Bamboo Desk: Before & After

I bought this desk at Goodwill without even thinking about the fact that I have nowhere to put it.  Sad but true.  I love the bamboo look on furniture and originally dreamed of painting it something bold like royal blue or emerald green.  But, I plan to sell it and thought glossy white would appeal to the most people.  It's not super dramatic, but I still like the finished look.

Since I wanted to go glossy I thought I would go with oil based paint.  I remember reading Jenny's post about painting with oil based paints and her love for it and really wanted to try it ever since.  Shavonda also did a great post on how she painted her $20 craigslist table, you won't believe how good it looks and I'm totally jealous that she found it for $20!

I don't know if you necessarily have to prime when using oil based paint, but I did prime this piece because it had a laminate top.  My aunt is an artist and does lots of faux finishing and murals and she recommended using XIM primer to make sure the paint would adhere to the laminate.  I got mine at Sherwin Williams during a sale and it ended up being around the same price as the other primer I normally use.  Danika even used it to paint her laminate countertops!  

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It seemed to work really well.  It's not as opaque or thick as a primer like Kilz, but bonds better.  

After I sanded and primed I got ready to paint.  I chose to try out some of the premixed Rustoleum oil based enamel from Home Depot.  They have a decent amount of colors available, but like I said I went with white.

                                            

I normally use a foam roller for Latex paint, but heard it was better to use a brush with oil based paint so I gave that a try.  It worked really well.  I put on a pretty thick coat, but not so thick that it would drip.  It looks like you are going to have a ton of brush marks, but as it dries it has a self-leveling effect. Just brush the paint on and leave it.  Resist the urge to touch it up or to go back over the area you just painted.  It works best to work in small sections slightly overlap as you go.  I did two coats on the whole thing and then went back and did touch ups on some of the areas that needed more coverage.  I had a few small drips, but I just sanded those between coats 1 and 2.  Overall, I really loved working with it.  Yes, it's smelly and takes a long time to dry (24 hours), but the finish is unmatched compared to latex paint.  I can tell it will be really durable too.  I used to avoid working with oil based paint, but now I'm kind of in love with it.  I've already thought of something else to make all white and glossy.

Here's the fun part, the before and after.

  

and after

I used Valspar brilliant gold spray paint for the hardware.  It's the same paint I used in my mom's playroom.

See those "bookends"?  I was running with a friend of mine in a neighborhood near our house and I found these in the street near a dumpster.  I know that sounds totally random, but I'm guessing someone had thrown them away and missed the trash.  I think they are finials for a cannonball bed.  Don't ask me what possessed me to pick them up and run with them all the way home.  It was totally awkward and I'm sure people thought I was crazy, but they came in handy for styling this desk!

Have you tried oil based paint?  Any tips?