Paint a school desk

Turn an old school desk into a stylish side table or hallway feature.

Resene upcycling for good with Sarah Herring - Project 48

Finished project

You will need

• Sandpaper or electric sander, testpot brushes, painter’s masking tape and scissors and access to a printer if you make your own stencil
• Resene Waterborne Smooth Surface Sealer, Resene Aquaclear (optional)
• Resene testpots in: Resene Yes Please, Resene Porter and Resene Shabby Chic

Instructions

How to upcycle a school desk:

Top tip: Upcycled industrial items like this work really well alongside modern furnishings to give your home an eclectic style. A piece like this is also a great way to introduce pops of colour that you might not be brave enough to attempt on a larger scale.

Step 1: Remove any stickers or similar that may be on your desk. Then sand. Sarah used sanded the exterior with an electric sander, but sanding by hand with sandpaper would work just as well. Sarah deliberately left the desk a little rough, as she wanted to keep as much of the age and character as possible. All the dents and dings make it more charming as a feature piece!

Step 2: For a different look, rather than the obvious choice of painting over the timber, paint the desk legs instead. Because the legs were smooth Sarah applied one coat of Resene Waterborne Smooth Surface Sealer to prepare them for painting.

Step 3: Once the Resene Waterborne Smooth Surface Sealer is completely dry, apply two coats of your chosen colour to the desk legs. Sarah used Resene Yes Please – she loves this colour, and it really pops alongside the old wooden desktop.

Step 4: Paint a fun motif on the desktop to modernise it a bit without losing the charm of the old timber. Print out letters onto thick card and use a craft knife to carefully cut them out and make stencils. If you don’t have a printer this can be easily achieved at a print shop, or if you are confident you could paint your letters freehand!

Step 5: Paint each letter to spell out the word ‘hello’ on the table top using Resene Porter and a detail brush. Apply two coats allowing dry time in between.

Step 6: Add a simple strip of colour to the table top in Resene Shabby Chic and give the desk a gloss finish by applying three coats of Resene Aquaclear - this is optional but it makes the desk look a bit more glam. Now style your desk with flowers and books, hang a cute mirror above it and make a feature of it in your hallway or living space!