This week, we are finishing off a library desk – another project that has been in the queue for a bit.
This restoration is unique for us for a couple of reasons:
- We don’t usually work on restoration projects together – typically one of us will find or claim a project and work on them independently. One of the reasons we are sharing the work on this is the sentimental connections. We picked it up on our first treasure hunting trip around Nova Scotia. On this one, Stephen has already rebuilt slats and cut a glass top (picked up at the Habitat NS Restore, one of our favourites) while M.E. has been busy sanding and staining.
- We are not sanding down to bare wood but keeping
our changes to a minimum. This is a rather rugged piece and we think that it was custom built to be sturdy and functional, probably where there was limited space. It has simple lines and built in book shelves on each side. The stain is a dark walnut. We have decided to smooth some of the rough spots but keep the character and signs of use. We’ll do coat of stain and fix broken slats as well as do minimal sanding to level the top. That is about it.
We’ve have been putting this desk to good use for storage and an extra work space but our plan has always been to put it in what we grandly call our ‘library’. Our library does have 3 bookshelves – just not much room for anything other than a desk.
I like to imagine this piece being well used by for study or doing household records at the end of the day, perhaps in a corner of the kitchen near a fireplace where the family gathered. We intend to keep with that image with our finished desk. We have our library painted with rich colours and a prepared with a traditional copper desk lamp. It will be a tech free zone for letter writing and doing some painting and sketching.
Stay tuned for some before and after pictures when the project is completed in the next week or so.
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