New Desk for Bedroom Office

Hello Everyone!

Hope you had a wonderful 4th of July with lots of fireworks and yummy food!  Today, I am going to show you the new desk that my hubby built for me.  We have been talking for a while about putting a desk in our bedroom so we would have a place for my laptop and maybe another computer for hubby.  Last week, I showed you the start of the desk.  Today, I finally get to show you the finished product.  But first, I will go through a few more pics of the process.  I have to say that I learned a few things and would probably do things a bit different next time.  We decided to stain the pine wood a dark walnut color first.  Then we I painted over that with white paint.  The idea was to sand it down a bit to show the dark color underneath.  Well, that is what we did but it took a lot of elbow grease to sand off two layers of paint.  I should have stopped with one layer but I was wanting the part that was staying white to be a little more "white" and smooth.  So, I went with two coats.  After it was all done, I put two coats of clear wax to give it a nice finish. Keep in mind that this is a long desk so it was a lot of work all the way around.  I'm fairly pleased with it.  The distressing didn't turn out quite like I had envisioned but it is growing on me.  So, here is where we started.

This is the pic I show last week.

Stained desk.

Painted desk.  (Don't mind the mess.  Our porch was being used as a workshop)

Recruiting the hubby to help with the "elbow grease".

Don't be too jealous of my paint clothes.  They have history all over them.  And, it was a very hot day hence the pulled up sleeves.  Boy, I need to get rid of my farmer's tan. ;)

Here she is! This is minus the desktop computer.  That will go in the bottom of the left hand side.  We also need two chairs and a lamp.  The basket in the middle is for trash.  

A close-up of distressing and baskets.

My side.  You might be able to tell that I have already started filling up my baskets with all things "office".  Fun!

I found this cute little dish at TJ Maxx and the cup/pencil holder at Tuesday Morning.  I am going to be making new mousepads for both the hubby and I that will match better with the colors or theme of our room.

So, there you have it.  I'm excited to have this project done.  I am going to be on the lookout for chairs.  I really don't want office chairs as they are a little bulky.  However, to make everthing fit right, we had to make the desk a little taller than a normal desk.  And, being that I am a little shorter than the average woman (5'3"), I am going to have to find a taller chair.  I have thought about bar stools so I can just tuck them under the desk when we aren't using them.  They won't be as comfortable though so I haven't decided.  I'll let you know when I find the right thing.  The best part about this desk is that we saved a lot of money and got the desk in the exact length that we wanted.  And, we can say, "WE BUILT THIS OURSELVES".  Accomplishments! :)
So until next time...

Have a blessed day,

maggie jane

Linking up to:

Ginger Snaps: wow me Wednesday #6
Handy Man, Crafty Women: Wicked Awesome Wednesday
Somewhat Simple: Strut Your Stuff Thursday Link Party
Shabby Chic Cottage: Transformation Thursday 

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DebbieDoos: Newbie Party
My Repurposed Life: Catch as Catch Can
Miss Mustard Seed: Furniture Feature Friday 

Time Travel, Wildlife and Modern Technology

Hello Everyone!

I hope everyone had a great weekend.  We did a little time traveling, a little wildlife rescue and a battle with modern technology. You're probably looking quizzical and saying "huh?"  Well this is what we did when we time traveled. Our town had a Civil War Reenactment.  Here are only a few of the pics that I took.  You might think this is a lot but I actually took about 178 pics. 

Battle around the town square.

One of the commanders or captains or someone important.

March of the Union soldiers.

Shooting the canons.  Twas loud.

One of the upper class ladies of that time.

One of the "matrons" doing some knitting.

A few of the "casualties" of the war.  Notice the one guy is holding his hat over his face. Some of these "deaths" were pretty funny when you saw them move a bit or when it was all over and they all hopped up off the ground.

I loved this guy's canteen with the number 2.  It really was that blue color.  I just turned the rest black and white so it would really stand out.

Not sure about these pants.  Are they on backwards?  Hope they don't fall off.

This guy looked like he had spent considerable time on the battle front.  Maybe with the war over he can find a local barber. ;)

Now onto the wildlife rescue.  When we came home from the reenactment, my hubby went out to fix my mower (replace the blades) and found this little guy.

Baby Bard Owl

Isn't he cute?

 We had a difficult time finding anyone to help us with this little owl.  After several phone calls, we finally tried the fire station.  One of the fireman just happened to know an officer with the Conservation Dept.  We contacted him and he told us he could come out in about 30 to 45 minutes but that he was in the middle of arresting someone.  I didn't even know they could do that.  We could tell that he (she) was injured so we didn't want to get too close.  And really, what were we going to do?  Owls aren't your everyday pet.  Anyway, the officer was able to get "our" little owl and take him in to be treated.  Hopefully they can do something for him.

Now onto my next subject.  Sorry for the long post buy hey, it's been a busy weekend.  Modern Technology.  Well, computers to be more specific.  Computers are those things you love to hate.  Or is it hate to love?  Any way you look at it it is a love hate relationship.  At least it is for me.  If you remember, I recently purchased a lovely new laptop.  However, I had some non-functioning keys and a few other issues and had to exchange it for another.  I had to wait about a week for Best Buy to get another one in the store.  In the meantime, my desktop died.  I still don't know what happened or what is wrong with it.  The geek squad guy (when I was growing up, it was not a good thing if you were called a geek) said they could look at it for free.  Of course if they have to repair it then there would be a charge. Yikes!  Hope it is something simple. Speaking of hating computers, I had this post almost done and was ready to sign off when my NEW LAPTOP decided to be ultra sensitive and delete have of my text.  Fortunately, it didn't delete all the pictures so I didn't have to go through all that again but it was still very irritating (that's the hating part).  However, all in all, I am really enjoying my new computer.  I have one more "computer" to have to learn.  My hubby just upgraded to a "Smart Phone".  I am having to learn how to use it so I can show him.  He's not as familiar with computers as I am and does better when shown something rather than reading the manual.  Some aspects of the phone are really cool but it is so sensitive that I have to keep hitting the back button because I accidentally hit something that I really didn't want.  I guess it will just take time to get used to it.  For me, I'm still loving my flip phone.  I guess I'll finish my weekend ramblings.  Hope I haven't put you all to sleep. ;)  I do have a project or two to post so stay tuned.  It just won't be tomorrow (or maybe that's today since it's almost midnight) as it is our 13th wedding anniversary.  Unfortunately, my hubby has to work but I am joining up with some of my family and taking the kids to a river to do some fishing and then taking a tour of a fish hatchery.  This is kind of a end of the school year field trip/treat.  So until next time...

Have a blessed day,

maggie jane