Desk-ed

Since Steve's and my house's front door opens directly into the living room, we've had to be a little creative in carving out an entryway. Against the wall beside the door, we have hooks for coats and a repurposed fireplace tool rack for shopping bags, umbrellas and the like. I wanted a skinny piece of furniture of some sort to place on the other side of the door to create a landing strip for items coming in to the house, and to store office and art supplies. I decided the perfect piece of furniture would be a secretary desk, which folds up slim but can be opened up to provide a desktop. I looked at various pieces online, but didn't find anything that inspired me. Then, it occurred to me, I think my parents have one of those they're not using at the cabin. Sure enough, they did.

Dad sent pictures for scale and to give an idea of starting condition:

Realizing it was quite literally a perfect fit for our space and needs, we retrieved the desk and brought it back to Santa Cruz. The piece originally belonged to someone in my dad's family, though he doesn't know who. My dad was kind enough to fix some of the loose joints for us before we took possession. 

Another before picture (in our backyard):

After Steve sanded the heck out of it of me:

Then I got to work. I forgot to take in-process pictures of this project, but after primer and many coats of paint (including highlights in a crazy vibrant green I love named "favorite plant"), here's the result:

I need to organize this drawer at little better, but there's plenty of room for various supplies:

Desktop opened, showing built-in organizer and a little hint of the crazy fabric I chose to line the cubbies:

I am loving how the desk turned out. It's a wonderfully versatile piece of furniture and looks fabulous in the space beside my beloved "mango" front door. The yellow cup on top of the desk is for receipts, which works wonderfully to prevent them from being scattered about the house. 

On to the next project...