go mom: gray washing a desk

Tada! Look at how awesome my mom is. But first, the part fairy tale part DIY story.

One day, while my mom was visiting me in Cincinnati, we made the trek up to Ikea in search of goodies. We headed up the elevator to the show room and that's where it happened. Love at first sight between my mom and a Hemnes sofa table. She fell so hard for it that it was almost like being the third wheel on a first date. The way my mom was staring at it, she was getting that sofa table. No questions asked.

Hemnes Sofa Table, gray-brown

Then something weird happened. Instead of pulling out the little slip for pick up, my mom pulled out her phone and started taking pictures. "I love that finish", she said, "I think I can refinish some of my furniture so I can get the same look". 

What? No Hemnes? I was dumbfounded and sort of impressed at the same time. My mom just pulled out a DIY opp. 

We left Ikea with a pile full of random gadgets and left the Hemnes for someone else. And my mom went home in search for something to gray wash which in, in this case, was my old This End Up desk. Here is a before I dug up online.

This End Up

She gave the entire desk a light sand and then applied even coats of Sherwin Williams Pickled White wood stain in 3132 Beechwood until reaching the desired shade. Finally, to finish, she applied one coat of MinWax Clear Satin Polyurethane.

My mom's a little nervous that it looks blue but, as you'll see from the pictures I think it's just the carpet. Eventually, this snappy little number will move into my parent's future vacation home which is a sea of cream carpet and white walls. I'm thinking the nerves will ease themselves once it gets down there.