If you have an old wood desk that’s past its visual prime, refurbish it with paint. Useful wood furniture pieces are almost always worth the effort of sprucing up with a new coat of paint. Wood desks still serve a much needed purpose and can be expensive to replace. But with a little bit of paint and a cool technique, it can be even more attractive than when it was brand new. Besides, every room should have at least one piece of painted furniture, no matter the style of the other furniture pieces in the room!
Prepare the Desk’s Wooden Surface for Painting
Prepare the desk for painting by lightly sanding the surface. Wipe away the dust with a tack cloth or slightly damp rag. Use an environmentally-friendly latex primer on the desk before applying a latex paint. Primer seals the wood and also allows the paint to stick without sanding the entire surface down to bare wood. It saves a lot of time and prevents any wood stain remaining on the desk from bleeding through the paint. It like priming your “canvas” for your choice of paint colors for the desk.
Classic Neutral Paint Color Choices
Black, white and any shade of brown are safe color choices for the desk and can easily match almost any decorating style. Let your design direction for the room help you choose the right paint color for the desk. White paint is always a fresh option for furniture and will make the desk appear larger. The opposite is true when black paint is used. It’s a sophisticated choice for furniture and can visually minimize the size of the piece. I don’t know if brown is considered a color to most designers, but it’s my favorite. Remember, there are about as many shades of brown paint as there are brown colors on the planet earth!
Get Artsy With a Fun Technique
Consider using these three colors of paint on the desk. Black, white and one bright paint color. This technique makes a fun statement, no artistic skills required. Frame the edges of the drawer fronts, the desk corners and the edges of the desk top by painting a white stripe, approximately one inch in width. You can tape off the white line or freehand it with a foam brush. Use the tip of another foam brush and add black vertical stripes over the white line. Fill in the rest of the desk with a fun bright color.
Stencils, Stamps or Scripts!
Use stencils or foam stamps to add a desired pattern to the desk, such as fern leaves, flowers, clocks or geometric shapes. Another option is to write black quotes in script form over a solid paint color. Try it on just the drawer fronts and around the perimeter of the desk top. Use a paint pen or even a regular permanent marker. If you make a mistake, simply “erase” that section with a small amount of primer, then repaint the spot with your base color and try again.
Who Doesn’t Love Shabby Chic?
It’s easy to create a shabby chic look on an old wooden desk. First paint the entire desk antique white or even a pastel green. Then lightly sand the edges and other high points using fine grit sandpaper, sanding only the areas on the desk that would naturally show wear over time. Remove only enough paint on strategic areas to allow small amounts of wood to show through.
Seal the Newly Painted Desk
No matter which paint technique you decide to try, don’t forget to protect it. Wait until the paint is thoroughly dry and then use a water-based clear sealer over the entire surface. The sealer will keep your shabby chic desk from becoming more shabby than you intend and will keep your handwritten scripted quotes as fresh as the day you wrote them. Apply at least two coats of water-based sealer, allowing it to dry between coats. Let the desk cure for a week or so before using it.