New Old Desks

before picture

It's finally time to pull down my vintage desks from the attic. I've checked different sources--it's hard to tell exactly how old these are--everthing says 1900-1950. My parents bought three of these desks from someone else when I was four or five. One of my favorites pastimes was to play school. These were set up in the basement, and my dad mounted a little chalkboard on the wall, even. When they moved from their big house, I grabbed these. My sis has the other one. They're interesting to look at--one has an inkwell hole, the other does not, but they're exactly the same in all other ways, so I think they're the same age.

I took them over to Grandpa, after washing them down. I agonized over whether to take the old finish off, and you can see from the "before" pictures that they're pretty hacked. I went to an antique dealer, who told me that sometimes the value of an item can be diminished when you refinish it, but on the other hand, no one will buy it when it's in such rough shape. So in the end, knowing I'll never sell these beauties, Grandpa took off just the old finish, leaving a gouge or two, so everything else pretty much as they were. The desks are absolutely solid, so no repair had to be made that way, other than to find two old bolts for one of the seats, which Grandpa just happened to have on hand. The "after" desks are absolutely beautiful. Originally, the back "striped" desk was my favorite, just because of the colors of the wood. But underneath the cracked, yellowed laquer of the plain desk--

was an incredibly beautiful grain. And it, too, has a bit of a striped effect, where the pieces of wood were joined together.

The desktops also have an awesome grain on them, although I would have never known had I not refinished them.

Here's a little chair I found at a yard sale this past summer. J & L had found an amazing mid-century modern dresser for $22 (see my earlier post (Mid Century Madness), and this little chair was marked $5. We offered $20 for the both, and our offer was immediately accepted with no hesitation. I pretty much know the age of the chair--I sat in one exactly like this in first grade in 1964. Only my first grade chair wasn't as cool. I elected to refinish this, as well. First, Grandpa again worked his magic, taking off just the cracked, yellowed finish. He hit a few places on the frame, where the paint was chipped, and smoothed them. I spray painted the frame, from chipped gray to dazzling red.

I stained and polyurethaned (it that a verb?) the seat and back, again, revealing a gorgeous grain. I love the little silver feet, too. Though they don't match up in age, I'll use this chair behind the second desk.

And the result of all those years of playing school? I love to read, and was (and hopefully still am) very good at it. When Mrs. Anderson (my beloved first grade teacher who wore the fluffiest skirts EVER) needed to leave the classroom for whatever reason (it didn't happen often), she would call me up, and I would sit at her round table, in her chair, and listen to other kids read in reading circle. If only math would have been an easy!