In My Spare Time...

Last summer I found an old desk at a garage sale for $7 and brought it home, intent on refinishing it.  I began this project while my garden was sprouting out of the ground and now it is finally finished, when I am almost ready to seed this summer's garden.  A number of reasons contributed to my slowness: wanting to work outside, rather than getting sawdust in the basement, having to work around my daughter's nap schedule, general procrastination...  It often seems to be the things that I do for myself that get put on the bottom of the list.  I suppose I'm not the only one who does this?  
I'm really happy with the end result, anyway, despite how long it took to complete.  I got a belt sander for my birthday which made the initial sanding so much easier than anything I've ever done before.  After stripping the hideous dark stain I went back over the wood with an orbital sander to smooth out any roughness before wiping off the dust and layering on three coats of clear polyurethane.  I love the lightness of the wood!  I decided to keep the old handles, partly because I think they're kind of cute, mostly because the wood underneath permanently showed the shape of the handles.
M.