So, you might be confused by the title of this post-i'll try to explain! When I was in high school my Dad bought me an Ethan Allen desk which I loved! But over the years it's taking a bit of a beating. I thought about getting rid of it and getting a new one but I decided to keep it because one, it's really beautiful and nice quality and two, for sentimental reasons! So fast forward to a couple of months ago, my husband's boss was telling him about some bedroom furniture they had painted by this gal and how she did such a great job, was very reasonalbly priced, etc. So I looked at her blog where she displays all her finished pieces and e-mailed her some pictures of the desk to see if it would be something she could do. After she said she could do it I decided to give it a shot. I told her I wanted it refinished to about the same color, maybe slightly darker. When I went to pick it up a week and a half later I was simply not happy with the end result. It was a lot darker than what I had thought, all surfaces were very rough, and the finish looked like it was sprayed on without any sanding in between. I hate to sit here and criticize her work because she was really nice and has done a good job on other projects, but I came to realize that she is more skilled in painting furniture than refinishing/staining it. I will admit I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to the stuff I value a lot, so admittedly I had high expectations. My Dad put it well when he said the biggest problem with being a perfectionist is you get disappointed a lot! I have to agree!
Well, after moping around the house all day after picking up the desk I decided I would refinish it myself and if it didn't work out I had nothing to lose but my money and time! So I did a lot of research online, purchased all the necessary supplies and went to work. It took me quite a long time to complete it but I went slow since it was my first time. That, and there was so much dark purplish stain to remove as well. I learned a lot about refinishing, it's definitely a labor of love! I have to say the end result is not perfect but I think it turned out well considering what I started with! The lesson I have learned here is you get what you pay for most of the time and it's a good idea to go with someone who has a lot of experience with the specific service you are after and who guarantees your satisfaction.
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| My corner of supplies! |
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| This is Chata, the neighbor's cat. She loves to come over and be with us when we're outside. If she were my cat I'd call her Buttersctoch! |
