No. 99 Antique Black Secretary Desk

Bam! I told you I was going to conquer frustrating project #2... and once I saw how it all came together I wasn't so mad at this secretary.

Here's where we started...

A potential customer asked if I had any secretary desks to refinish, and I had just passed up this piece at a moving sale the day before.  I headed back to see if it was still there, and we struck a deal, so it came home.  I think the top bookcase is cool, but just wasn't what I envisioned for this piece, so the top came off. 

My original game plan was all white, with colorful knobs.  Well, it was not to be... as I was fixing the drawers, I noticed a little red stain seeping through.  I know better than to fight with that, so I thought okay...let's go green, with these great clear knobs.  But about half way through the first coat of green, it turned pink!  AGH!  I almost threw it down the hill in my back yard.

So, I said, I know!  I'll paint it black, ha!

But the story doesn't end there...after two coats of black and a distressing, I put on a coat of wax, and it was a horrible, streaky, terrible mess.  So I let it sit overnight and tried to rub it out (with steel wool).  Guess what, it didn't work! 

I almost threw it down the hill again!  Then I thought, how about the awesome, magical hemp oil?  Perhaps this would be the saving grace of this piece.  So it got a fresh coat of paint (again!) and MMS Hemp Oil, and it is beautiful, and more important, it is DONE!

Hemp oil also freshened up the knobs, and the organizer inside.  And do you see the coffee sack there? A friend had the fabulous idea to use these in some furniture projects, they have all different kinds at a local roaster here.  I love coffee (the idea of coffee, the picture of coffee, the word coffee), so you will surely be seeing more of these!

Phew!  This bad boy is available in the Roots & Wings Etsy Shop!

Blessings for a great week...I'm off to work on a dresser with smooth sliding drawers, that is surely not going to be as frustrating as the last two!

Jenni

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