Watch This Abandoned Desk Evolve into a Design Piece

This woman made the age old saying "one man's trash is another man's treasure" true as she salvaged an abandoned desk and made it into a designer piece. Watch as the magic unfolds.

Style and design site Apartment Therapy shares a story about a woman named Emily who took an abandoned desk and made it into a design piece. According to Emily, as she headed out to pick up her daughter, she saw the lone desk sitting on the sidewalk amid the snow. The design of the desk was the reason why Emily stopped in her tracks and called her husband for reinforcement.

The abandoned desk had a Mid-century appearance that could be a good design piece at a very low price -FREE! However, with treasures like these, there is always a catch. Emily said that the table was very heavy and it smelled really bad. Having a small apartment and three kids in it, Emily knew she had to work fast if she wanted to have that desk in their house. So she set up a weekend to do just that.

The once abandoned desk is now slowly taking its form to become the next design piece and Emily knew it. She cleaned the drawers with her handy Lysol wipes to disinfect it just in case there are sanitary issues. For the stench, she used a mixture of water and vinegar and then placed some essential oils after. What solved the problem of the leftover smell was baking soda that soaked up the odor.

She decided that for it to look like a brand new design piece, it should also feel like one, so she sanded the abandoned desk three times. Finally, she coated it twice with paint and was extra careful not to paint over the knobs. Voila! The desk now sits in her children's room. She is yet another proof that old furniture can look fabulous with small changes. You can find out more about Emily and her stories in Our Nest in the City.