[email protected] writes:
>I'm finally ready to start making my daughter's desk, she's 8 and is
>going to "help". She stated this week that she wanted it painted white.
>I already bought all the maple and it seems a shame to cover it up with
>paint. I was thinking about making it out of poplar now since it's
>going to be painted. My question is do I make it out of maple anyway
>since it will be much more durable or go with poplar to save money. Of
>course you can't answer this for me but I'm curious what you think you
>would do.
>
>This is a small student's desk that I hope my daughter uses until
>college. She lives with me part time so it wont get a whole lot of
>abuse. She'll have a computer on it and maybe do some homework there.
>
>Also, what kind of paint would be good. Would a standard enamel wall
>paint be Ok or something else.
Well, Ron, once it's painted, it's painted.
Since you already have the maple, I'd make the desk out of maple. You can
make a desk top to set over the real desk top and paint that white, both
on the top and the "extension" all around it to hold it in place over the
real top. (Don't fasten it to the desk, just build lips on all four sides
to keep it from slipping around. That way she has her white desk and she
can do all of the work [except the actual cutting] on the "writing"
portion of her desk.)
I suspect when she sees the desk actually assembled, the maple desk, and
she is helping with the sanding and finishing, that she will be thrilled
with it and opt for a glass top rather than a white top. Of course, much
depends on the particular wood you are using. There are some woods I
don't mind painting over but others that it's criminal to cover with paint.
When you give it to her, if she still wants it white, you can tell her
when she is 13 (or 16), she can paint it white if she still wants it
white. Also tell her that she can make it white later, but she cannot
"make it maple" later. I'm betting she will be thrilled with the maple
finish and never go to white. In addition to the white "writing" top, you
could also make a small (2-shelf), shallow bookshelf to set on top of the
desk, painted white, which will give much more white. With her computer
on the desk, that gives her a place to set drives, CDs, etc., also and
keep them in sight.
If you make it maple, it will be her own heirloom. If you paint it, she'll
still love it but when grown, she'll wish it wasn't painted. Stripping
them back just isn't the same as never painting them.
Just my thoughts.
Glenna
Glenna Rose wrote:
> still love it but when grown, she'll wish it wasn't painted. Stripping
> them back just isn't the same as never painting them.
Although, that's an interesting story in of itself. This thing:
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/shop/hutch-combined.jpg
I'm at a used furniture place with my girlfriend, looking for a cheap
dresser for her apartment. (She had just graduated from RU, and she moved
into this place to stay up here near me, rather than returning home.) So I
find this cheap little thing for $20 or something, and the only thing
really wrong with it is that the knobs are broken. I make some comment
about how I can fix the knobs. A sales dude overhears.
"So, you like to restore furniture, do you?"
"Um."
"Here, have a look at this. It's solid mahogany!"
He indicates this total POS. Someone had painted it white, and someone else
had done a half ass job of stripping it. They wanted $70 for the thing,
which was a king's ransom to my girlfriend. Somehow or other I got backed
into a corner on the issue. You're a man, aren't you? Because you're a
man, you can refinish this and make something beautiful.
"Um."
So I got a refinishing book and went to town. It isn't solid, but it has a
lot of solid wood bits in the carcase. Dovetails and hardwood glides and
whatnot. It's a pretty well-constructed item overall. After I stripped
it, the wood looked really bad, so I stained it "dark walnut."
Years later, after my girlfriend had become my wife, and we had moved into a
new house, we no longer needed the dresser. One of my cousins gave us his
mother's old bedroom furniture. Some of the most gawdy, tasteless looking
stuff the '40s ever produced, but at least it all matched. A bed, two
night stands, a chifferobe and a dresser. So we stuck this dresser in the
dining room, and one of my first projects in my newly-started actual
dedicated shop (instead of my previous efforts in various kitchens and back
porches) was to build the hutch thing for the top.
So that white-painted ugly POS is what planted the first seed that lead me
to where I sit today.
I really need to learn to start taking before pictures.
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
http://rosegarden.sourceforge.net/tutorial/
Silvan <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
<snip>
> So that white-painted ugly POS is what planted the first seed that
> lead me to where I sit today.
>
I've got one of those in the guest bedroom. My wife bought it almost ten
years before we met. I'm the one who painted over the 'blue antique
finish' from the 60's, with white latex. I started stripping the crud off
about 1990, but it ended up getting sidetracked for another 10 years or so.
I got the whole thing 'dipped', then I rebuilt and refinished the thing,
getting done maybe 18 months ago.
I've got over 100 hours and at least $400 in the project, but she's happy.
It has sedimental value.
Patriarch