Ever since I was little, I’ve had a fascination with roll-top desks. The fact that you can slide down this cover that appears out of nowhere…and hide all sorts of secret things in little drawers and shelves…they seemed magical. I’ve never had one though. Until now.
This morning my friend Bryan brought me this beauty. You see, he and his family are moving to Florida and are getting rid of excess stuff and when he told me about this desk, I couldn’t believe my luck. He bought it for his wife 30 years ago when they were engaged. She said she’d rather have a roll-top desk than a hope chest. The desk has been well loved for many years and was probably beginning to fear it was at the end of its life, but I’m going to see what I can do. I’ve looked at some Youtube videos on refinishing furniture and I might be a little more confused now than I was before, but I’m still going to give it a try!
She needs some TLC. And sanding. And new stain.
She also needs updated knobs and handles. I think this is going to be fun. I will fill you in on her progress as I work on her.
And I also finished another Star Wars hat for my work friend, Ernie. Here he is modeling it for me. I know the hat makes Ernie look crazy cool…but the Walking Dead T-shirt makes him the SHIZZ. If that shirt were in my size, I would have traded him the hat for the shirt.
Here’s a close up:
Three down, two more to go!
01.16.16 at 8:20 pm
Yay Sis!! What an impressive project to take on. I will be sure to watch how you do. A palm sander might be useful – though that is a guess on my part. I haven’t redone a piece of furniture in awhile. One thing I will note is that if it is very old make sure to wear a face mask when sanding – they used to put lead in with the wood varnishes. I discovered this when they did a lead inspection of the house and they said it was in the varnish on our inside doors. Who knew?!! It will be spectacular when you are done with it. Can’t wait to see it as you go along.
01.17.16 at 12:10 am
Thanks Shell! I will definitely wear a face mask, thanks for the suggestion I hadn’t thought of that. I’m not sure what Mike has exactly for the sanding but I know he has a power sander so I’ll give that a try. I wish it were Spring. It’s so freezing in our mud room and that’s where I’ll have to do all the work, but I don’t want to wait for warm weather because I want it to be ready NOW.