This commissioned piece was brought to me by a client who was hoping to transform and old desk into a makeup vanity. She wanted the base to be a clean, bright white, and a wood exposed top. I began by stripping the varnish from the top of the desk. It took several passes:

Layer by layer, I worked towards the wood below

Once I'd reached the wood below, I sanded it until smooth. Some previous owner had etched and wrote all over the desk, and if I ever find you Elizabeth, we are going to have some words.

Once minor repairs were out of the way (wood filler, glue, etc.), I painted over the base with white chalk paint, but the stain of the wood bled through. I tried two coats, but wasn't getting the coverage I wanted. I tried layer of Kilz Primer, but I still wasn't getting anywhere. So, I waited for the paint to dry, went over it with a coat of shellac, then once again repainted it with chalk paint. Success! I gave it two coats.

Major bleed through, and this is after primer and two coats!

Meanwhile, I the top of the desk was sanded and prepped, so I went over it with Danish oil to bring out the original wood's beauty. I then applied three coats of oil based polyurethane. (Since she was going to be using it to do her makeup, I wanted the surface well protected from water, spills, etc.)

With the desk painted and the top sealed with poly, I waxed the base using a clear wax. I then mixed a touch of gray chalk paint to the wax and went over all those nooks and crannies to add depth. The gray tinted wax gave those details the pop they needed! I added beautiful pinkish knobs that really pulled out the color of the desk's top and Terry was done!