10.19.2014 My body is ready. My desk is not.

TOTAL SCORE. I bought my desk yesterday off of a Facebook Yard Sale group for $20. I wanted something sturdy, but that wouldn't impede my frantic leg swinging and chair spinning. There's few things in this universe that irk me quite as much as a tiny little work desk with filing cabinets built in on both sides because I'm constantly knocking my legs against the sides. I spend so much time at my desk. It needs to be pretty comfy. I also needed something fairly large, I've had a small desk before and it's very hard to put my drawing tablet on my desk and actually be comfortable. I wanted a rectangular one because of how versatile that is for room placement. I didn't want to have to stare into the corner anymore. With my current L-shaped desk I have exactly one option for where to put it in my house, and it's in front of a window and requires a Wi-fi connection.

To reiterate what I needed: Sturdy, Large, Frantic leg kicking space, rectangular

So I got this bad boy.

For $20 I lucked out. I've been keeping an eye out for about a month for a good desk and it paid off. Now I poked around on Pinterest and figured out how to paint laminate. It's all about the prep work: I cleaned off the table and lightly sanded it with some medium-grit sandpaper I had left over from a sculpting project. And then the main thing is getting the right kind of primer. It has to say it's specifically for a glossy surface, or even specifically for laminate. I used Zinsser 123 Bullseye primer for the wood because I saw it recommended on a few "how to paint laminate" tutorials, and Rustoleum clean metal primer because I've heard only good things about Rustoleum, and there was a little bit of rust on the metal legs of the desk. I think this desk came from someone's workshop.

The supplies were about $50, but that will last for more than just this project. Also the can of black paint was free, part of some event last year, so that's leftover. The foam brushes are cheap-- they're going to get destroyed.

This is the desk cleaned and sanded...I swept up the mess then put the table on a plastic tarp for painting. I'm painting this inside because it's gonna take 7 days to cure the primer and I want to do it correctly. There's also wasps on my back porch so...no thanks.

First I started by priming all the wood as you can see here. I did two coats on all the wood parts.

Then I used the clean metal primer on all the metal parts. At this point I realized I probably could have just used the same primer all over, but oh well. Having extra primer around the house isn't going to hurt, especially since it's likely I'll have to paint more furniture for this project...specifically a filing cabinet and maybe a bookshelf. 

And the primer is all done! I've gotta wait 7 days for it to dry, so in the meantime I get to work on the design. I'm thinking basically all the wood parts will be black and the metal will be white. That will probably give it that sophisticated look. I might try to incorporate some washi tape into the trim, but I haven't decided quite yet. In the end I'm going to use polycrylic for the clear coat to make sure my desk is durable. I expect with all the waiting for things to dry this will take quite a while.

P.S.: I will say I made the unfortunate mistake of trying to wash the foam brush after I used the metal primer. The oil based primer didn't want to wash out at all. I ended up getting paint all over my hands. My boyfriend had to rescue me with paper towels, canola oil, and salt because I couldn't leave the bathroom sink without making a mess. Live and learn I guess.