{"id":2615,"date":"2016-02-16T13:14:40","date_gmt":"2016-02-16T18:14:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=2615"},"modified":"2016-03-01T22:50:25","modified_gmt":"2016-03-02T03:50:25","slug":"2615","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=2615","title":{"rendered":"Bird’s Eye Maple Desk"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today I have quite a makeover for you.<\/p>\n

Earlier last year my Aunt Sharon called and asked if I had time to work on a secretary that my Uncle Paul had had in his family for a long time. \u00a0The finish was in pretty bad shape and frankly had turned a nice shade of orange as oil finishes tend to do over time.<\/p>\n

I’m not sure if I was just in a good mood when I said yes or if I felt some kind of family obligation. \u00a0Or if I just figured it couldn’t be that bad since the lines of the piece were straight and simple. \u00a0I’m not sure what kind of crazy overcame me when I said yes. \u00a0Like I said, I agreed to this early last year and this just got finished two weeks ago. \u00a0She said I could work on it when I had the time and to put other paying customers first. \u00a0I’m sure she now regrets that.<\/p>\n

Here is where we started. \u00a0A basic desk with little character.<\/p>\n

\"Ridiculous<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You can see how the finish was just chipping off.<\/p>\n

\"Ridiculous<\/a><\/p>\n

And here is the time consuming bit. \u00a0Look at all of those cubbies. \u00a0At first I thought I could take the back off and take the cubby framework out. \u00a0No. \u00a0Everything is finished nailed together. \u00a0I would have damaged way too much getting everything apart to ever put it nicely back together. There is a space between the cubby framework and the body of the desk on all sides, it’s only nailed into the top, which meant that if I put paint stripper on it, It would be \u00a0impossible to get in there to get it out.<\/p>\n

So I hand sanded. \u00a0Literally for days. \u00a0The funny thing is I have small hands and could barely fit inside most of the cubbies. \u00a0As I sanded I would slam my knuckles a ton. \u00a0There may or may not have been a lot of cursing. \u00a0I was surprised I didn’t have blood all over. \u00a0It’s a good thing I really like my aunt.<\/p>\n

\"Ridiculous<\/a><\/p>\n

My first indication that this project was going to be interesting was when I started sanding the side.<\/p>\n

\"Ridiculous<\/a><\/p>\n

On the left you can see the old yucky orange finish that looks pretty boring. On the right you can see that under that is beautiful bird’s eye maple. \u00a0I mean, it’s gorgeous. \u00a0And that’s not veneer. \u00a0It’s a thick board of maple with dovetail joints to connect all the cross pieces that support the drawers. \u00a0Back in the day bird’s eye maple was a pain in the ass to use because the “eyes” made cutting it cleanly very hard. \u00a0From what I read, it was used as fire wood. \u00a0Now with with better tools this is a very sought after wood. \u00a0 The wood alone to make this desk would be so expensive, forget actually making the desk.<\/p>\n

The finish for such beautiful grain? Pure tung oil.<\/a> \u00a0We do not want to hide anything. \u00a0We want to make that grain pop and pure tung oil is the way to go. \u00a0I get mine from the Real Milk Paint Co.<\/a> because theirs is a high quality and it’s food grade. \u00a0So yes, you can eat a sandwich off this desk while you are working. \u00a0It also won’t ever flake off and can be reapplied without stripping, solving two of our original problems. \u00a0I’ll put together a post with more tung oil info shortly.<\/p>\n

And here is this beauty all finished.<\/p>\n

\"Ridiculous<\/a><\/p>\n

The top part of the desk that folds down has this beautiful swirling grain and and is made up of joined wood. \u00a0Before you would have thought it was just one dull piece of wood.<\/p>\n

And here are all those cubbies, every last one of them, completely refinished.<\/p>\n

\"Ridiculous<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And that bird’s eye maple we first saw when sanding? \u00a0It’s like something you would see in Jupiter’s clouds. \u00a0All of that hiding under some old stain.<\/p>\n

