A Simple Cottage Secretary

In my guest bedroom I've had a wonderful tall antique oak dresser for about six months. I love the piece but I realized I was primarily filling it with all my art supplies, not clothes. What I really needed in that spot was a desk.

Last week I got a rather woe begotten antique mahogany secretary at auction. It's a very simple, straight forward piece- Not all the bells and whistles like the secretary I refinished just after Christmas. It's fairly old though, I'd say about 1930, and I really liked the lines and petite size.

about halfway through stripping. 

It needed work, lots and lots of work. First, it had the most coats of paint I've ever seen on a piece of furniture. There was a coat of cream, followed by a red, a yellow, a gray, a black, a white, and finally a thin pale blue. Some had been applied well, others not so much. It was too much paint, so I had to strip the entire thing, which took a while with the heat gun.

After I got the case stripped I filled and gouges or bumps, sanded it down for a smooth finish, prepped for paint. I intentionally left the old paint on the drawer fronts and the lid front so I could allow layer after amazing layer to peek through when I distressed it.

I had an inspiration piece that I just happened to spot after I'd stripped the secretary but before I'd applied the paint. I knew I wanted to get this piece looking as close as possible to the antique piece.

inspiration piece

 And here's the final product!

Cross Posted With: