Springtime Purpose

It's a season of re-purposing for me. Life has been that way, and usually when the Lord is doing something in my soul, it spills out into my house. (So, as long as you keep your eyes open, and have an insightful heart, you'll probably be able to guess my state-of-soul.)

Last week's project was a really fun one. The neighbors across the street must have been doing some spring-cleaning, and, fortunately for me, their taste differs from mine. They threw this lovely old desk out on the curb to be picked up by the garbage collectors.

Thankfully, I had two strong men around to pick it up for me and carry it across the street under the cover of darkness. Thanks, guys, you're great!

[Big round of applause for these two. ]

Now, I had only seen this desk from afar, so when it was graciously brought indoors, I knew my suspicions of its loveliness had been well-founded. It's minus all the drawers (no idea what happened there), but beautifully made. Old and sturdy. Right away, I set out to clean it up with a mild solution of Mr. Clean and warm water. It was a bit grimy, but that was soon taken care of.

[Really fun numbers scrawled across the back]

The next issue to address was the top of the desk. The veneer was quite scratched, in some places, down to the under-layer of wood, so I knew some sanding would have to be involved.

[Kind of a messy inside project, but that's what vacuums are for!]

After the sanding and a bit of wiping down with a damp paper towel, I decided on a painted surface for the top of the desk. I happened to have some leftover chalkboard paint from a previous crafting project, so that became my paint-of-choice.

[I've always been really happy with the final results whenever I do a project with this stuff.]

After 3 simple coats of chalkboard paint (and a little drying time in between), my desk was ready to become an organizing station for my crafting supplies.

[Blur of a dog named Buddy. He was awfully excited about this restoration process.]

Since the desk was missing all of its drawers, I decided to look for some bins to stand in place of drawers. I found some lovely ones of various sizes on sale at Target.

[Lower Level: Chalk-board front bins for painting supplies and kid crafts
Middle Level: Painted wire bins for ribbons and hot-glue gun crafting bits
Top Level: Drawer openings hold sheet music from Anna Mae Vintage's inventory, while a deep, slender drawer-organizer serves as a catch-all for small bits and pieces in place of the middle drawer.]

After I finished stocking the shelves, I used the top of the desk to store Anna Mae Vintage's supply of vintage book decor, and I even started some ornamental wheat-grass seed on one corner of the desk, courtesy of the desk lamp, of course.

Spring is for growing things, cleaning things up, and starting again, in life, and in the house.

Happy Spring, Everyone!