A Burn Pile Rescue

We were visiting some friends a while back, and as we walked up to their front door, we noticed a vintage looking desk sitting outside.  It was pretty beat up and in need of some work, but it had such a pretty shape. I asked my friend if she had big plans to fix it up, and she said, "Oh, that's going in the burn pile.  It's a rickety old desk, and we don't have any use for it."  So of course, we said, "We'll take it!"  And I'm so glad we did!

That conversation happened long before we ever knew that we'd be moving, so we took the desk and kept it at Marshall's parents' store.  Now that Marshall is a pastor and is studying and preparing sermons at home, we each need our own desk and office space.  Our first post-Christmas project was to get the office set up.

We brought the desk home, and it was in need of some serious repair.  Thankfully, it came with all of the original drawer pulls (and they are beautiful!).

One of the decorative pieces was missing from the inside left corner, so Marshall had to cut a matching piece with his jigsaw.

Marshall did a lot of nailing and gluing, and then the desk was ready for priming.  I used our usual Zinsser-covers-anything-without-sanding stuff.  It works wonders.

 I had decided on a bluish minty color for the desk, and then we found a gallon of paint for $5 at Habitat for Humanity ReStore that was pretty close.  That's right.  A gallon of paint for $5.  I still haven't gotten over it.  It had a little more green in it than I originally wanted, but I love how it turned out.

I put my old door behind the desk.  My Goodwill bulletin board find is perfect for the space!

Here's a reminder of how the desk started out: