this desk is just right forupcycling, and here's why. it's got a great look to it. it's got goodcharacter, great lines. it's going to look amazingonce we refinish it. number two, it's gotto be the right size. i mean, it's got to fit in thespace that we're working with. and most importantly,a lot of these desks are kind of low, soto solve that, we put a vessel sink on top.
it brings the sink up, sonow when you go to use it, it's at the right height. in addition to the desk,the sink, and the hardware, here's what i'm using--shop rags, tape measure, sanding blocks and severalgrits, drill and auger bits, palm sander, pads, woodstain, and paint brushes, and of course, safety gear. the first step is to sandthe entire piece down. i'm going to use an80-grit sandpaper.
it's coarse. it's going to dothe job of stripping this top layer downto the bare wood, and it will be ready for stain. all right. so when that sandpaperstarts getting a little dull, and it's not strippingany wood, and you're feeling the burn inyour arm, you're going to want to switch out pads.
then move to a finergrit of 120 and finish with a super-fine 220 gritfor a totally smooth touch. for hard-to-reach spots,use a sanding block. the sanding isdone, and now it's time to drill holes for thewater supply and for the drain. but my first step? i've got to find acenter point on this, so i can center my sink. once centered, i'm marking thearea where the drain will go.
then the faucet getspositioned, centered between the sink and theback edge of the vanity. an auger bit is used tofill the holes to size. the most importantthing before staining is to make sure that oursurface is totally dust-free. so if you don't have a tackcloth handy, use a dryer sheet. time to stain. the stain is close tothe original wood grain, so it's just going tohighlight what's already there,
and it matches the rest ofthe wood in the bathroom. just one coat of thestain does the trick, but your stain mightdiffer, and you may have to apply more than one coat. so this desk is now a vanity. and it's really importantto protect the finish, because there's a ton ofmoisture in this bathroom. so i used a mattepolyurethane, and it'll keep this piece lookinggreat for years to come.
now it's time to put thiswhole thing together. the sink is dropped into place. same with the fixture. hot and cold watersupplies are attached, everything is tightened,and the drain is added to finish everything off. and there you haveit-- a one-of-a-kind vanity that looks amazing.