Desk Refinish/Refinish

     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.

My corner of supplies!

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!