Furniture {reincarnated} : Diamond in the rough

This elegant little writing desk with hand-painted purple and blue diamonds had been stuck in the tween stage far too long. She has pretty French legs, adequate storage and a detachable hutch. Take a look at her transition into adulthood.

LOTS of sanding to do! We used an electric hand sander starting with low grit sandpaper (60) and moving up to high grit (150).

Ok, got most of the paint off and created a nice smooth surface. Our finish will be able to cover what is left of the diamond pattern.

We used our darkest color as the base. This is a greenish-black water-based paint. We thinned it down to about half paint and half water and applied it with a rag, following the grain of the wood. Be sure to get in all of the crevices with a small paintbrush or q-tip.

Then we applied our darkest of the 2 blues. We did not use as much water this time so it has a high opacity. We want the greenish-black to show through in only a few places, including grooves and joints. 

Our top coat is such a light shade of our blue that it looked white when first applied. We watered it down and applied a thin coat all over. Then, we used it to highlight raised edges and corners.

This is a close up of the finish. It is a grayish blue with green undertones. By painting the crevices dark and highlighting the edges, it creates depth and interest.

Acrylic knobs are added for that touch of glam.

Voila!