TURNING AN ANTIQUE DRESSER INTO A WORKSTATION DESK

We had a dumpster here all summer during our renovation and my husband kept threatening to throw this dresser in because it was in such bad shape.  But he knows better than to mess with my furniture!

Now, with no dumpster adorning my driveway, his phrase.."fire pit" has replaced "dumpster" when he thinks I am nuts.

I did not have the time or the will to fix the large, warped bottom drawers but the top drawers were ok. 

It hit me that this just might be a pretty good desk if I could remove the rails, trim and finish off the inside.  I personally liked the idea of a taller work station as I rarely sit down anyway, otherwise a stool would fit perfectly.
Which means I never really got a good "before" picture because when I get an idea, there is now way I am taking 30 seconds to go find my camera....I just start ripping stuff apart! 

After removing the inside stuff I add a few blocks to different areas so that I could attach my finished ply and have something to nail it to. 

Beginning stages of finishing out the inside

Here I have the top stripped and piece sanded down.  Now was just filling in nail holes and caulking for a nice, finished look.

Sooooo thennnnn, I got really busy and it sat this way for a few months:)

I knew General Finished was having a "mad scientist" contest where you mix a custom color.  I don't necessarily like contests but I love mixing colors!  So very last minute (like hours before it ended), I decided to enter.

This vintage photo was my inspiration.  I loved the bit of orangy red that was in it and wanted to match that color.

I used Brick Red, Persimmon and Coral Crush to create the exact match. Although I was adding as I went along to achieve the right color, the formula is something like this…

4 cups Brick Red
2 cups Persimmon
1/2 - 3/4 cup of Coral Crush

I also did a 50/50 mix of Java and Antique Walnut for the top.

Finishing with a satin clear on the base and a matte finish on the top.