Testing the Waters

The next project on my mission for creating a more 'homely' home is one I'm a little nervous about.

If it goes well, I'll be the DIY Goddess of the Year {I wonder if that title comes baring trophies?} and Si will sing my praises for at least a week five minutes, but if it doesn't, I'll be banished from ever setting my hands on another paint brush or feasting my eyes upon another 'inspiring' interiors blog ever again...

Oh the pressure!

You see, we have two lovely wooden desks - one in our lounge room, one in our spare room - and as gorgeous as they currently are in their natural, woody state, they don't quite fit the vision of 'vintage comfort' I'm hoping evoke in our home. To be honest, I'm not even sure what constitutes as 'vintage comfort' but in my mind I visualise all things pretty, soft, whimsical and eclectic maybe with a small dash of modern thrown in for good measure. Come to think of it, many corners of our home already feature these aesthetics but they are more miniature snippets, rather than 'desk-sized' statements!

Originally, we purchased this house with the view that we would renovate and sell, in a relatively short period of time, therefore we kept colours, interior styling and exterior design as neutral as possible in order to appeal to a broad range of buyers. Now that Sage has entered our lives, it seems we'll be taking advantage of our smallish mortgage and staying put for a little longer than we first anticipated. So despite loving all of the choices and changes we've made over the past 4 years, it's time to add a little touch of us to each and every room.

Before attempting to shabby-up the desks to enhance their vintage feel, I thought it best to have a trial run on an item deemed a little less daunting and a little less noticeable {also known as -- stuff it up, doesn't matter}. And so, the lonesome bookshelf from my childhood, discarded to our garage with the thought of "maybe someday..." became the perfect preparation piece...

dusty, dirty and a colour reminiscent of my teenage years

after two layers of undercoat

500mls of lovely "Bay's Water"

two coats later

roughing it up with a little sanding

 

focussing on the edges gives a more 'authentic' worn look

the end result

 

I definitely learnt a lot from re-painting this very simple shelf {both what-to and what-not-to do} and I certainly now feel more confident to tackle our more focal pieces.

Stay tuned!