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Closet Redo: Desk Install

I think I've reached the point in the project where I feel like I'm never going to finish.  I will, of course, but it seems to be taking forever.  Good news, though: I got the desk installed! 






Ain't she a beaut? My first set of measurements was so good that the desk didn't fit because there wasn't enough slack to maneuver the table top in.  So we had to shave some of the excess off. This time I was a weeny about using the circular saw so the hubs took care of it. 




The table top is 3/4" plywood, which isn't very pretty, so I capped it off with a small piece of wood. Used some wood glue and held it in place with tape while the glue dried.  The tape did double duty because it also applied pressure to help seal everything together. 




Full shot of the front.  It's inset by a couple of inches to allow room for the drop leaf when the door is closed.


After that, I made my measurements again and cut and installed the cove molding around the top to cover up any gaps and give it a more finished look.  That was fun because I learned how to do mitered corners.  Hubs helped me on the first corner and then I took over, successfully messing up the next corner.  Getting the direction of the miters is hard. I ended up holding my hands like little pinball flappers on the walk between the bedroom and garage to make sure I got the cuts right.



Fancy mitered corner!




Full shot of the table top.  I love it!  The shelves for my paper & vinyl are going in that corner.  In case you wanted to know. While the wood is pretty and all, but it needs to be painted. I didn't want to roll it because the finish would be all bumpy.  That meant I needed to spray it.  Time to learn a new skill!  I taped up the walls and covered everything in the room with plastic sheeting to protect from overspray.



I sprayed the first coat of primer on the desk.  Okay, that's not entirely true.  I attempted to spray the first coat of primer but the corners of the closet created a whirlwind of overspray. I quickly abandoned that idea and went back to the brush and roller.  I'll save that learning experience for another time.



Did the same thing with the pegboard.  Unfortunately one coat of primer wasn't enough on either surface.  The plan for tomorrow is to roll both surfaces with a second coat of primer.  To get a smooth surface I'm going to sand with a fine grit sandpaper after the primer and again after the final coat of paint.  The Hubs mentioned something about trying Enduro-var over the paint on the table top because it forms a hard, clear protective finish, but that requires some more research because he's not sure how it works over paint.


I wasn't able to hit my goals of getting the desk and pegboard painted and the pegboard hung last week, but I should have some success on that front this week.  Today the plan is to get the second coat of primer on both surfaces and sand both tomorrow evening after it's cured.  I need to start getting the shelving built so it can be painted and installed, too.  The shelving unit for the paper/vinyl will be up first.  Mostly because I have a firm plan for that.  But also because I get to learn how to cut dados with the table saw!  In case you don't know what a dado is, because I didn't, it looks like this:




Image result for dado


So just a grove in the wood where the shelves will fit.  But I get to say dado a lot.  And that's fun.  Oh, by the way, it's pronounced day-doh.  Kind of like play-doh.


And that's it for this week.  I look forward to sharing more progress with you next Sunday!


XOXO

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