A 50 year old desk gets an update

My grandma recently sold her home and in the process got rid of a whole bunch of furniture. I aquired a bunch of stuff…a sectional couch for my screened in porch, an old desk, a pair of dressers, and a lot of other odds and ends.

This post is detailing how I decided to update the desk.

I wanted a desk for a space to put our laptop computer on the main floor since our main office space (still in progress!) will be in the basement. This desk was the perfect solution.

Supplies needed:

• Paint brush
• Small roller
• Behr sample size paint in Satin finish ( I used Still Grey)
• Sand paper
• Electric sander
• Screw driver (for handles and chair seat)
• Staple gun
• Scissors
• Upholstery fabric for chair seat

The before:

It was a white color with green accents and the paint was not in good shape and yellowed. The desk is in really good condition. Its all wood with a fermica top, so I opted to leave the top the way it is.

I took apart everything–handles off of the drawers, seat off of the chair so it can be reupholstered.

I sanded everything with a combo of sandpaper and the electric sander.

I found this lovely fabric at JoAnn’s and decided to use it for the seat of the chair.

After cutting it to size, I used a staple gun to staple the fabric to the chair.

This is after the chair was given two coats of paint.

I used a small roller to roll the bigger sections of the desk and a paint brush for the small crevices and more detailed areas. I gave the desk and drawers a total of two coats.

Final desk! I thought maybe it was a little too monochromatic with our wall color, but I’ve gotten used to it and I do really like the color. It’s a different sheen than the walls anyways. I use the desk for our laptop and I have a little charging station for tablets.