Revamped Mahogany Desk

I love going to Goodwill when they don't know exactly what they've got for sale. I found a solid Mahogany desk for $15.

Yup. You read that right - fifteen bucks.

It had seen some better days - the finish was wearing off in a few places and it smelled (strongly) like old people, but there wasn't anything wrong that couldn't be fixed with a sander, some stain and a little paint.

I have mixed feelings about the fact that I painted a Mahogany piece, but I can't argue with the results. I absolutely love it. 

After a light sanding on the body, I used a flat latex paint from Lowe's. It took about three coats to cover, but it went on nicely. I toyed with the idea of making my own chalk paint to use on it, but I figured I'd save that for a project I'm a little less attached to. Maybe when I redo the desk that this one is replacing ;)



During my research, I stumbled upon an article on A Bit O' Whimsy about using shoe polish as an alternative to the wax that Annie Sloan sells to use with the chalk paint. I've never used wax on any furniture I've painted, so it was certainly a learning experience. I tried sort of buffing the wax on but I didn't put down a base coat of clear wax (which is apparently VERY important) and I hated how it looked. I had to repaint that drawer and start over.

So, erring on the side of caution, I took q-tips, rubbed them in the brown shoe wax, and very gently applied it to the edges of the drawers.

It went well enough - it antiqued the edges without me having to sand off the paint I'd just pain-stakingly applied.

I applied the wax to the columns as well.

All in all, I think it turned out really well. It's a nice, elegant addition to my craft room. Next time I need to remember to take some before pictures, though!