a pretty workspace, achieved through sweat, blood, & tears

Since we rearranged our living room for the winter, (so our couch was in front of the stove) there's been a bare corner in front of the big window begging for something. I have about 3 pieces of furniture to my name: a chair I bought at Goodwill out here & another one I bought at an auction in Illinois & a desk. Ah, the desk. I had a copper-leafed desk Mom forced me to move out here..it's kind of a long story. I could've left it in Illinois, but...When I was 12 & had loads of free time, I claimed a desk in our basement for my own. Never mind that it wasn't. I decided, without asking permission, that it would be okay to attach knobs & copper-leaf the entire thing. How I managed to buy all the supplies for it without letting my mother know what I was doing is beyond me. And where I got the idea to copper-leaf it?! Who knows. These were the days before pinterest & the diy movement, remember. I couldn't even drive! But anyway, I handsanded the entire desk, primed it, painstakingly attached 4 in by 4 in copper-leaf sheets one by one, drilled holes for knobs I'd bought at anthropologie over several trips (funds were a little scant in my 12 year old wallet), modpodged on Japanese paper to the sides when I got tired of copper-leafing, & actually finished it. Which is more than I can say about a lot of projects I undertake these days...But here was this desk then. Like nothing ever seen before; imagine it: a gleaming copper desk with mismatched glass nobs & floral Japanese paper on the sides. I REALLY wish I had a photo of it then. So, it was a monstrosity that would fit nowhere, which is probably why Mom insisted I bring it out. 

With a little updating, my desk wouldn't look bad in the corner, & I could unpack my office stuff. I thought it would be an easy fix to paint it. Right? The shape was classic enough. And the knobs were still pretty. I had a vision of a creamy, perfectly smooth desk reminiscient of the Parsons desk from West Elm. So we began. Ugh. A disaster. First, I sanded all the copper off. (Sob! All that hard work, gone!) Then, I painted it--again, by hand. What is up with me & doing things by hand that are laborious & make you want to swallow splinters? 

I got about six coats on, then started sanding to get my coveted smooth finish. First problem: apparently oak wood has tannins in it that leach through most paints & give them a sickly yellow color. My lovely cream was splotched with oily yellow spots! So it was back to the start. I did some research (which I should've done in the first place) & discovered a primer that sealed off the tannins from leaching through. Back at it. Now, I was using a foam brush, but there were still subtle brush strokes, and after complaining about it to Dar, he busted out their paint sprayer that attaches to the air hose. My next eight coats were much smoother, but not very even due to the poor lighting in the shop. To fix that, we waited for a nice day & carried it outside. By this point, I was so tired of the stupid desk & Dar was even more so. But he patiently walked me through it, lugged it outside, got the sprayer ready for me. It was a slight stress on our marriage. I realized how nasty I can be when my vision isn't achieved:/. Dar gets a lot of credit for putting up with me when I realized my already-less-than-smooth finish was being attacked by tiny gnats attracted by the smell of wet paint. In a fit of frustration, I oversprayed the back of the desk, making huge runs. I debated chopping it up for firewood. But I didn't. And I'm so glad.  

Because now my creamy, gleamy desk sits in the corner of our living room in front of the big window, catching the morning light while I sip my coffee & putter around on my computer & journal. It makes me so happy:). 

(I got a new camera lens for Christmas: isn't it amazing?!)