Burlap & Satin

I may have mentioned that we've decided to move our office upstairs just for the sake of organization. We still plan to have a library/reading area downstairs off the living room (where the current office is) but having the computer and all its messy friends down here was just too much. It was ruining their relationship, they needed space, it's not you it's me, etc etc. You get the idea.

The problem with this is that our upstairs is basically just a modified attic with very low, sloped ceilings. So I started to research some options and find a way to create a desk that wouldn't be very tall but would be really long. I didn't find anything suitable in stores, but I did find some great inspiration while browsing on Flickr and so decided that I would just have to create my own desk. Enter Ebay. There is a college about one hour south of us that has begun selling all of their surplus on Ebay in order to fund its programs. The awesome part is that they put no reserve on these items, it's just basically to make money and get rid of all the extra junk they don't need. So J. put in a ridiculously low bid on a lot of 3 tables and left it at that. Lo and behold, we won! When J. pulled in the driveway a week later with these tables in the back of his truck, I died laughing. They were HUGE! I'm talking ginormous here, people.

However, the one that I really wanted was an old science lab table with these awesome thick wooden legs. But man, did it need work.

Seriously, you should have seen the entire gum-scraping experience. No wait, you should have smelled the entire gum-scraping experience. Goo Gone! Old crusty candy! No wait, ten year old strawberry Bubblicious! Yummmmmm!

Still, it fit perfectly in the upstairs space where we needed it so our new desk it was. Now the top was in horrible shape and had been beat all to hell, so we bought a huge piece of oak instead, had it cut to fit and voila! A new top was born.

Up next was the finish. I've already decided that the upstairs color scheme will be as follows: pale blue walls, white carpet and deep black furniture. I really loved the oak wood grain on this table and I wanted to preserve its history so rather than paint it black, I decided to sand it down and stain it instead. After a few attempts at learning stain and experimenting a bit, I finally found my groove and got the newer top piece to match the older legs. When I was happy with it, I sealed it with a single coat of polyurethane.

Say hello to our new desk.

Eventually we will have a file cabinet and some other cabinet with drawers for storage that will all roll underneath it and be out of the way. I'd also like to buy some more oak and possibly build my own hutch to go across the back of it to hold papers and such.

I've already decided that someday it will be our dining room table as well. We currently don't have room for something this big in our dining room, but someday I will have my big formal dining room, oh yes. (This thing would seat eight, people. Eight! Seriously!) I love the fact that I can just sand this down and make it look however I need it to look for years to come. Plus, I really like that I took a $4 table (yes four dollars) and made it look like something Pottery Barn would charge eight million dollars for. I've decided that I just might start trying to learn how to make and build my own furniture. It's not only ten times cheaper, it's just endlessly more gratifying. How cool is it that when people say, "hey where'd you get that table?" you can say nonchalantly "Oh that? I made it."

Heh, heh. Yeah.