Neon and Glitter.....

Over the summer, my husband and I decided to redo the kids bedroom, since they hadn't been changed since we moved in. So in the process of changing things up we had lots of opportunities to make things for ourselves. Whereas I do not fault anyone for spending the money to buy beautiful furniture, I do not particularly enjoy buying furniture that I would then have to worry about my kids tearing up. Besides, I am a lover of redone furniture! I think it is fantastic to take an old beat up thing that has good bones and work it until you have made something beautiful.
Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so each piece is beautiful to the maker, and not necessarily to all. I had to keep this in mind when I told my daughter that she could pick out the colors for her desk. Since she is 11, she is pretty much in love with all things Neon and Sparkly. So I found the desk at a thrift shop and knew it would be perfect. This was an a completely wood piece. Laminate is much harder to deal with and tends to fall apart, so I avoid it like the plague. Brought it home and then the real work began:

First: Removed the drawers and hardware (hated the knobs, and luckily 2 were already missing) and then gave the whole piece a good sanding by hand. This not only gets the surface ready to accept the paint, but also gets the years of grime off the piece.

Next, I bought some interior primer that was for trim moulding. This keeps the wood from showing through the paint. (Which is fantastic if you were doing a stain, but not if you wanted to avoid putting 50 coats of paint on.) I used a smaller sponge paint brush to first get in the corners, then used a medium weaved roller brush to apply to the rest of the piece. This desk had a couple really dark knots in it so I gave it a second coat of primer. Wait for each layer to dry in between each coat.

Then came the ELECTRIC LIME paint. That's right. She fell in LOVE with this color at the store so I bought a quart of the Satin finish interior paint. Then, I made her help. :)

HLT (Handy Little Tip): Use a a paint tray covered in plastic bags to avoid having to scrub the tray later. This also allows you to tie up any paint that you still need temporarily, while you are waiting for your coats to dry, but the paint will still be fresh.

We put about 3 coats of paint on the desk. Lime green does NOT cover things well. Of course you get to flip and turn your desk at many angles to get all sides covered. I chose to paint the front and sides but not the inside as the drawers had a lip big enough to cover that part.

Once dry, I then sprayed a layer of clear coat spray paint over the top.

Next: Drawers

They also got a good sanding and primer. But Taylor wanted them to be Florescent Pink so I went with two cans of the Florescent Pink Spray paint. You can find it on the spray paint isle. Now this spray is a bit different. It comes out more like a powder since it is used for marking utility lines and such. WARNING: IT WILL GET EVERYWHERE! I don't care what you lay down to avoid it, it will. The "Powder" doesn't stick right away so if you put down canvas or plastic and then walk around in it..... Well, you get the idea... Yep - I had pink footprints all over my garage and could not get the stuff off of my skin for days! But that is what I get for being craftsy in my bare toes.

Anywho- Once the Pink was dry, it too got a clear coat. Then the masking tape came out and I taped off a cute chevron pattern. The Modge Podge was then excavated from the bottom of the craft closet and I put down a thick layer on the exposed parts. The glitter (one GIANT sized bottle) was then applied on top before it was dry. Gently pat down the glitter to get it all the way into the Modge Podge (Note: this will inevitably leave you with glitter hands) Wash off said Glitter, or at least as much as possible. (You will never get all of it - Accept it and move on).

Then once that it dry, remove tape and give it another THICK layer of Modge Podge to be sure that it will not end up all over your house. Clear Coat to finish.

Purchase some fabulous drawer pulls or knobs (HLT: you can buy them WAY cheaper online than you can in the regular stores) and put it all back together.

Boom Baby! A Fabulous Teen-inspired desk to brighten any boring place!