Even a classic needs a little help sometimes...

I planned to furnish the guestroom of our new house with a bed my husband already had and some bedside tables that I had. But there was a long empty wall that needed something. I liked the idea of a long desk, but not so deep that it would crowd the foot of the bed.  I decided to look for a sleek style to contrast with the more traditional iron bed.

I've always loved the iconic Parsons table. My parents had a white Parsons coffee table in their living room and I remember thinking they were so daring and hip when they bought it in the early 70's. And with that bunch of acrylic grapes, that were all the rage then, set at a jaunty angle atop the table...well, there was no doubt of their total decorating groovy-ness.

groovy grapes

I started searching CL for desks and tables but I was also hunting for Parsons, parson, parson's... you never know how people will post their treasures. I found a console table with the perfect dimensions at a nearby estate sale that was an odd faux tortoise shell laminate in fair condition (it had a bit of water damage on top), but it was 4" shorter than desk height. I debated about it because of the height, but in the end I felt it was workable and I talked them down from $50 to $40 (because of the water damage).

My husband wondered how it would work as a desk since it was too short. "Honey," I said, "that's where YOU come in." I am lucky enough to be married to a very handy and clever guy, so I gave him the challenge to make the table taller. He rose to the challenge and added the extra 4" to the bottom of the legs with stock pieces from Home Depot. After he was finished I couldn't even tell where the old legs ended and the extension pieces started. I sanded the table (which also smoothed out the rippling from the water damage), primed it, then painted it with bright white semi gloss latex paint, just like mom and dad's.

With a few accessories scored at a discount store, some other items I already had, and a repainted and recovered chair that I had previously rescued from the alley, I was all set with my new guest room desk.

What I learned from this project:

1. Mixing styles of furniture can look really cool as long as you stick to just a couple of styles.
2. My parents had a pretty groovy house when I was a kid.
3. I'll never underestimate my husband's talent for turning my less than perfect purchases into exactly what I need.