Recycling at it's Finest!

I've been a little slow to get the blog off the ground, but not to worry I have lots of great blog ideas in the pipeline! I know you were worried right?! With a new house, a toddler, and a new baby on the way, my life is chock full of content for this blog: house tours, furniture rehabs, garage organization, baby post, mommy post, and I'll be bringing back "What's Cookin' Wednesdays" for those of you who followed my blog while in Ireland. So if you're following along I hope you will enjoy, and if not, well your loss! Ha ha!

While living in Florida I had access to some of the best thrift and antique stores around. Sadly the reasoning behind this is because the median age in Naples Florida is 64.2. This is 20 years older than the median age of Floridians in general. Additionally, Collier County (Naples) is ranked number one per capita income in Florida. So basically we're talking about a lot of old, rich people. When the old and rich kick the bucket their belongings generally end up in the various consignment and thrift stores around town, and for that reason several wonderful pieces have ended up in my new home. Recycling at it's finest! So maybe it's not so sad after all. 

My newest rehab piece was picked up at one of my favorite thrift shops The White Elephant . Proceeds from their sales benefit the hospital where my baby was born, and this happens to be a piece of furniture I picked out especially for her! It traveled on the moving truck with us to Idaho where it has since been sitting in the garage patiently waiting for it's makeover. Well, the makeover is complete and my baby toddler is finally ready for it too! 

So here is the fabulous before shot! 

When I saw this vintage school desk at the White Elephant I immediately envisioned Logan sitting here coloring, playing school, working on puzzles etc. I had to have it, and for $25, why wouldn't you buy it! Of course we had to put a little sweat equity into it, we being my wonderful husband Adam, but we still came out way ahead. I have seen similar desk on Etsy and Ebay that sell for over $200!

 Adam took apart and sanded both the wooden and metal parts of the desk and even scraped some authentic gum off the bottom which has probably been there for 50 years! I'll spare you the gum picture!

I hemmed and hawed over a color. Should I paint it to match Logan's room decor? Go with something bright and funky? Paint a design on the lid, or use chalkboard paint? However, in the end I decided to stick with one of my favorite design philosophy's and go neutral. So the metal part received two coats of glossy white spray paint and the wood a nice medium wood stain.

As you can see the top has plenty of imperfections even the power sander could not remove, but that's what gives it character, and will make me less concerned when my children decide to add their own character to the top!

For now the desk is filled with Logan's books and puzzles. No paper or pencils just yet. Coloring paraphernalia and stickers still have to remain a supervised activity at 18 months old. However, when she can be trusted to not draw on the walls or the white sofa (probably around 18) I'm sure this cute little desk will be filled with all sorts of wonderful craft and school supplies! I can't wait!