Companion to Sewing Table

When putting away everything in her new sewing table/desk, Kristen realized that she had a lot of spools of thread. So what did I do? I made her a spool organizer, of course. It was actually pretty easy.

I bought a square of 1/4-inch plywood, then cut it down to fit half of the desk drawer - about 9x13. Then after modeling it briefly on the computer, I measured out 48 squares (8x6) and drew them on the back of the board, then measured the center points of each one and drilled holes through them.

I then cut some wood dowels into 2 1/4-inch pieces, put some glue on the ends of each piece, and used a rubber mallet to hammer them in place.

After they dried, I very carefully sanded the back to make it flush, and filled in any chunks I blasted out when I drilled through the board too quickly.

Ta da! Spool board. I also finished stripping and staining the chair that came with the desk. I'll post that photo soon.

Desk / Sewing Table

In 2004, when I went back to college after my mission, I needed a desk where I could set my giant desktop computer (no laptop). Being a transient college student, I figured the best idea was a square, folding card table. Years later, after I got married, I bought a corner desk, and that card table ended up being Kristen's sewing table for the new sewing machine I bought her for Christmas.

Unfortunately, because it's a card table, it is not the most study piece of furniture ever constructed. You know...because it's a card table. So when she sews, it has a tendency to shake. What she really wanted was a solid piece of real furniture, especially after I found her a brand-new Singer Serger machine at a garage sale for $100 last month. Shortly after that, in the midst of our crazy garage sale-ing, she found one - a nice, solid, real wood desk. She asked if I could refinish it, and I said sure, not realizing what I was getting into.

This is the desk (and futon bed) before I did anything to it

At this point, by the way, my garage was filling up - I bought a futon bed for Scarlett (that she decided she didn't want, so I just sold it), my motorcycle was in pieces from taking out the carbs to clean, and I was also working on building picture frames for another project. So I wanted to get the desk stripped, stained, and upstairs ASAP. It ended up taking three weeks instead.

I should have consulted my dad first, who long ago refinished our beautiful piano. Instead, I wasted a money and time using a product that did not work very well, and ended up trying to sand a bunch of it off instead, which still didn't work.

First attempt using the first stripper / sanding

Luckily, I told my woes to my dad, who recommended a much better product. I spent the better part of a Saturday painting on the original product, scraping it off, then sanding the wood because it didn't work. With Formby's Furniture Refinisher, I was at it for maybe two hours. Awesome stuff (but use chemical gloves and a respirator, cuz it's POTENT).

Formby's Furniture Refinisher - got that old stain right off

Once the desk was stripped and dry, I put on a natural stain and then a satin polyurethane seal, let it dry, lightly sanded rough spots with steel wool and did some touch up, then took it upstairs. What do you think? I think it turned out all right.