Whimsically Painted Desk For a Little Girl

Hello there - and what a lovely day it is....

Grab your coffee, a comfy seat and let's chat awhile.  I have lots to share with you today.  

 I have been promising you for a while that I would start posting some of my before and after projects. Today is the first of those.  We have been diligently working on getting Miss A's Space together for her.  So, we have been thrift shopping to find the perfect pieces.  I truly love to refinish and re purpose furniture so, this made a great opportunity for me to be able to do what I love most -thrift shop, re purpose furniture, and PAINT.....  This is my first project for her room

Isn't it adorable....  I absolutely love it.   I saw the inspiration for it on Pinterest

Isn't it just the sweetest...  I am not very good at remembering to take pics of what I am doing yet  I seem to forget most of the time - even though I keep my camera at my work station.  I just haven't gotten used to snapping each step so, alas, there are many steps left to the imagination on this one.

These are the before pics minus the drawer as I had already started painting it.  We found this little number at the local Good Will for $25.  A little bunged up and dirty - requiring a good cleaning.

and a nice coat (actually 2 coats) of Zinsser primer and sealer.

And this is what it looked like.  Then the decorative part of the painting. (and no pics, sorry)  I decided to do mine differently than the inspiration piece.  I painted each leg the pastel colors blue, pink, green and yellow. (The yellow is so pale it looks white in the pics)

Then I painted the drawer pink.  The next step was painting the polka dots on the legs and drawer.  These I did free hand.  Just painted a white circle where it looked like one needed to be.  No science here.  ( After I was done my niece suggested I use a bingo dobber to do the circles - how clever - and why didn't I think of that??)

Then I painted the desktop and the apron white.  But, I couldn't leave that desktop untouched.....

So I taped off a large square and painted it pink then added the pink polka dots the same as the legs.  Then came the hard part - the black check border around the pink square.  Now, this was challenging but, oh so worth it...  I marked off the squares and then placed an X on every other one. The X'd ones were painted black.  This was all done free hand also but if you find a brush the width of the square you want to make it becomes quite simple. 

The next step was to line the ugly drawer.   I hate ugly brown drawers.  I found some cute wrapping paper with a girly theme done with polka dots.  Really perfect for his funky little desk.  I decoupaged the paper on the inside of the drawer.  And, I really love how it turned out - perfect for a little girl.

The last step was to add a protective finish.  (Especially, since it was going in a 6-year-old's room)  I had a hard time deciding on a wax or a polyurethane coat.  I read a lot about both on the blogs I follow and finally decided wax was the best.  I used Johnson's clear coat wax.  I applied the first coat with a brush and then I polished it with a soft cloth.  I decided to apply a second coat but used a rag this time.Let it set overnight and then polished it.  Now, since it was a desk going in a little girl's room  I decided the top needed a third coat and so it was applied the same way as the second coat.

And here it is - in all it's glory.  I absolutely love it and think it is so adorable the perfect whimsical piece for a little girl.  We are busy working on more pieces for her room as I write this.  So, say tuned - hopefully, I can remember to take more pictures this time

 So, until next time - have fun, do what you love but, most of all enjoy your life.

       

I will be linking up to the parties listed in the Where I Party page this week.  Please go by and check out all the great inspiration found there

If you like this post you may also like these:

Kate's Bedside Table

Little Flower Table

                                                         Glamorized Vanity Makeover