Lowery Blue Desk

 Do you still have the first piece of furniture you painted?

Well, I will be sixty in a few weeks and I still have the Lowery Blue Desk.

In 1975, I graduated from The University of South Carolina and moved 70 miles up I-20 to Camden, South Carolina to the King Haigler Apartments ...
 and my first teaching job.

I had a bed, a dresser, an orange plastic Parson's table and a black and white TV.  Oh, and a  round wicker chair.

So each grandparent, aunt, uncle, and cousin pitched in to pass their extra furniture to me.  My granny gave me my father's childhood desk.  It is a two-person desk - the drawer slides out both sides.

It was an indeterminate wood of a brown finish with tons of scratches and dings.

My first project in my new abode was to refinish this desk.  I spent some money  (gave up a couple of meals) for a Formby's (I think) antiquing kit in blue.

My parents refinished furniture when I was growing up so I had an idea of what to do and I followed the directions on the kit.

There are obviously no before photos from 1975.

People did have cameras. 

I did not.



I painted the desk the blue after mixing the paint - it was milk paint, by the way.  Yes, way back when. Then I glazed it with the gray gel provided.  It gunked up a little on the top, but I loved the outcome.

Fast forward to early last week when I pulled this desk from the attic where it had been for 20 years.

I still loved it!

I just took the hand sander to it and distressed it more and gave it two coats of Minwax.

 I think it is quite lovely.

I bet very few of you have an original piece from decades ago.

I call this Lowery Blue because my father's eyes were blue.

I do not.  I have Guillebeau brown eyes.

Here Lowery Blue sits outside the craft/computer/guest room waiting his turn to be shoved, er, carefully placed.

Sorry about the wonky photo.  I had to stand on the stairs to take it.

No, not my childhood play house though it is identical to mine.  It once belonged to the lady around the corner.  No one in her family wanted it.

Really?

We pulled some more memories from the attic this afternoon.

I will take photos for you to see.

I promise.

See y'all!

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