A Massive Undertaking

In our carport, we have this

At $200 from craigslist, it was a steal. I convinced Corey to haul it home from Metairie. It is solid wood. No veneer. It is all one piece, not a separate desk and hutch. It is much larger than the dainty secretaries I have been eyeing in antique stores for three years. It will provide me ample work space now that I am relinquishing the guest room/home office to a summer boarder. Plus, our bedroom TV will fit in and be quasi-hidden by those upper cabinets, which is my ultimate goal for all televisions in my house.

One teensy, leetle thing about this secretary, which I did not fully acknowledge until we got it home and in our carport. It is rustic. Rustic is not bad, but rustic is also not me. The plan has always been to paint a secretary a soft white with a bold interior, so all those knots can be hidden and that finish recovered, no problem.

Except that the entire surface is the opposite of smooth.

None of the planks line up and there are ridges in the wood. I spent a week applying wood filler to it in 15-minute bursts. On Mother's Day, Corey sanded the beejesus out of it. This morning, I wiped inches of sand dust from it and it is now waiting primer and paint. Corey hates it and hates me for not buying exactly what I wanted. I keep insisting that the bones and the price and the size were all perfect, and so what's a little extra work on the surface? This weekend it gets primed and painted, and then a Grownup Dream of mine to own a secretary will be realized.

I think it will get some Snowfall White on the outside, and something in a Sullivan Green or a Grassy Fields for the interior (upper and desk only, as the lower cabinets will be the same exterior off-white so that I can see under there.)

How about a little inspiration gallery, to help you understand my vision? Do not be like my husband, who fights my vision during and saves his full, belated appreciation for the end.

19th century Swedish secretary with pink interior from Annie Sloan

Secretary makeover featured on Apartment Therapy

Cottage-y secretary, size LARGE, featured on Casa Greer.

Chalky gray and powder blue secretary from Simply Seleta. I love the styling of this one most of all.

I must confess, I am not looking forward to painting all the nooks and crevices at least three times this weekend, plus there are places that will need caulking, for my sanity.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can........