Refinishing a Wooden Teachers Desk

I thought my Sunday would be like most Sundays have been the last few years, go to church and then relax around the house, grab dinner with the family.

This Sunday was a little different, it was the Trash & Treasure Sale weekend. If you are unaware of what the Trash & Treasure Sale weekend is, the Inner Wheel (the women's group of Rotary Club) hosts a large garage sale at a vacant department store in the local mall.

Lucky for me (or should I say unluckly for me) I found a solid wood teachers desk, previously used by the United State Department of Veterans Affairs (USDVA) that was listed at $40. Since it was Sunday, the last day of the sale, all items were 50% off. So the $40 solid wood teachers desk became $20 and I knew my wife would not let me pass it up. Once of the sides was coming apart, but four (4) nails did the trick of fixing all the issues with the stability of the desk. The next step for this desk was its appearance.

I made quick work of the exterior using my Black and Decker Orbital sander, which I picked up at Walmart for a mere $24.99. As shown, they layered the stain over the desk time after time, rather than standing and re-staining the desk when it started to show wear and tear. When I started sanding through the layers, I took a rough estimate of 4 layers of stain were caked on top of one another. When I say bare wood never looked so nice, I mean it wholeheartedly.


Once I worked the sander over the entire desk and drawers, I went back over the metal areas of the keyhole and locking mechanism under the desk. Just like the wood, it's amazing what a little TLC can do for old pieces of history. It turned the metal keyhole and locking mechanisms a shiny silver after starting off being a dull bronze/gold color.

Once I finished all the sanding, I moved it inside the office until it was ready to be stained. I should probably clarify for the "until it was ready to be stained", which was not due to additional steps to prep for staining, but rather the lack of time in my work schedule to complete it within a day or two from sanding it.

My go to stain, which I use on almost every wood element in my home, is the Varathane Dark Walnut wood stain available at Home Depot. I tend to use this color stain when I'm trying to create the rustic look, my wife and I agree upon throughout the house.

I tend to use a thick layer of stain on the bare wood, so it would look almost like a puddle of paint that you'd spread from edge to edge. Once I cover the entire desk area, which you are staining, I took a clean rag and wiped across the same area I just covered with stain. This does two things, grabs any excess stain that is not soaking into the wood and it allows the stain that has soaked into the wood to breathe and dry at a quicker rate, since it is not puddled on top of the wood.

This might seem counter productive to some, but I've found my method helps me stain at a quicker rate since I always use two coats of stain to gain the darker color variation compared to one layer which does not always reach the color you desire.

I added some drawer pulls, which I picked up at Lowe's, and it helps tie the rustic look from the rest of the house into the office area.

See below for pictures during the process and as it sits now.

Make sure to check back for more projects as I work though them, and for some healthier versions of some delicious Cajun recipes.