Our Facebook Marketplace Desk Transformation!
Let me just preface this post by saying David and I are not DIY experts. If we can hire a project out to a craftsman, we’ll do it. That being said, this project was incredibly easy and very DIY-friendly. It took us a total of 48 hours to complete and most of that time was spent waiting for paint to dry (literally.)
This project is a result of needing a secondary workspace in the home. David and I both work from home and with our office being centrally located in the house, it’s not an ideal place for David to be taking calls. Axel has also decided that breaking into the office to be with David during the workday is his favorite activity — we needed a solution!
We are lucky to have family close by so our guest bedroom goes unused most of the time. We decided to carve out an additional workspace in the corner of the room where David could have a little more privacy during the workday.
I began my search for the perfect vintage desk. When local antique stores were a bust, I turned to online secondhand shops. I found so many options I loved but the price of these rustic pieces were way out of budget (most fell upwards of $1000). Feeling frustrated, I turned to Facebook Marketplace to try my luck! You can read my 6 tips for scoring quality furniture on Facebook Marketplace here.
After a couple weeks of checking the listings everyday this little beauty showed up. She was a little orange-y for my taste but in great shape! Even better, the dimensions were perfect and the price was right (only $45).
The Process:
We started the project by wiping down the desk with a damp cloth, taking it apart, and using an orbital sander to remove the existing stain.
Once the desk was nice and smooth we used lint-free cloths to appy a gel stain in the color “kona.” I chose to use a gel stain because its easy to use and practically fool-proof. Rather than absorbing into the wood, gel-stain sits on top which ensures an even, more uniform finish and the thick consistency prevents dripping. You can apply up to three coats of gel stain but we were happy with the look of just one.
After waiting 24 hours for the stain to dry, we applied a thin coat of water-based polyurethane in a flat finish. Polyurethane seals the wood and protects it from water damage and scratches!
Once that dried, we brought the desk up to the guest bedroom and I styled it with some accessories I’ve collected over the years and a cool vintage desk chair.
Isn’t she just gorgeous?!
Now with just a little bit of elbow grease, I have the rustic, vintage desk of my dreams and I could not be happier with out it turned out. So happy in fact, I may have to sneak in here and use this workspace myself one of these days.
In case you have any staining projects in your future, I have linked the exact products we uses in our transformation!
