A green desk

When we moved, we no longer had room for a large desk we had been borrowing from my parents. Since our second bedroom is so small and it needs to serve many purposes, we didn’t have the room for it. I looked for a small desk for a while, and finally found one at a thrift store for $15 that I thought could work. I was looking for something very small with clean lines. It is made of some sort of wood material covered with a wood veneer. It looks just like anything you could buy and assemble, so I wanted to make it a little more unique. 

Before

After

In order to paint over a wood veneer, you first have to use an oil-based primer (I learned this from the paint people at Home Depot). I didn’t have a place to spray it, so I had to brush it on. The primer was like glue and dried very quickly. I didn’t have any paintbrush cleaner, so my paintbrush was ruined when I was finished. If you do this, make sure to get mineral spirits or paint thinner to clean your brush.

Once dry, I gave it a quick sanding with fine grit sandpaper. I could then apply the first coat of paint. I chose a green color that was a paint and primer in one so that I wouldn’t have to do as many coats. Between each of the three coats, I let it dry for almost 24 hours before sanding.

 I decided once it had been painted that it needed a new handle. I found a black one I liked that would cover up the old holes, but I would have to drill new holes.

The new holes were drilled, and I realized the screws were too short. My husband helped me drill wider holes in the back of the drawer so the screw could be pushed further through the drawer front. It worked! Now we have a desk that not only fits our space well but looks fantastic!