\"Ridiculous<\/a><\/p>\n

Here you can see the dovetails holding those thick maple boards together. \u00a0Today things would be nailed or screwed together but this is craftsmanship. \u00a0You may also have noticed that the hardware is looking pretty snazzy as well. \u00a0That is the old hardware cleaned with lemon juice and a little steel wool. \u00a0That’s it. \u00a0Solid brass. \u00a0A coated it with a little wax and buffed to finish it off.<\/p>\n

\"Ridiculous<\/a><\/p>\n

I find so much furniture that people just want to get rid of because they want something new. \u00a0 It often has this orange chipping finish, is banged up and looks dated. \u00a0Let this be a lesson in what could be hiding underneath. \u00a0 This is some of the most beautiful wood I have ever worked with. \u00a0And this combo of hard maple and tung oil will last forever. It takes work to get these beauties back but it’s worth it. \u00a0Even if my knuckles will never be the same.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today I have quite a makeover for you. Earlier last year my Aunt Sharon called and asked if I had time to work on a secretary that my Uncle Paul had had in his family for a long time. \u00a0The…
Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,77,376,437],"tags":[192,109,392],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Ridiculous-Redhead-P-desk-before.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s1J4KT-2615","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2566,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=2566","url_meta":{"origin":2615,"position":0},"title":"A Navy Desk with Nail Head Trim","date":"July 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Back when I was posting the final makeover pictures of the Habitat for Humanity furniture, I had a few people ask if the pieces were for sale. \u00a0Since they were being auctioned off for Habitat after they were done, I couldn't sell them myself. One of those people was my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Before & After"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Ridiculous-Redhead-Navy-Desk-Nail-Head-Trim-handle.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1223,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=1223","url_meta":{"origin":2615,"position":1},"title":"Antique Bedroom Set Makeover","date":"June 13, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a long overdue makeover post. \u00a0I finished this piece and delivered it at the end of November last year. \u00a0My biggest problem was getting the pictures right. You see this makeover is of a four piece bedroom set and well, I live in a tiny house. \u00a0That already\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Before & After"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/KSD-Sem-Close-up.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2273,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=2273","url_meta":{"origin":2615,"position":2},"title":"Lincoln’s Dresser Makeover","date":"September 17, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Once we knew we had a baby on the way, naturally I started thinking about what the nursery would look like. \u00a0I didn't want to jinx anything in the beginning, so even though lots of people knew about it really early, I didn't buy anything for the baby. \u00a0 I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Before & After"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/Lemon-dresser-makeover-ridiculous-redhead-top-edge.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2480,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=2480","url_meta":{"origin":2615,"position":3},"title":"Habitat Luncheon Chair Makeover – After","date":"April 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I have for you an awesome furniture makeover. \u00a0For those who are new around here, I have been chosen as a featured designer for the Habitat For Humanity Woman Build Luncheon on May 7th. \u00a0I was given a budget at their Restore thrift store and then asked to refinish\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Before & After"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Ridiculous-Redhead-Habitat-Chair-After-Side.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1062,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=1062","url_meta":{"origin":2615,"position":4},"title":"The Vintage Desk Makeover","date":"January 28, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"A long time ago, way longer than I would care to admit, I answered a Craigslist ad about a desk. \u00a0As TB and I walked up a steep flight of stairs to take a look \u00a0I will admit that I was hoping I didn't like it since we would have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Before & After"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/desk-etsy-3-042-ksd.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2432,"url":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/?p=2432","url_meta":{"origin":2615,"position":5},"title":"The Habitat Luncheon Desk Before","date":"March 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"So last we spoke, I told you that I was chosen as a Featured Designer for the Habitat for Humanity Women Build Luncheon. \u00a0Each of the four designers was given a budget of $150 to spend at the ReStore to pick pieces we would makeover in some way. \u00a0We would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Before & After"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Ridiculous-Redhead-Habitat-for-Humanity1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2615"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2615"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2626,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2615\/revisions\/2626"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}