Desk photo update

The desk has gone through several changes, but I'm now set on it!

So, here was the desk initially:
My thought was to strip/sand and restain it a darker color.

But... the desk is (I think) pine. Not a bad thing, but a very soft wood that was not taking to stripping/sanding. The old stain was really soaked in, and I had to remove a lot of the wood in order to remove the stain. And the wood wasn't the best quality.

Bah! So, then I painted the desk with one layer of white paint.

Again: A failure. White was not a great color for the room. I discovered this by testing it out (stupidly, AFTER I had painted the desk) by moving a white piece of furniture into the room. It was too white. Too light.

Bah!

So I thought and thought. I love the color marigold, but I think that's too much bright in a room since it's not JUST the desk but the desk AND a hutch.

Then, I started looking at color combinations. I didn't want to repaint the walls, so what went well with cream and white? Preferably also went well with the same rugs we got in the living room and also with my rocking chair.

I ended up using Glidden's online paint charts, and you can "flip the chip" to see some suggested matching colors. I ended up selecting "Dark French Chocolate"--I love the color and look at how well it goes with our other room colors!

Here is the result on the hutch and a few drawers after two layers (remember, it was kinda white before):
It's a deep, beautiful, eggplant color. I LOVE IT. Our walls are actually more creamy than the photo lets on. I'm very excited. Now I'm off to see how a coat of polyurethane looks on one of the drawers as a tester. Yes, supposedly you can coat on TOP of latex paint. I find this very exciting, since latex chips/scratches so easily. This will help seal it and keep it a bit more durable and less latex-y.

More updates to come....