DIY Vintage Desk REfinishing

Vintage Desk Makeover: Part 1

Finishing and refinishing wood is one of my favorite things about working with it. When you finish a desk or a table, you try to imagine the potential and what the surface and wood grain might look like renewed and reimagined. When my friend Veronica, asked me to refinish her vintage piece, we reinterpreted it for a modern setting.

For this piece, I liked the shape of the furnishing as well as the simple lines and that it feels lightweight and practical for the time. This is how the piece looked initially before I got into the sanding. I taped off the edges of the desk which have thin edge strip of brass patina underneath. 

For this project: I used both of my sanders. I used my round hand sander in the small ones. I began to lightly sand the desk top using a medium grit sandpaper. Then, I filled in the holes here and there with my wood putty. 

Below, you can see my orbital sander technique in which I apply light pressure and allow the sander to do most of the work. 

After sanding almost all of the top of the desk, I used the smaller sander to work on the legs, drawer and sides. As you can see the wood which looked gray before sanding appears reddish gold upon sanding. I chose to leave some of the natural weathering of the wood to add character when I stain it. 

For one of the drawers, the veneer needed to be reattached with wood glue prior to sanding. Here's a quick look at how the top of the desk looked when it was almost completely sanded down. 

Next, I removed the tape from portions of the top edge of the desk to reveal the brass edging. I used Brasso polish to brighten up a section of the old brass. When I am finishing the piece, I will be working on this all the way around the desk. ​​

I look forward to showing you more next week in Part 2 of how I plan to restore and refinish this vintage desk. Did I mention that there is a mirror inside?