By Danielle Peterson

When Ellen Brenneman drove by a sad-looking desk on the side of the road, she knew she needed to give it a new home. The desk begged for a complete makeover, and Ellen was ready for the challenge. “I have many pieces that I’ve painted that have found a place in my home, but this desk is really a showpiece and I’m very proud of it!” she says.

The remake uses three distinct paint treatments to create an amazing makeover. First, Ellen sanded the entire desk and applied two coats of black satin acrylic paint, letting it dry between coats. When the black paint was set, she used a slightly damp sponge to rub a gel wood stain all over the desk. This gave it a softer, leathery appearance.

“I love the aged, distressed look of furniture,” Ellen says. To achieve this look, she rubbed the edges and corners with a small candle before painting. After the paint dried, Ellen used fine-grit sandpaper on the places where she had applied wax. The paint came off easily and enhanced the distressed look.

On top of the desk, Ellen measured 3 inches from each side and masked it off with tape. Along the outside border, Ellen used the Classic Leather Paint Kit by American Accents to give the desktop a more rustic appearance. The kit comes with a spray-on base coat. When this was dry, Ellen sponged on the provided topcoat. Immediately after she was done, Ellen placed plastic wrap on the wet paint and lifted it off quickly. “It looks like actual leather when it’s dry,” she says.
 
Inside the border, Ellen created a colorful design by starting with two coats of an off-white acrylic paint. After the paint was dry, she used paisley wallpaper and a floor stencil to decorate. When the design was perfected, Ellen used the gel wood stain again to bring out the crackle finish.

For the drawers, Ellen followed the same process as for the border, using the Classic Leather Paint Kit. When that was complete, she installed drawer handles purchased from a local home improvement store. The chair was another trash find, but by painting it black and using the gel wood stain Ellen made it match the desk. Then she painted and stenciled the seat cover using the same steps as for the desktop.

For other pictures of Ellen ’s project, click here.

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Want more ways to change the look of your everyday furniture? Click here.

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