Honestly - Trash or Treasure?

The garage is starting to look like a flea market - or a junk yard, I'm not sure which - I've been not-so-slowly filling it up with furniture & stuff! My new (to me) craft desk is in the back with my $6 chair laying on top; next is the vanity for my bathroom which was delivered yesterday (funny story, see below*), and in the front is a desk for Evie we found on Craig's List. Which brings me to the purpose of this post:

This desk was listed as a "Vintage Ethan Allen Desk", solid wood. As you may already know, Craig's List doesn't let you enlarge images so you have only a small, probably blurry picture to view. I've been looking at desks like this for a while and my only major requirement was that it be solid wood, no laminate. Vintage Ethan Allen, solid wood, I figured we were good to go. Being that we live about an hour or more from most of the listings, Matt picked it up for me on his way home yesterday, sight unseen by me.

I wasn't quite expecting the 'Early American late 70's early 80's Distressed Pine' appearance of this beauty. My intention all along has been to paint it, probably an antique white, and replace the knobs & maybe drawer pulls. It's in really good shape for what it is; but there is a fair amount of 'distressing' on the drawer fronts (enlarge the pictures, if you don't mind) and I'm not sure how that will look when all is said and done. We probably paid a little more than we should have, so before I invest any time and effort into this - do you think it's worth it? Or should I just try to sell it on CL and keep looking?


* The delivery information on the vanity from Overstock said "White Glove Delivery" within 1-6 weeks, and I was told we would receive a phone call prior to set up a time to receive it. Yesterday I left the house for all of 1/2 hour in the afternoon and came back to find the garage door up and this old beat-up pickup truck backed halfway into it. All I could see as I pulled up was the truck, two guys, and a flurry of activity. My first thought was, we're being robbed! I KNOW I put the garage door down when I left! Then my brain started halfway working and I started to notice other details - Matt in the background, packing material - and I realized it was the vanity being delivered. Um, thanks for the 15 minutes notice, what if we hadn't been home?? The not-so-clean-shaven delivery men unpacked it and were happy to leave it in the garage and take off. Matt made the comment that it was going to suck to move into the house & I said, oh we had White Glove Delivery, they would have put it anywhere we wanted. He wanted to know why I didn't mention this while they were still here. My only excuse is I thought that we were being burgled and never really got beyond that thought until after they left. I guess it's a good thing we work out.

Comments

  1. I like it. You can get that stripper that only takes a little off and lighten it up a bit if you want to keep it. Otherwise go for CL. I got a great deal on a chair last year. I saw it at the local dump site. Someone put it beside the dumpster thinking that someone else might want it. I saw the quality right away so I picked it up and put it in the truck. It was from Hickory Nc and it is cherry in a Queen Ann style. It only had a small rip in the seat. I can have that fixed. :)

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  2. Ohhh! I think you should paint it white and put some cute knobs on it and it will look super cute! you can do it! I looks like you have some work ahead of you with all those projects! You go girl!

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  3. I think you could paint it and it would look fab! Looks like you will be busy! Good luck! I would have thought we were being robbed too! Glad that was not the case! ;o)
    Have a terrific weekend!

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  4. I vote keep it. It seems like a great candidate for paint and updated knobs. I like the idea of white and some cute, modern drawer pulls!

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  5. Yep, one more for the keep it vote. I think it could be super cute once it is painted and with new drawer pulls. You'll have to post before and after pics when you are finished! :)

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  6. I think since you are going to paint it....you should keep it.

    Great story about the delivery men!

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  7. I love the desk...and I'm sure it will look great white!

    Too funny about the vanity story...I don't blame you for not remembering to tell Matt they were to bring it in the house...I'm sure you'll manage!

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  8. I agree with everyone else - but I'm kind of lazy that way. You already have it and then you wouldn't need to sell it. It would look super cute painted white! Love it

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  9. It would be great white, and maybe adding some decorative wood cutouts (that sounds bad... but I forget what they are) might soften the boxy look of the drawers. Good luck!

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  10. Once it is painted and has new hardware, I bet it will be a beauty!

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  11. It'll look great! You might just need to sand down those "distressed" areas.
    hmm.. Our garage has little white footprints running thru it. My daughter had found the paint one day and after painting the dog, stepped in it. For some reason I thought all garages had that little detail...

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  12. It is unfortunate that "white glove delivery" is never what they say it is...

    That said, I think you should keep the desk and fix it up the way you want it!! can't wait to see the final results!

    ~Becca

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  13. That's a keeper ! If you like the dark wood for your Evie, then get some new pulls and knobs that look like these:

    http://www.restorationhardware.com/rh/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=prod1278131&navCount=1

    and these:
    http://www.restorationhardware.com/rh/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=prod1278129&navCount=3

    There are some more inexpensive looking ones at Home Depot, or online. RH is expensive.

    Or you could paint it white, pink, green, whatever. But still update the knobs and pulls.

    Can't wait to see what you do !

    Kate

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  14. Ooops, not "more inexpensive looking" -
    just more inexpensive.

    :-)

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  15. I say keep the desk! It will look GREAT painted white!

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  16. Well first, if those guys were the scruffy characters you first thought they were...would you want them to come inside your house to case the joint? (Uncharitable thoughts from me ... sorry.)

    The desk. If it were me, I would keep it and paint it white or some other color that matches her room. Then I would mod podge the door fronts with cool scrapbook paper or fabric and I would update the hardware OR I would make ribbon handles. But that's just me.

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