Reminds me a lot of this old dresser and drawer set I got years ago. It was painted a hideous pinkish tan color that was ugly as sin. It also gathered a few nicks and dings over the years so I decided to sand it down and paint it a sane color. I grabbed my belt sander and gone to work.

After stripping a small spot, I noticed the wood under was solid Mahogany. I could not believe someone would paint over such a beautiful wood much less the horrible color. It had primer under it and appeared to be factory painted. I figured the set was made back in the 50s where Mahogany was much more plentiful. Such a waste of good wood. Fortunately I was able to sand the entire thing and stain it red (staining Mahogany ugly brown should be a crime). A few good coats of clear polyurethane did wonders for the finish.

It also has brass handle that ran the entire length of the shelves. I polished them off and they looked really good with the properly stained wood. I think the set costs like $50US used at the time but still looks much more than that now. To even buy new furniture made with solid wood much less something nice as Mahogany is super expensive these days. I love taking old furniture and fixing them up. The headboard of my bed is solid Mahogany as well and I only paid like $10 for it. Refinished it also and looks great too.

Agreed :) It's actually pretty fun to do this stuff yourself. Granted that the price i spent on varnishes and materials could have gotten me a new, small table, the result was worth it since this desk of mine stretches from one wall to the other :)

Nice work. You can't buy stuff of this quality, even if it's just "plywood". I used to work in a cabinet factory for years and it's amazing what a little stain can do for even the cruddiest of base materials. (Veneered particle board comes to mind). I love working with solid wood and have a few cedar projects to complete. I was able to pick up some nice 12' boards a year or so ago and it's been in dry storage ever since.

Might wanna work with those fast... i generally don't like the idea of wood sitting unused for a long period of time even if it's in dry storage. But that's just my opinion x3 Yeah, i'm proud of this desk with the way it turned out though. I'm glad that i did go with the project

Funny, I am employed and I still took on someting similar.
I rescued a round coffeetable that was in fine condition but was being trashed.
Visited Home Depot, bought marble tiles, grouting and cement, broke up the tiles and stuck them onto the tabletop.
grouted it (twice) and I had a nice repurposed renewed table that everyone loves.
Sometimes I get bored like that.

Not a bad thing X3 Especially if you can do it with the scant amount of free time left after work. Me, i would have been too busy playing a video game or talking with my friends to get assed about taking on a furniture project >.>

Well It was "Ooh free table, now what? Lets go get some tiles ans stuff at HD. Ok." 50$ later "Lets do this!" 4 months later "I'm sick of these tiles and stuff sitting in the corner!" Starts making tabletop. Can't stop cause it would be a waste. 3 days later Yay, table.