Chapter 8: Painting and Staining

Psst. Click to read Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7!

The desk is built, folks. And I could not be more excited about it! This process has been a long one- we got bits and pieces done here and there after work and on the weekends, so it has definitely not been an overnight task. Let’s start a few steps back, though. The last you saw, we had just gone over the general plan for building the desk that will fit inside the spare room closet.

So, we’d gotten the drawer set and cut the door down to size:

Now it was time for transforming both pieces from their original yuck brown to the colors we wanted for the new office. Remember I showed you this picture that I was using for inspiration?

via

So, first thing I had to do was sand sand sand each and every piece. All the drawers came out, the frame got sanded, as did the top of the door. And in the spirit of keeping it real, here’s what my backyard looked like for most of this part of the project:

HAH! The neighbors probably thought I was nuts. But then again, I think they’re used to seeing pieces sitting outside waiting to be cut or sanded or things drying from a spray paint job. So maybe they looked right past without noticing. 🙂

The sanding was a long process. Essentially, I had to get each and every piece down to the bare wood.

Here are those drawers before and after sanding (the sanded one is on the left)…

Once sanded (I started with 80 grit and worked my way down to 240), they each got three coats of Behr’s Ultra White Semi Gloss Paint (with the built in primer).

The drawer frame got the same treatment- a good sanding and a few coats of paint around the edges. I didn’t worry about doing most of the sides fully, as only one would be seen the way we were going to set it up (you can see it in the shot below).

So let’s talk about the desk top… the most important piece of all, as it will be seen and used the most. Let me quick show you the finished product and then we can backtrack to how we got the look.

I love it- it looks layered and unique, almost like it was cut right from a tree. The finish is not super glossy- the matted look feels so authentic to me. That probably makes no sense, but stick with me here. Now, about the process…

Let me just say- this look was born partly out of user error with the stain job and mostly out of “oh crap, I screwed it up and now I’ll just have to make it up as I go”. In the end, I could not have asked for a better result, so I figured I’d try and document what I did to get here so that if I (or anyone else) ever wants to go for this look again, well now we know how! To do it the improper way, that is. 🙂

Step 1: Sand that baby within an inch of its life. I think I’m addicted to smooth surfaces, now that I see what a good 240 grit sandpaper can to do a piece of wood. I couldn’t stop- I just wanted to keep sanding and sanding!

Step 2: Condition the wood. I used Minwax Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner after reading somewhere how much it helps the stain job. Wait 15 minutes after applying.

Step 3: Apply the first coat of stain. I used Dark Walnut I had left over from a different project.

This is what it looked like after starting with the first coat…

And this is where things went awry. I thought the instructions said wait 10-15 minutes before wiping off any excess. They do, but my project was sitting directly in the sun, so by the time I tried to wipe off the excess, it was all tacky and my paper towel was just smudging and ripping and sticking to the stain. Here’s where the meltdown started.

Step 4: Sand it again. And this is when I thought I had lost my mind. At this point, I was so distraught that I had ruined everything, I was making decisions with reckless abandon. The stain wasn’t fully dry, but I started sanding. With one of those spongy sanding blocks. And not super fine grit, either… I was using the rough stuff. Maybe 80 or 100 or so? And miracle of miracles, blending started happening. It wasn’t erasing mistakes, but it was taking off the shine and muting the harsh spots that had come from my paper toweling. Check out the difference… the bottom of this picture had been sanded, the top had not:

It was at this point that I thought, “wait- this might be a look that I can run with”. All of the sudden, I really liked the muted, not-super-shiny look. So I kept sanding until the whole thing was a “matte” finish. It wasn’t perfect and there were still splotches, but now I had some direction.

Step 5: Time to layer. I figured that if I wanted the aged, layer on layer look, I had to do things… well, layer by layer. After sanding the whole piece, I added some more streaks of the Dark Walnut, trying to cover up some of the splotches.

Let that dry a little and then SAND, baby! Sand it down and blend it in.

From there, it’s just rinse and repeat. And some stain, wait a bit, sand, add some mores stain, wait a bit, sand. Until you have the color you want and the “design” you’re going for.

The biggest thing in all of this is DON’T BE AFRAID TO SAND. It’s going to seem weird and totally against your better judgement, but I promise- it will turn out great in the end.

Step 6: I let the stain job dry and cure for a few days before moving onto sealing it. Because I loved the non-shiny look so much, I went with a Polyurethane with a Satin finish.

Make sure all of the dirt and dust is cleaned off, apply a thin coat and let it dry for as long as the can says. After that, take a super fine grit sandpaper and lightly sand the whole thing, wipe it down, and add another coat. Do this for as many coats as you want. I did two and that seemed to be enough. It’s seems like the perfect combination- the sealant makes it look wet, which brings out the rich dark wood look, but it’s not at all shiny. Hooray! Oh, and that wood paired with the crisp white drawers? Dreamy… I can’t wait to show you more pictures of the finished product! (Spoiler Alert: They’re not in this post, but definitely coming soon!)

Ok, let’s switch gears and talk about that shelf… After cutting the door to length, I used the discarded bottom half (and ripped it down the middle) to create the shallow shelf that would hang above the desk. It looks super wide in this shot, but the each piece is only about 12 inches wide.

The two pieces are braced together with some scrap wood, running the full length. Each side got a piece of 2×4 so that I can attach the whole thing to the wall. Confused yet? Don’t worry- this will make more sense later… here’s a shot at the underside so you can see what I mean about those braces.

Because I wanted the same look for the shelf above, I just went through the same exact process for that piece as I did for the desk. Here’s what it looked like before…

And after (ish)! I think I actually put another layer of stain on to minimize some of the lighter spots, but you get the idea. 🙂

In the end, the shelf matched the desk top nicely and I had two beautiful dark stained pieces, all ready for installing in the office! Are they perfect? No way. But they are unique and have character. And that’s good enough for me. 🙂

Next up… installation! But that, my friends, will have to wait. Because this post is already more like a short story and I’m officially out of steam in telling it. So stay tuned!