Custom Rustic Desk

I had the opportunity to do a custom paint job on a friend's desk awhile back. If I remember correctly, it was a Craigslist find. They were no longer happy with the dark wood and wanted to brighten up the space with a cream color.

[Before: didn't quite get the drawers in the right spots for the photo]

 The desk also was pretty scratched up, but that's the beauty of chalk paint--it covers everything right up and no prep is needed! [Because I was making my own chalk paint, I did fill one very deep scratch, but otherwise I didn't make any other repairs]

[scratches]

I set up shop in the garage and over a few days of "banker hours" [or so my mom said] the desk was transformed.

I applied two coats of homemade chalk paint and then lightly distressed everything. I really wanted to bring out the trim details with the distressing. After some dark wax and a few protective coats of clear wax, the original hardware was put back on.

The new color and look really lends itself to a study full of natural light and light earthy colors.