Tall Secretary Desk Cabinet

I found this in an alley in my Glover Park neighborhood of D.C. It had been set out for bulk trash pickup, but I got to it first. My wife thought it would make an interesting new desk for her home office; time to get rid of her old Ikea desk for something with more character. It was a bit scuffed up, showing its considerable age. The original hinges were missing. The brown stain and varnish made it seem overly old-fashioned, and I knew there was no way to restore it to a natural or stained finish without many, many hours of labor. So, I settled on painting it. I partly disassembled it and rough sanded the whole thing so that paint would better adhere to it. I replaced the warped backing pieces with one new piece of underlayment. At my wife’s request, I replaced the original old mirror with a new corkboard of her choosing. I patched holes and cracks, and applied paint to add some dramatic pops of color.

Some Before/During Pictures

Related Items: Bookshelf Cabinet.