How To Refinish A Roll Top Desk

Rolling desks are chic designs in any home. It’s rare to find one in great condition. They are notoriously difficult to paint because you can easily stick the tambour (rolling part) with paint making it not roll at all. If you’re lucky enough to come across, here are some tips for a successful conversion.Read: how to retool the desk

You will need:

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6″ brush and roller
Wood accessories
Mouse Sander with low (60) and higher (180) sanding pads.
Zinsser 123 Primer – click here for current prices
White Paint – I used Behr Ultra in Ultra White Satin
Stain Base Coat – I used Behr Honey Butter Flat
Gel Stain – I used Minwax Gel Stain in Walnut
New hardware
Minwax Wipe-on Polyurethane.
Unfinished Jewelry Box With Drawers (click here) – Optional.

I came across this table by chance on a Facebook page a friend was selling. This table is perfect for redoing as the top part comes off and the tambour just slides out making it so much easier to refit. Structurally, the table has a great shape but the surface needs a little love.I knew I was going to sell this part so I decided to remove the dark spots from the surface with a gel stain remover and paint the rest white. I realized that the plastic sleeve on both sides that the tambour slid into was dark brown so I tried to spray paint it white to match the white. Let me save a little spray paint and a lot of frustration by telling you it’s a horrible idea.The spray paint started to peel off as I moved the tambour up and down. It looked horrible so I spent over an hour scraping the spray paint off with a putty knife. I decided to color the inside of the upper to better match the plastic tubes as there is no easy way to change their color. Ask how would I know… I removed the hardware and filled in the obvious holes, scratches, and dents in the table with wood filler. Fillers After 48 hours to dry, I sanded the entire workbench with a sanding pad (60) with my mouse sander. Did I mention recently how much I love my sander?!? Here is a picture of the two of us! (Also, wear a mask or face covering when sanding wood filler because those tiny particles can get into your lungs… No way!) Sanders Sanding Sand the tambour by laying it flat on the ground and sanding it as you would the rest of the workbench.Read more: how to glue got2b to the front After sanding, it’s time to finalize. Again I use Zinsser 123 water based primer. I just found out they have made a spray paint version that I will have to try on my next project. Apply a nice thick coat of primer to your furniture. You’ll notice that I don’t take any primer on the groove the tambour slides into.After priming the rest of the desk, I placed the tambour on top of a round kitchen trash can beside it. I want to open up the folds so I can get the primer in each fold between the slats. I can do this with a thin coat of primer.Take just enough primer to fill in the dark in between the slats. Use a brush to wipe away excess and wipe the brush over the paper if you have too much paint on the brush. You have time to wipe off the excess before it dries. What you don’t want is a thick layer of wet paint and dripping on the tambour or the paint will crack as it dries. Zinsser 123 Primer is perfect for this application as it is thin but adheres well to the grooves while providing good coverage.At this point, fill in any holes, dents or scratches left on the rest of the workbench. Now you should be able to see them more easily with the primer piece. Going through this process, I realized that this table doesn’t have any of the cute ‘card catalog’ style drawers you usually see on these tables. I decided to add some using some unfinished jewelry boxes I found online here.I bought two for each side and glued them together with carpenter’s glue and clamped them overnight to dry. I also pulled out the wooden knobs, filled the holes, and then made the holes for some cute pulls. Make holes before painting because you don’t want to risk the final finish. Then I glued the drawers to the inside of the desk with wax paper to make sure the glue didn’t seep into the screen.I started painting the desk with a slightly yellow base coat in the areas where I was going to fake the stain and used white on the rest. I used the same process on this table as I did with the last ones in my How to gel wood stain post Here’s a photo of the first coat of the stain. . You just want to leave some parts that are only partially covered in the first coat to make the second coat a bit more translucent and “like wood grain” in those parts.Back to the tambour… While I let each layer of gel dry for at least 24 hours, I laid the tambour flat on the concrete and covered it with a thin layer of white. Again brush off the excess. At this point, it’s still a little streaky but you’ll touch it up gradually. The nice thing about latex and polyurethane paints is that you know that in 10 years the finish will be the same and equally durable. Both finishes provide a clean, wipeable and non-stick surface. Read more: how to increase canvas size in illustrator I have a friend who has made her entire kitchen cabinets with chalk paint and wax. They look great but after only 6 months, they look horrible because of the porosity of the chalk paint that clings to every speck of dirt in her kitchen. She remade them with rubber soon after. (Get my soap box out now…) After touching the tambour one last time, I put the table together including the main drawers, top drawer and small drawers. I’ve also added new hardware to the entire desk including a ‘card catalog’ style drawer that pulls up to the top drawers. Didn’t they become cute? Drawers Notice the concrete floors in the background. We had a huge flood that I shared in the post Beauty from chaos: How to Find Peace in Any Situation.This table is quite a daunting task, but it’s worth it to unleash the full potential of such a great classic. Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out my other furniture variations! Makeover writing deskRead more: How to protect osb from rain