Old Typewriter Desk gets a Makeover


Vintage Typing Table Makeover

Last year I wrote about the Route 11 Yard Crawl in Virginia and earlier in the month I had the pleasure of returning.  This time I was accompanied by not just my 2 sisters, but 2 sons as well as a daughter in law. It is advertised as over 40 miles of yard sale goodness and after 2 days of crawling, we not only came out alive but I think we found some good deals too.

Route 11 Yard Crawl

I must say, that after the first day, the 2 boys abandoned the ladies in favor of golf, but not until my oldest son scored big with a $10 table top saw.

I think his wife had the second best deal of the day with a solid oak desk chair. She had spent the entire day looking for a smallish office chair and we spied this one just as it was about to be loaded back on a truck.  It was marked $10 (which I thought was a great deal) but she asked if they would take $5. Sold!! Walking away, the dealer threw in a yoga mat, she didn’t particularly want a used yoga mat, but he did seriously throw it at her.  We decided their dog could probably make good use of the mat.

Route 11 Yard Crawl

With a drizzle, the first day was not that crowded but with a beautiful sunny day, the traffic definitely increased on the second day. Judging by the traffic, it’s not a well kept secret.

Route 11 Yard Crawl-pumpkin man

This is the house where I came upon my typewriter table. For some reason pumpkin man was very memorable and he was for sale too. Just didn’t have enough room in the car, such a shame.

Vintage Typing Table Makeover

And here is what my vintage typewriter desk looked like in his before photo. The purchase price for this baby was $15,  I thought it was a good deal but it did need a little makeover.

vintage typing table ad - Google Search - Google Chrome 8232015 12640 PM.bmp

This is an idea of how a similar desk would have been used. Amazing, there is no place for the printer, monitor or tower. 🙂

Vintage Typing Table Makeover

I loved the I-shaped detail on the bottom of the desk where someone would stick their legs.  Since I’m not going to use it as a desk, but as a table, a shelf down there would be far more practical.

Vintage Typing Table Makeover

Not wanting to cover up the metal (which would have been so much easier), I decided to make a shelf to go around the detail.  I made a pattern by just rubbing over a piece of paper with chalk, then cutting out the pattern.

Vintage Typing Table Makeover

The pattern I had just created was then traced onto old oak hardwood flooring boards and cut out with a scroll saw.  Any little tweaks to the cut were made now so that the flooring boards would fit snugly.

Vintage Typing Table Makeover

Can you tell this was well aged oak flooring? It just needs a little TLC.

The four boards got a nice sanding with a palm sander followed by 2 coats of Varathane.  I love Varathane, in that it is both polyurethane and stain in one container and has water cleanup. The finish I used was a dark walnut…you’ll see it in just a second.

Vintage Typing Table Makeover

A thin piece of mdf was then cut slightly smaller than the floorboards, I didn’t want any of the mdf to be peeking out.

Vintage Typing Table Makeover

The newly finished floorboards were then attached to the mdf with builders adhesive. You’re not attaching it yet to the typewriter table, but hold it up to the table when you’re placing the boards to get the tightest fit possible.  Allow to dry.

Vintage Typing Table Makeover

While the adhesive is drying, you can start working on the table.

Began by giving the table a good sanding with a palm sander.  All that rust had to come off before spraying with a couple of coats of  black semi-gloss Rustoleum. Before painting make sure you wrap the casters in masking tape to prevent overspray.

Vintage Typing Table Makeover

Turning the desk over, there really is nothing to attach my great new shelf to.

Decided to fill the space with some scrap wood using builders adhesive to secure.

Another good dose of builders adhesive on top of the scrap wood and now I can attach the shelf I made.

Vintage Typing Table Makeover

The shelf was clamped into place and let dry overnight.

Right now it seems pretty secure, if it loosens at all I will have to add a few screws thru the metal to hold the shelf in place. With the scrap wood inserts, there would now be something to screw into.

Vintage Typing Table Makeover

Finished up with a stencil on one of the drop leafs.  Stencil was secured with masking tape then given a light coat of a bronze spray paint.

Vintage Typing Table Makeover

Vintage Typing Table Makeover

 

Vintage Typing Table Makeover

 

Vintage Typing Table Makeover

Vintage Typing Table Makeover

Vintage Typing Table Makeover

While it was a lot more work to cut the oak flooring to go around the knee cutout, now I’m happy I took the time.

I have a couple more gems from the flea market I’m working on so I hope you can come back and check in on my progress. Have a wonderful week.

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