A Desk, Chair And Toy Chest For Hunter

I love redoing furniture for friends and new-to-me friends, but lately it seems I've been so busy doing projects for everyone else that I haven't had a lot of time to do things for my own home or family.  It was time to change that!

A few weeks back when I came upon a table at a tag sale for free I snapped it up.  At the time I wasn't sure what I would do with it and at first I used it in my garage as a work table.  It was a good size and height for a work table, but the problem was it took up too much room.  I finally figured out what I wanted to do with it....make it into a desk for Hunter.  The man who gave me the table had told me his Father had made one for each of his children so I thought it was fitting that I refurbish it into something for my Son.

Here it is after I brought it home

Well, the top of it became a paint and stain splattered mess while I used it as a work table.  It was all good though because I knew I was going to paint it dark.  I decided on Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite as a base color.  

When I paint something like a table or a chair I always start with it turned upside down because easier to get to the underneath that way!

There was some damage to the table, but It only gave the table more character.

You can see a bit of my stain and paint splatter mess on top of the table.  After one coat of paint I couldn't see the mess anymore!

One coat of paint done, and still a bit wet.

This color is a bit drab without the wax in my opinion, but with all the wax on top it's one of my favorites.

 I wanted the desk top to have an old and worn look so I lightly brushed on some Coco paint over top the Graphite.  I like how it brings out all the marks in the table top.

Once I got the Coco brushed on I gave it a bit of roughing up with some sand paper.

 To finish the whole thing off I gave it a coat of clear wax and a couple coats of dark.  BUT I wasn't finished yet!  You might recall I posted a few weeks back about the maps I bought at Papyrus that are actually sheets of wrapping paper.  I had purchased a couple world maps at the time and knew this project would look amazing with a map on top.  So out came the Mod Podge!  I attached the map to the top of the desk then sealed it with 2 coats of Mod Podge. On the edges I added a bit more dark wax to give it some age.  

Hunter and I both have a love of globes, maps and anything geographical so this was right up our alley.  The desk turned out exactly how I had pictured it in my mind and it's perfect for my little guy's big boy play room.  

Here it is all done.  

The chair I purchased at an estate sale this weekend for $30.  It's a great old library type chair that is super solid.  Only thing I did to the chair was clean it up and wax it.  It's gorgeous on it's own.

My favorite thing about this desk/table is the shelf underneath.  It's a perfect spot for storing books.

How gorgeous is this chair?!  

I have to mention the green tackle box.  I bought this at Restore for $4 and gave it a good wash.  How fun for Hunter to be able to put cars or whatever else he wants in there.  

OK, so you thought I was done with pictures?  Think again!  I found a blanket/toy box at a tag sale a few weekends ago.  Hunter had a Pottery Barn Kids train table with toy storage underneath, but if I was going to do the desk I had to move the train table out.  Bye bye toy storage!  OH and I forgot to mention I needed to convince my 7 year old that this was the best thing since Hot Wheels! lot. 

In came the toy box idea.  Hunter and the Hubby were both on board too....Bonus!  I forgot to mention the toy box was $10!

Here's the toy box before

It was a great size and I liked the panel detail on front, but it definitely needed a face lift.

I brushed on some Annie Sloan Pure White, distressed the toy box the clear and dark waxed the entire outside.  In an hour I had a gorgeous new toy box for Hunter.

Here's the finished toy box

Love the texture and how the red paint shows through.

I had to put a picture of this in my post (not that I don't have enough pictures already!).  This is a planetarium and when you plug it in all the constellations shine on the ceiling.  Then the little wand thingy (I'm sure that's the actual name for it!)  has an arrow and you can point the arrow at the constellations.  We bought this at our local outdoor flea market.  When the Hubby and I saw it we fell in love and had to take it home.  

Alright, back to this SUPER long and drawn out post.  I get a lot of emails from people asking about why I don't post pictures of the furniture I do in my home.  Well that's easy a lot of the furniture I sell, but another big reason is my house doesn't get much natural light, which equals icky pictures.  The following pictures will prove my point. :-)

This is how Hunter's play room looked after we added the new desk, chair and toy box.

You might recognize this dresser from an earlier post.  I did this dresser awhile back for Hunter's toy storage (more like Lego storage!).   The hammer head shark however I bought last week at the same estate sale as the chair.  I had a great laugh carrying him out to my car, but an even bigger laugh when I drove through the Starbucks drive thru with him in my front seat.  I don't know many 7 year old boys who have a fiberglass hammer head shark on their wall!  

When I look at this toy chest all I want to do is put pillows all over the top!  However, I don't think Hunter would appreciate that.

I took a lot more pictures of his the other parts of play room, but I'm not adding them in since this has already dragged on long enough.  Can you tell I have a hard time editing my posts to make them shorter?  

This was a lot of fun for me!  Not to mention economical!  The desk was free, the chair was $30, the toy box $10 and the fiberglass hammer head shark was $40.  For $80 Hunter has a great new place to play!  He was thrilled with how his new and improved big boy play room turned out.  He said to the Hubby and I, "This play room looks like a 9 year olds!"  WOW it must be good then!!  

I started out this post writing how I love doing things for other people, but doing things for Hunter is my true love.  Obviously as a parent,  my child is the most important thing in my world and knowing I can give him something I made just for him warms my heart beyond words.  

Thanks for reading and if you've redone something for your child I'd love to see it.  I do read and respond to your comments and enjoy reading what you have to say.  

Have a wonderful week!

Melody