…sounds like what I had for dinner last night.

Are you sick of me sharing pictures of the shop yet? No? Ok good because here we are again. In the downstairs “living room”.

I was planning to show a before and after of the secretary desk but I failed.  Miserably.  I can not find the before shot anywhere so you will have to use your imagination.  The hutch started out a mousey scratched up brown color but it is made of mahogany and quite sturdy.  Just needed a little TLC.

I decided on a two-tone makeover.  In fact, I’ve been on a kick with two-tone paint jobs lately.  So the exterior including the front of the desk door got 2 coats of ASCP Cream slightly using the impasto technique.  This is the first time I have used chalk paint as an impasto.  I wasn’t sure how I was going to like it but I’m happy with the results.  Basically you allow the paint to thicken up which gives thick, rich texture to the finish.  I painted this piece outside on a windy day so nature thickened the paint.  I will warn you though, impasto certainly uses more paint.  I went through about two thirds of the can on this.  The finish is unique and gives the illusion of years and layers of paint which can age a piece of furniture.  Kind of like reverse botox.  It is hard to really capture the texture in a photo.

The interior was painted with 2 coats of Duck Egg Blue. It is not quite as thick though. Man, duck egg has got to be one of my favorite colors.  It’s perfect.

I dry brushed some Duck Egg right over the Cream.  Everything was heavily clear waxed and lightly distressed but very carefully as to not to lose all of the impasto induced texture.

I did leave the original Chippendale hardware in place.  I am not crazy about that style but it seems to work with the finished piece.  I am also not crazy about the style of the crown on top.  Fortunately this can be removed…easily.  So if you are like me and don’t like Chippendale, this secretary desk can be further transformed to a more streamlined piece!

I do, however, love the new little drawer knob.  I switched out the old brass knob for sweet pea!  I bought several adorable knobs including this one from Vintage Skye and I have to tell you that I received tremendous customer service from Kristi.  I can’t say enough great things about her biz.  In fact, I want to order one of everything.

I’m really liking the versatility of a good secretary desk. It works well as a home office. At the end of the day, you can just close up the desk and hide all of your junk. Not that you wouldn’t be organized with all of those little mail cubbies. You can always use it in a dining room to store and display your China like I showed it here. Apartment Therapy did a little feature on secretary desks earlier this week. Yep, they’re all the rage due to their narrow, space saving build. And we didn’t even talk about the storage space that the large drawers offer!

TGIF!

Linking to Miss Mustard Seed, Restore Interiors & Primitive & Proper