Desk/bookshelf Makeover

Back in October I got the itch to redo some furniture. I started with the Desk. This desk Drew's dad made for him while he was in high school. It was just the natural oak, and I wanted to darken it. I decided to give gel stain and try, and I ended up loving it. It was so easy to use and turned out exactly how I wanted.

Here was my little helper, (he was oh so helpful!)

 We ended up barricading off this area, NO MR. HAYDEN'S ALLOWED!

So here is the only before picture I got

 This is during. 

You have to put a couple of coats of the gel on, and it has to dry for several days in between coats. So the process takes a lot of time, but it mostly is just drying time.

 And here is the finish product!

Then I decided while I am in the painting, redoing mood I might as well tackle the book shelf. This bookshelf Drew made for us when we were first married (way back when:) It was made from Alder, and just need a little updating. I had seen (on pinterest, surprise surprise) a cute table someone had done with a thick fat stripe painted on top. So I decided to go with that idea and also add some color. Here is the before... Plain Jane

And here is the Finish... much more fun and exciting

 I did a cool aqua-y color for the base, then antiqued it. Then on the top did the fun stripe with the gel stain and white (also antiqued). It is hard to get the right light so you see the actual color on Camera, but i do like how it turned out!