Rags to Riches Vintage Desk Makeover
A vintage desk makeover is not what I had planned for this afternoon. But I received a phone call from a previous customer (and previous coworker) about her vintage desk.
- Lisa: “Kandice, we are heading to Staten Island (from Long Island) to visit family, and I want you to refinish a desk for me.
- Me: “ok, do you have a photo? Send me a picture so I can see it”
- Lisa: “No. It’s in the truck and I’m bringing it to you now”
- me: “What?!”
- Lisa: “See you soon”
- click
Without even a chance to check my calendar to see what I have scheduled because you know my life is all written in a flimsy black planner book. If it’s not written in that planner it simply doesn’t exist. Within the hour she pulled up and pulled this beat up old wood desk from her vehicle. It was a mess and I loved it.
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Need a new desk and prefer new over a refinished desk? Check out this selection of available desks online: DESKS
Vintage Desk Makeover
Materials Needed:
Staging / Home Decor:
The Before – Unfinished Vintage Desk
A true rags to riches desk table makeover.
I have to admit that makeovers like this are a reminder of why I love what I do. Â This beat up old desk was in rare form, it had so much damage, scratches, and stains. Â Rather than fight it and try to make it perfect we embraced its flaws and gave it a rags to riches makeover. Â Which in turn has made it beautiful once again.
The Makeover – Saving this Ol’ Vintage Desk
EEEEK Â look at that top!!
As you can see this little guy needed some major prep work. Proper prep is a very important step to painting a desk. The top, as well as the entire body, front to back and drawers, were all sanded down with my favorite electric sander. Lucky for me it was a gorgeous sunny day and my daughter was taking an extra long nap. Long naps = productive me. 
Paint and Stain Combo
Next, the top was given a fresh stain with a mix of a few different stains to give it a new rich color. Â 
The drawers and body of the desk were then painted in a solid matte black and slightly distressed before being sealed for protection. Make sure to use a quality paint when painting furniture. You can find great paint online HERE.
The Result – Painted Vintage Desk
Under pressure and with little notice this desk is ready to head back to Long Island with its fresh new look.
The black with the stained top is such a timeless look and one of my personal favorites. 
We decided to keep the original hardware and I simply cleaned them with an old toothbrush and a little soap, water, and white vinegar. Â Cleaning the grime away left a subtle brown tone on the handles that actually work beautifully with the brown in the stained top. Â That was an unexpected pleasant surprise!
All ready to head back to home.
For more painted furniture before and after projects, and makeovers, make sure to check out all of my chalk paint furniture tutorials with over 90 projects here: The Ultimate Guide for Stunning Painted Furniture Ideas
If you liked this vintage desk makeover then you will LOVE this one: Leather Top Vintage Desk
For more fabulous desk makeovers make sure to check out: Ten Amazing Vintage Desk Makeovers. 
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Kandice, this desk makeover is fabulous!! I love the combination of stain and paint on the finishes! It looks beautiful! Hooray for productive naptimes! I would like to invite you to link up to our party, Sweet Inspiration. It starts on Friday and runs until Tuesday. Hope to see you there!
thank you so much! and Id love to link up, I will head over and check it out!!
Glad to see you at the party! Thanks for linking up!
always a fun party! thank you 🙂
I love it! I need a new desk, I wish I had an old desk I could redo.
thank you!
Kandice I am such a sucker for a good furniture makeover! I especially love when black is used in furniture so I guess you could say I am crazy about this one. Would it be too obsessive of me to say that the top of the desk looks a bit like chocolate… too many foodie blogs are getting the best of me today. Thank you for joining us at Sweet Inspiration.
thank you and I know right! The food blogs make me gain weight just from looking at them.. so good!!
What a fabulous makeover Kandice! You are the best friend that a piece of beat up furniture could ever have. It is totally unrecognizable from the before.Thanks so much for sharing this gorgeous makeover at Vintage Charm.
thank you so much Tuula! that;s an awesome compliment
Thanks for sharing this at Dream Create and Inspire! What a transformation, beautiful job, its a pleasure you stop by..love if you hop over and visit me at http://www.simplenaturedecorblog.com/ just finished my one room challenge.
Its a pleasure again to have you!
Maria
thank you!! I love the colors that you are using in the room! what a big project 🙂
What stunner! Love that you kept the top wood and stained it – this look seems to catching on and I think its just a gorgeous choice!
Beautiful job! The original desk looks eerily similar to the desk in my son’s big boy room. Now the question is do I give it new life before my toddler moves into his room, or let him continue to kill it for a few years before resuscitating it?
Thank you!! you could give it new life but distress the edges and leave the worn look so it will be updated but if your toddler beats it a little bit it will “blend in” 🙂 But its totally up to you 😀
You did an incredible job on the desk. I will be featuring this at my next Swing into Spring party that opens each Tuesday evening at 8pm EST. Please stop by and pick up an I’ve Been Featured button. Thanks. http://diybydesign.blogspot.com
awesome! thank you so much!! have a great week
xoxo
Fabulous job! I love the stained top with the black paint. I’m featuring your project at the Talented Tuesday Link Party this week. Thanks for sharing!
awesome thank you!!! xoxo
What a great job you did! Beautiful makeover
thank you so much!! xoxo
You motivate me!
I love the color of the desktop. Black is the perfect compliment to the desktop.
I enjoy seeing the steps “from rags to riches”. Thank you for sharing your transformations!
Beautiful job. How did you apply the paint and stain? Do you use a brush, foam roller, sprayer?
thank you. If I remember correctly, I used a brush (Cling On)
Came out beautiful! This is great that you painted it black! I am redoing a dresser that is painted white to black, for my daughter but she wants it lacquer. I rather do what you did! I hope i can convince her. Lacquer is tough to paint.