Refinishing Desk and End Table - Handles and All

 Princess number three decided to get her own room at college. Princess two and one shared rooms and had issues with some room mates over the years. 

So, with the knowledge that she was going to have her own room, we went in the summer and saw how much room she would have and what furniture was included. The bed and a dresser were the only furniture that were included and she had a space for a desk so we decided to hunt for a used one that we could refinish to match what she wanted for the decor in her room at college. 

We searched a few hotel liquidation places and they wanted $25 to $30 for a beat up end table and had no desks. So, I looked online and wasn't able to find anything which left us looking at yard sales or second hand stores. I am not big on going to yard sales much anymore as we don't need much now that the kids are mostly grown but I do frequent second hand stores looking for yarn, stuffing etc for us to use when we do the humanitarian and charity hats, dolls etc.  

While shopping one day, I found a desk for $40 and it was quite solid and well made. It was about the right size to fit into her room but it had white Formica on the top. I thought about painting it but thought the paint may not stay on and I actually bought some zebra print fabric to cover it and then we bought a piece of glass to stick on top of that. However, when I thought about it, I thought if we painted it and it did chip, then we could put the fabric on. If we painted it and it didn't chip, it would be cheaper and much easier for me all around.
 
So, I had Princess number three help me sand the desk and Formica top. A few days later I found a solid end table for $8 and bought it. We went paint shopping and bought some Rust-oleum Hammered spray paint and got enough to cover both the desk and the end table. 

We sanded off the fake wood finish on the end table as you can see in the photo of the back. We finished sanding and wiping down the real wood and formica on the desk. We sprayed it all outside and let it dry. 

The edges of the desk had chipped Formica so I peeled it all off and when we sprayed it with the spray paint, it still didn't look that great so we took "Hammerite" Rust cap paint we used for the wedding last December and used that on the edges as it goes on a bit thicker and has an uneven finish anyway. 

Princess three decided to do the edges of the end table with that as well as they were a bit scuffed and the spray paint didn't stay on as well. 

The other thing that I liked was that the Hammerite paint covered the brass handles and made them look better than new. I had purchased several types of new handles but after we painted the old one's with that paint and painted some old wooden handles we had from the girls closet doors, we liked them better than the new ones so we used those instead.

I wish I had remembered to get "before" shots but I have a bad habit of forgetting to do that. I usually remember half way through the project. Here is a link to see it in her dorm room.