Shades of Blue Interiors

A Birthday Present To Myself!

21 Comments

Today is my birthday! So as a present to myself, I finally got around to finishing this knee-hole desk last night!
For starters I got this FOR FREE on craigslist several months ago. 🙂 People are crazy sometimes.
 I knew I wanted to herringbone on the drawers for awhile, but was dreading taping off  and measuring and blah blah soundslikeanightmare. So it sat in my room for probably 2 months, untouched. I also knew I would keep the desk, so it was low on my priority list to finish.
When StencilGirl Products contacted me a couple months ago to do a tutorial using their stencils, and I ended up making the Greek Inlay Tables. While I was looking around on their site, I found this herringbone stencil! It was perfect for what I had imagined for this desk! I love StencilGirl stencils because they are designed by individual artists and made available for you to purchase at a VERY reasonable price (around $15 for the large stencils). Each one is unique and unlike ANYTHING out there that I have seen! They are not paying me to say this. They did not give me the herringbone stencil for free. This is truly my opinion!
I stenciled these drawers differently than I did the table, so I’m going to show you a couple pics of how I did it! 
Paint drawer fronts with the color you want the herringbone stripes to be (in this case ASCP Duck Egg). It only took 1 coat to get this coverage!
Then, I slightly sprayed some adhesive on one side of the stencil. Note: this will gum up a little after several uses, but with a little effort and warm water, can and will need to be removed after 4-5 uses if you spray in between each use.

The reason I used the spray adhesive is because the drawer fronts were curved and I wanted the pattern to go in the up/down direction instead of sideways. It would have made it impossible to hold in place securely if I didn’t use the spray adhesive. 
I used a foam roller to apply Old White ASCP, but I made sure the roller had VERY LITTLE paint and I was careful to remove any excess so bleeding wouldn’t occur. If minor bleeding DID occur, I used a toothpick and cleaned up the lines while it was still wet. 
It required 2 coats of Old White.

After 2 coats were done, I had to move it over a little to finish off the drawer front. The whole process went actually pretty quickly!
Finished drawer front!

Ta da! I love how it adds a little more visual texture to the drawers! Since I’ve seen the two-tone look over and over, I love that this is a little different yet still easy to decorate around. 

I love this quote. Copied the design online and it is a great reminder hanging in our living room, especially this month!

The hardware isn’t something my husband is crazy about. I wasn’t at first either, but once I finished the whole thing, I don’t hate it! I might change out the pulls if I can find something cooler, but for now, they look pretty neat. 
Light distressing was a must. I almost didn’t. But when I did, suddenly the pulls didn’t look so ‘off’.
I love it! Can’t go wrong with blue and white! 😉
 Here’s a sneak peak of an antique chair I refinished last night as well. MMS Milk Paint in Ironstone… it didn’t chip so I gave it some good distressing. Love the super-weathered look on it!

Comments

  3. Danielle says

    Happy Birthday, Lady! LOVE the desk and tell the hubby I love the pulls too. I think they look fantastic on it. Love the frame and the quote. Ah, I love it all. Fantastic job, my friend. x

    Reply

  11. Patti-Ann says

    Another winner as usual. Double the pleasure because you get to keep it. It is wonderful and I can see how the distressing on the desk made the pulls more at home. Love it.

    Reply

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