a dining room and kitchen table at this point, so it's turned into my craft room/computer room/catchall). Our computer desk in the basement broke, nevermind who broke it when they were moving it. NEVERMIND. And we've been planning on bringing the computer upstairs for the boys to use. So I've been keeping an eye out for the perfect desk for our front room and I finally found this amazing desk at GW for TWENTY BUCKS!


Isn't it great!? I had this vision of a smooth ebony stained top with white drawers and keeping the pulls the antique look that they are....nice vision, right? Can you see it? Gorg.

I started sanding the top. It took a lot of muscle power. It was painful. But then I started noticing that my sander was getting a little carried away. And it started sanding too much of the top off. Crap. I freaked. And fretted. I cleaned everything off and stained the top thinking that I wouldn't be able to notice the portions that we (we meaning the sander and me, because it's just as much the sanders fault as it is mine!) sanded too much. Well. I.Was.Wrong.


That's not good. Not good at all.


See those sections where it looks different. Yeah. I'm so bummed. I had my heart set on the top being stained and the rest of it looks sooooo good, except for those sections and I can't leave it like that. It's horrible.


So, it is sitting in the garage, completely and totally primed, all over. Even the top. I've been thinking about sanding again, but there's really no reason to try again, unless I want to sand the entire top down to match the spots where it went to the bare wood.  Someone make me feel better about it looking good white.

Arghhh....

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14 comments:

  1. Katherine @ Grass StainsMay 3, 2010 at 9:02 AM

    It looks GREAT white! You go, girl.

    Our dining room has also been turned into a playroom/craft room, and for this stage in our lives, it works. We have an eat-in kitchen, so we really needed to "up" the usable space factor in the dining room. Voila! Glad to know I'm not the only one.

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  2. AndreaMay 3, 2010 at 9:10 AM

    You are allowed to make a mistake every once in awhile. Don't be so hard on yourself! And yes, it looks FAB in white. Me personally, I like white better.

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  3. The House CreativeMay 3, 2010 at 9:43 AM

    I love this desk, and I am sure whatever you decide to do to it will be fabulous.

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  4. Tonia HobbsMay 3, 2010 at 9:51 AM

    It will! It will! I think white or a nice cream would look lovely!

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  5. Expressions by HeatherMay 3, 2010 at 9:59 AM

    I can't wait to see how it turns out!

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  6. SabrinaMay 3, 2010 at 12:13 PM

    I think the white will look great too! Have you seen some of the work at Life In The Fun Lane? She does some awesome stuff with white. Or you could pain the top black?? Dunno?

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  7. Carry GraceMay 3, 2010 at 12:15 PM

    Oh how sad, BUT it will look FAB white! :)

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  8. Anita @ GoingALittleCoastalMay 3, 2010 at 12:23 PM

    I'm sure it will look great in white but if you want to give stain another try have you tried the gel stain? I wasn't sure what you used but I have heard, ok I haven't used it myself, that it lays more on top of the wood than being absorbed into the wood. I know, Here I am suggesting something I haven't used! But I have seen some pretty amazing results with the gel stain, especially in the darker ebony colors. I love the detail on the front of the desk drawers!

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  9. Katie OlthoffMay 3, 2010 at 1:01 PM

    What if you painted the top light brown then used some gel stain on top of it to mimic wood? Google gel stain...I've seen some cool projects with it!

    Here's one:
    http://www.ourvictorianhouse.com/Door%20Restoration.htm

    http://hubpages.com/hub/Faux-Graining-Wood

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  10. PatMay 3, 2010 at 1:25 PM

    Have you sanded off the veer? If you have you could paint the top a dark ebony color and use a wood graining tool to mimic the grain. My father was a painter and he gave me one years ago. Works great! (I am not affiliated with this company)

    http://www.paintinganddecoratingconcourse.com/articles/Woodgraining-Tool-Rocker.html

    If not and it has just sanded unevenly you could try to strip the top down to the lower level and then stain.

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  11. UnknownMay 3, 2010 at 3:56 PM

    have you ever used chemical stripper? It would be a lot of work but it isnt too late, everything does not need to always be painted.

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  12. AnnieMay 3, 2010 at 7:45 PM

    I think it will still be gorgeous white! Two other ideas - what if you beat the top of it up - wrenches hammers - you get the point - make it look really old and worn - then it may work? Or maybe take the top off & buy a big slab of wood and make a new top for it. Anyway you slice it - it will be a sweet desk when you are done with it :)

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  13. KirstyMay 3, 2010 at 8:10 PM

    You guys are so great. Thanks for the encouragement. Of course, because I have the patience of a tiny bug I painted it white. It looks fantastic and I was so excited about it. Until I started on the drawers. The are bubbling and crackling like crazy! Nothing I can't fix or make look like I did it on purpose, but come on! Enough with the trouble already!

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  14. Sara @ Russet Street RenoMay 3, 2010 at 10:19 PM

    Of course it looks great white! Don't beat yourself up.

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