Not quite papercrafts!

David had been moaning that I have taken over the office with all my craft stuff and that he had nowhere to put his things. To which, I couldn't help pointing out, that most of his stuff is rubbish that needs sorting instead of piling up .... but then I took one look at my office and thought ...kettle.... pot.... black.... you know what I mean...!

Anyway I was fed up of his stuff hanging around the kitchen worktop, the top of the kitchen cupboards, in the wine rack (!!) - you get the picture - so I decided that I would find him his own space and filing area. He doesn't have as much as me, since I file all the house bills, so it's strictly for HIS papers. I started to look on ebay and found this bureau which was badly photographed and hadn't had any bids. Lucky for me! so I swooped in and hey presto, I won it! (for once that I win something - when I say win, it did cost me 25 quids but still...)

So here it is in all its glory before (this was the photo used on ebay - see what I mean about poor photo?!

Still it didn't look bad enough to deter me from snapping it...

So I started by sanding it roughly to get rid of the varnish finish and allow the paint to take on better. I wanted to use Annie Sloane chalk paint to save on time and primer but unfortunately there are no local stockist near me in Birmingham so I decided to prime it and use Farrow and Ball paint instead. Since I am French I thought French Gray would be most appropriate -especially since it matched some of the colour in my wallpaper! 

I hate sanding but it is important when you prime to make sure you get a durable finish. Farrow and Ball in particular is quite unforgiving if you do not prepare your surface properly.  Since i don't fancy doing this again for a long time , it was worth putting in the elbow grease at the start...

Once the unit was primed, the worst was done and I just gave it two coats of paint to get my final result. I am still not quite sure it is going to stay quite like this. I quite fancy adding some vintage french writing on the door, and maybe a brownish glaze to give it some dimension.  However, for now, it will do as I have plenty of other things to do.  At least it blends in the decor of the room, so for now that's good enough for me! If I do any changes you'll be the first ones to see,  I promise!!