Before&After: Turquoise Desk

Our main piece of furniture in our apartment is a solid wood desk. However, it also doubles as our dresser and entertainment center. I found this for sixteen dollars at Salvation Army, which was a steal! It had a heavy wood door that covered the desk part, but we threw that part away because we liked the  more open design. The desk really wasn't bad looking, but there was a big X markered on the front by some hapless employee, and it felt too dark for our small space. And everybody knows turquoise brightens everything. Right?

Here's how we refinished it.

We started by sanding it down lightly. I think we spent about thirty minutes sanding it, and honestly we probably should have spent longer. The desk had a very glossy finish, so we roughed up the texture to give the paint something to stick to.

After that we wiped the dust off with a rag and made sure it was clean for painting.

Check out the drawer pulls! :/ Those are a definite no.

First coat of paint...

And second coat. It started looking SO much better!

I love the way our computer chair looks with the desk--so classy and colorful.

This project was the most difficult one I've done. It took us around five hours to finish, not counting the drying time, but it looks so good in our apartment. I definitely couldn't have done it by myself, because we had to pick up the desk to put a tarp underneath and move it away from the wall, and plus it's more fun and encouraging doing projects together. :)

When we finally finished there was much joy and happiness. 

And by joy and happiness I mean beer and hot pockets. Hey, we just refinished an entire desk/dresser. You can't judge our unhealthy dinner.