Forget Santa, Its The Elves That Do All The Real Work!

My thrifty Christmas gift this year (Santa ended up getting all the credit) was an armoire I found on craigslist for $25. It seemed pretty solid and...heck it was only $25! The idea was to transform it into a work station/desk for Kenna (she's 6 and loves to play school). Later, she can use it as a computer desk.

The before picture below is the actual photo that was posted on craigslist. I was hopeful from the photo that it had good bones and as it turned out, it had okay bones. It was getting paint and new shelves so there was nothing allot of sanding couldn't handle. Sanding this was far less horrendous then I thought and yet there was still swearing.


I tried Benjamin Moore's new expensive Aura paint. The benefits were that it was self priming and that it leveled really well (meaning no brush strokes). However, when using it as a primer, the first coat was akin to spreading on white glue (this stuff is thick and not like any other paint, read the application instructions first!). Also, it dried so quickly that over working it was not only impossible but disastrous.

I painted the inside pink. If it was for me, I would have painted the inside lime green! Both door interiors were primed with "Magnetic" primer, which is a primer with metal suspended in it to allow magnets to stick to any surface its painted on. One door interior got chalk board paint. Not shown in the photo, because it wasn't yet attached, is a desk piece that folds down on a piano hinge ...the elf was tired and Santa wouldn't get his white gloves dirty so he stuck it behind the cabinet with instructions on how to install it later. (The name isn't painted on the armoire, they are just wooden block letters).