The Desk

A lot has happened... a lot! I can't say I've been overly busy, but blogging is just never on the top of my to-do list. I've got much to blog about - Louisville trip, Chicago trip, my new desk, marathon training, my next Chicago trip. We'll start with probably the funnest (not a word) and most exciting (to me).

After living in my apartment for a year and making do with a folding table for a desk, I finally got myself a real bonafide desk. See, I've gotten picky in my old age. I don't want to just have make do furniture any more or "I got this cause it was free" furniture anymore. I want a grown up place, ut this grown up has no money. Lucky for me, this grown up also loves getting cheap things and making them great things!

Last week one of my friends asked if I wanted to go to an auction with her. Now this friend is an antique store junky and also has the gift of making cheap things, great things so how could I resist?!

I remember going to one auction before, but my dad was in charge of the bidding. I was instructed to stand there, not look at the auctioneer, and for Goodness sakes keep your hands at your sides.

We didn't exactly know what to expect, but got our number looked around and strategized on what we were going to bid and where we were going to stand. It ended up being REALLY fun! $67 later I had brought home this loot.

Like I mentioned, I have little money and it didn't make much sense to spend more on paint and supplies than on the desk so I rummaged through my paint supplies. Added bonus, it matches my apartment color scheme perfectly!

First step: sand and prime

After I had finished priming I walked into the kitchen to clean out my brush and the paint fumes noticeable changed. As in, smelled exactly like gas fumes. The closer I got to my stove the worse the smell got. After walking back and forth several times I decided to call the gas company to have it checked out. I'd rather be the idiot that called for paint fumes than the idiot who died in the middle of the night from carbon monoxide. Turns out, I was the idiot who called for paint fumes. Thankfully the guy was nice about it and assured me he'd been called for this before. Apparently the paint fumes will burn off your pilot light too.

Step 2: base coat

I decided on white for the desk, but wanted something fun on top. After seeing the prices of stencils online, I landed on a chevron pattern in purple and green. I was actually going for green stripes with a purple under color, but realized too late that I should have started with green instead of purple. Live and learn.

After doing some touch up it was time to tape the chevron stripes. This was a lot more tedious than I anticipated as I'm not one for detail and exact measurement.

I decided I wanted three peaks on the desk top so I measured the desk width and divided by 4 using chalk to mark my measurements.

Honestly, I stalked some blog posts of other people painting chevron stripes and modified their instructions. That person measured up every 6'' for each stripe. I tried that first and it was just too large so I halfed it and it was perfect. On the lines I just marked, I measured every 3 inches. However, every other line I made my first mark 4 1/2 inches up in order to make a peak then continued down the line marking every 3 inches. Then came the easy part of painting the top green. Of course, everything that was tapped remained purple and boom... chevron stripes!

After a couple of coats of clear sealer, I had myself the perfect little cheap desk!!