Transformation expense: About $35
This was my first transformation done with an apprentice and it was a baptism of fire for 9-year old Sophia! By the end we had applied eight coats of paint and wax to this piece! The hurdles we had to overcome were good teaching moments, and the end result was well worth all the effort. My design inspiration was a refinished piece by The Resplendent Crow.
This desk is solid wood, and has some decent joinery, but had also seen its fair share of wear and tear.
Rolling up her sleeves, Sophia got to work cleaning the desk inside and out. We then sanded and used wood filler to repair the biggest imperfections, including a crack in the top.
Sophia chose a beautiful, pale blue color (Permafrost) for the Behr Chalk Paint. We applied the first coat and immediately ran into two serious problems: 1) When the desk was moved, the crack in the top re-opened and 2) Stain from the sanded surface was bleeding through the paint causing yellowing.
Fixing the recurring crack was made harder because the top could not be removed (a couple of wood wedges were gluing it firmly in place). To install a metal bracket across the joint I had to drill pilot holes down through the desktop because I couldn’t get a drill in from the underside. Once the stabilized crack and pilot holes were filled and sanded, we could move on to problem #2.
A couple of coats of Kilz oil-based primer sealed the surface and prevented any further bleeding of the stain.
Now we could go back and apply three coats of the beautiful pale blue chalk paint.
When the painting was finished we decided to take this desk to the next level by adding some stenciling to the top.
Two coats of clear wax give protection and a beautiful sheen to the finish.
Tea break!
Finally we were ready for the finishing touches: We removed all the painter’s tape, polished the whole surface to a lovely sheen, and re-installed the hardware, which had been cleaned and painted in Rust-Oleum white semi-gloss spray paint.
Transforming Trash 