Revamping the old sewing desk

When Steve bought our old house about 20 years ago, there were a lot of things left in it. See the house belong to an elderly man who didn't have any family around the area. The house was left in shambles, ie old horsehair plaster walls cracked and peeling. It was in bad shape. There were several pieces of furniture that was left. I found upstairs an old sewing machine desk. The desk had some water damage on the leaves that fold out. It housed a 1930's White sewing machine (white is the brand of those real old metal machines). I don't think the machine is in any condition to be refurbished so I decided to keep the desk to place my sewing machine on, unfortunately it won't fit in the opening where the old one was.

I asked Steve to help me carry the desk to the area above the garage so I could start sanding it. I had managed to sand the larger sides in a short time. You can barely tell that there was any water damage to the leaves, which I was so happy about. I need to apply a coat of stripper to the detailed areas and sand with some steel wool. I bought some Minwax stain called Bombay Mahogany. I love the dark richness of the stain color the store had shown, however on the website is looks nothing like what I saw in the store. So with fingers crossed I will still apply the stain.

So I'm back to update this post. It is November 13, 2008 ~ I have applied the first coat of stain. I really like how it is coming out. In a few hours hopefully I will be able to sand it with some steel wool and then apply the second coat. I am loving the richness of the dark stain.

Well it is done. I have applied the second coat of stain and love the color. I don't think the pictures show you the richness of the stain color. Here are couple of the after photos of the desk in it's new home in my craftroom.