To Blue

Several months ago, a friend of mine introduced me to this awesome web site called
All Things Thrifty
The gal who runs it is a "thrift store junky."  She loves to take old junky stuff and turn it into something amazing.  After looking through her blog, I was totally inspired and on the hunt!
Justin spotted this desk at a yard sale.
$5.00

Fancy, huh!?
Yeah, not so much.  These types of desks can be found pretty much anywhere.  And they're all totally boring.
Justin had settled into his desk...hehe
I came along and literally pulled it out from under him!  I carried it outside and got to work.
First, removing the hardware.
Second, cleaning it off.
Third, priming it.  That's right.  No sanding.  And you can probably tell that it's a veneer finish. 
This pic here is about 2 or 3 coats of primer.

I used a spray primer called Kilz.  It's pretty awesome but it left a gritty finish and I did have to sand it down with a fine grit sandpaper (220). 
I learned how to avoid this for future reference:  shake the can for 3 minutes straight and you should be good to go!
Next, the color!  Because he was being such a good sport, I let Justin pick the color.  He told me he wanted it to be blue.  And so it became!
I bought Krylon's beautiful Global Blue in Glossy.  I chose Glossy, as is recommended by Brooke at ATT.

Isn't that such a pretty color?!  I later learned that this is one of Krylon's colors that is only available regionally or something.  I feel so priveledged!
Okay, enough chatter...get to paintin'.

This is after 1 coat of paint.  Man, I was hoping not to have to keep going.  I had only bought like 2 cans of paint and had to go back for more.  There is a technique to spray painting.  The nice thing about Krylon is the nozzle adjusts so that it covers better, depending on the direction you spray in.  I'm so lame, but I totally watched a video on how to do this right.  I still didn't do that great of a job though.  Here's a piece of advice:  do NOT spray with your wrist...meaning don't move your hand back and forth.  Move your entire arm.  Does that make any sense?

I am much to cheap to buy new hardware, so I spray painted the original hardware in Rustoleum's Hammered.  It sprays texture onto it.  So cool!

Isn't she so pretty!?  That's right, this desk is a GIRL!  With 3 guys around all day, I have to assign gender to inanimate objects.
But wait... she's not done yet!  I want to make the desk look all old and antiquey...
So, I did what is called "Glazing." 
I think I bought the Martha Stewart Faux Glaze at Lowe's.  Then, I bought one of those small samplers of black paint.  Follow the directions for tinting the glaze.  If you try this at home, just note that you won't need very much.
Just paint the glaze on...jam it into the little crevices everywhere.  I find that wiping it quickly with a wet towel, and then wiping it again with a dry towel does it very quickly and looks nice!
Here's how she turned out:

I know, the lighting is bad in this pic and there's weird shadows every where.  Look closer:

And look inside!

My favorite part!  Fabric from JoAnn's.  Cut to size and glued in.  A lot of people have asked how I glued it in.  I tried the spray glue stuff but it really doesn't adhere well...especially since there was primer sprayed into the drawer.  So I pulled it out and reglued it with lots of tacky glue.

I love the desk! 

Now...to find the perfect chair to go along with it.  Imagine the seat covered in that harlequin fabric...

...to be continued...