Shabby Chic Desk

My mom scored this beautiful desk at an estate sale. The drawers were full of papers from the 70's and the wood on top wasn't in the best condition. With alittle paint and some elbow grease to refinish the top...this curvy lady turned into a beauty! One of my favorites--unique and pretty. [and I'm not a "pretty" kind of person!]

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.