A revamped desk for Miss B's room

I've been looking for a desk for Miss B's room.

And I found a super cute retro wooden school desk from the 70's or 80's on an auction site in New Zealand called trademe.

It needed a little work.

So to work Miss B and I went. The first step was to clean off the dirt and spiderwebs and stickers. Miss B was happy to deal with the stickers, but the spiderwebs were Mum's job.

Next we sanded off the felt tip marks and sticker residue. I used an electric sander because I had one, but hand sanding would be just as good.

 Its already looking better.

I decided to undercoat with some budget all purpose white paint I already had and then to spray a top coat with gloss white so there wouldn't be brush or roller marks visible.

I rolled as much of the undercoat as I could then used a brush for the corners. As it is going to be subjected to the rough and tumble of Miss B, I did three lots of undercoat, then a light sand.

After the undercoat had dried I used this brand of spray paint ( this can says clear gloss but I used the white gloss for this project).

Two coats of top coat and the job was done. This is the finished article.

The stripe on the side is a light effect, I swear!
Miss B is delighted and so am I. The whole project took 3 days but it was worth it. All Miss B's art and stationary supplies fit under the lid which lifts up. A great bonus in the never-ending battle for domestic organisation.

See you next time.

How to turn an old wood bookcase into a stylish classic.

February garage month seems to have extended into March and on into April.


As it is taking so long, due to work and life getting in the way,  I thought a smaller project to revitalize my sense of achievement was in order.


 I have an old pine bookcase that has been in almost every room in our house at one time or another.  It's last incarnation was  in my wardrobe. However The Bloke has been set to work in there after a bit of blog surfing inspiration, so the bookcase has moved by default into our upstairs lounge.


The problem is that it just doesn't go with the decor and it looks frumpy and tired. Not to mention it seems to be a junk magnet where everything that doesn't have a defined home ends up, so it's messy too.


I'd had enough of looking at it and decided to take action.


Off to my second home Bunnings hardware store for some white gloss spray paint I tottered.


I used a paint with a primer and top coat in one.

This is the brand I used. I chose gloss white.

This is the bookcase when it was in my wardrobe.

I cleaned it really well but I didn't sand it back first, and I didn't undercoat it. Just sprayed the gloss white all-in-one primer and top coat. If I was doing it again, I would undercoat with regular white interior/exterior paint, as it would be cheaper. 

This is the first spray coat going on. 

I just kept adding coats until I was happy with the coverage. I did three coats in total. 

Here is the finished article

Then comes the fun part...styling.

and there it is, a classic white bookcase. See you next time.