When a friend asked me if I had any desks in stock, I was disappointed that I couldn’t fulfill his furniture request right away; but a quick trip the thrift shop and I was lucky enough to come across this beautiful, solid wood Hooker Furniture desk for under $40.
The desk (below) had a few surface scratches and was a little tired-looking from years of use, but the size, storage, and quality were all exceptional.
Upon closer inspection, I found the original tags and keys indicating it was a Hooker Furniture desk. The drawers slid perfectly smooth and were extremely clean inside (bonus!). The drawer fronts themselves were in excellent condition and really didn’t need to be refinished at all.
You’re probably thinking that the “before” and “after” photos look pretty much the same; but trust me, there was enough wear on the surface and around the base that it really did need some refinishing love.
My friend’s only color request was to “make it beautiful”. That’s not much to go on so I visited their home to see what other colors they had in their house and see if they preferred painted or stained furniture. They had several light-colored woods throughout the house, but had just gotten some new ladder back dining chairs just like these two that I had in my workshop…
It just so happened they needed two more chairs too.
Since the original stain color of the desk was the same English Chestnut stain as on the chairs, we decided to to keep the desk as English Chestnut as well.
To remove the surface scratches, I sanded it with my DeWalt rotary hand sander. This has made my furniture-refinishing life so much easier. I couldn’t imagine sanding by hand. That would be like waiting for a rotary phone to dial!
Underneath, I found what I believe was cherry wood. The weight of this desk also indicates cherry. It’s very heavy!
After applying two coats of the English Chestnut stain, I took a much darker, almost black stain and wiped it into the deeper groves and edges to give the finish more dimension. The final coat was two coats of oil-based polyurethane in a satin finish.
The chairs were also washed in the Minwax English Chestnut stain and Minwax Satin Polyurethane to freshen up their finish.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links to the products I use myself.
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Thank you & Enjoy!
Vicki
Well done! What a great, rich finish!
Thank you Suzanne!